A/N: Hey everyone.
Update time!
Enjoy :)
Nearly two weeks later, Mercedes' first week back to school was almost over.
She caught up on all of her assignments and glee club was going well, which was great for Mercedes since most of the school still treated her as if she survived the apocalypse. They were constantly walking on eggshells, either expressing their sympathy or not speaking at all, though their faces said everything. During moments like these, Mercedes remembered Sam's words.
"Ugh," Mercedes groaned in slight frustration as she rubbed her sore arm. Classes were over for the day, so she was headed to the choir room for glee club. She only carried a few small books with her good arm, but every now and then she'd feel some pain in her injured arm caused by lack of movement. Mercedes sighed and chuckled at the irony.
She walks towards the door to the choir room and reaches out to grab the doorknob, when suddenly another hand does so instead.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I guess there really is no getting through to you, is there Mercy?" Sam asked with a playful scowl. "I knew I would find you doing something naughty."
Mercedes smiled. "What? I kept my promise. I'm not carrying my backpack anymore." She said while putting the books behind her back.
"Okay, I'm going to pretend that I didn't just see that really bad attempt at hiding those books." Sam said as he shook his head and laughed.
Mercedes laughed too. "I tried." She put them back at her side. "Come on, they aren't heavy." She said with a cute pout.
Sam smirked. "Okay, but just this once." He said as he opened the door and stepped back to allow her to walk inside of the room.
Mercedes thanked him as she entered, then they both took their seats towards the right side of the room, in the front row.
All of the other club members were already seated. Artie was to the right of Sam, Kurt was next to Mercedes on her left side, with Blaine seated next to him. Mike and Tina were in the middle row, directly behind Sam and Mercedes. Puck and Finn were next to Mike, with Santana and Brittany seated next to them. Quinn was ahead of them in the front row and Rachel sat near her in the center.
"I told you guys I'd find her." Sam said.
"Cedes, there you are. We thought you might've gone home already. Why aren't you answering your cell phone?" Artie asked.
"I know, I'm sorry, my cell phone was off," Mercedes said.
"Well, I'm just glad to have you here with us, Mercedes." Rachel said.
Mercedes smiled. "Thanks, Rachel." She was slightly surprised to hear the statement.
"I mean," Rachel began, "this is our first performance as a new group. With you being away for the last few weeks, this was our first 'official' week of practice. We have to keep up our good work. Since Mr. Schue is looking to see how we perform together, it wouldn't be fair for me to have to take over your part of the song."
"Oh...," Mercedes said, now smiling awkwardly. She was aware of the fact that the group hadn't practiced any actual singing while she was away, mainly because no one was really in the mood or mental state to focus on singing while their friend was dealing with a trauma.
"Forget what Rachel said." Tina stated. "We're happy you're here because we missed you." She said before tossing a glare in Rachel's direction.
"Exactly," Blaine said.
Mercedes nodded. "I know," she said. Although she knew it probably wasn't going to happen, she was concerned about the possibility that the others might think she was no longer committed to the show choir.
"No worries, diva. I knew you weren't going to miss practice," Kurt said. "Sam said he knew where you were anyway."
Mercedes looked at Sam as he smiled.
"Speaking of 'practice,' I'm telling everybody right now," Puck began. "If Schuester doesn't like this performance, it's on you all, because throughout this entire week everyone's suggestions have at least been considered with the exception of mine. And I think our performance would be a lot better if we decided to go with some of my suggestions."
"Exactly what suggestions do you think we should have used, Puck? Singing a childish song about the number system or singing the word itself over and over again while we all hold up a 'single finger?'" Mike asked in an overly dramatic tone, imitating Puck.
Puck rolled his eyes. "Well, the theme is 'One.'" He said as if it was obvious. "What is so bad about either of those ideas?"
"It's not about those ideas being bad. Although they are," Tina said with a chuckle. "We just do things differently. You know, less literal and more vocal. Our performances are all about the content of the lyrics."
Puck nodded.
"But you can always prove us wrong once we start doing solo work." Finn said, his natural competitive side being displayed. "Besides Puck, the next time we have a group performance, we promise to let you pick the song." Finn said.
The entire classroom looked at the tall teen.
Finn noticed the stares. "Well, if the song is good, that is."
Puck scowled. "Punk," he said to Finn.
"Well, well, well. So I see we've got another 'leader' now, huh? A 'giant' and a 'hobbit,'" Santana said before laughing. "The only problem is I don't know who the guy and girl are in the relationship. You know with man-boobs and the mustache," she said referring to Finn and Rachel.
Rachel gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as Finn looked at his chest.
Mike and Tina could be heard trying to hide their laughs.
Santana noticed. "Don't even try it. You two are annoying too."
Tina shook her head. "No way," she disagreed.
Mike smiled as she defended their so-called 'coupledom.'
"Oh, yeah right." Santana said. "But at least you're not as bad as 'gay, fashionista' and his hair gel-obsessed lover 'Slickster.'"
Kurt and Blaine sighed in unison.
"Don't start with me, Santana." Kurt said, not in the mood to hear anything about his relationship with Blaine, especially since things weren't moving as quickly as he'd like. He smiled and decided to have some fun with his best friend. "Mercedes and Sam are the ones we should be discussing."
Mercedes put her head on Sam's shoulder as he smiled.
"Here we go," he whispered to her.
"Awww, they're so cute." The classroom said.
"Actually, he's got a point. I'm surprised you two even showed up today. I know that the janitor's closet is usually empty right about now, if you want some 'alone time,'" Santana said before making 'kissing' noises.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Zip it, Instigator!" He said with a smile. "And anyway, how do you know so much about the janitor's closet?"
"Ooh, I can answer that! It's because Santana and I-" Brittany began before Santana dropped her nail file and used her now free hand to cover the other girl's mouth.
Puck smirked. "You and Brittany. The closet, huh? I think I'll let that joke tell itself."
Santana threw the nail file at him.
Puck dodged the flying object and started laughing. "I thought that was our special place." He wiggled his tongue.
Santana pretended to gag. "That gross display is one of the reasons why I'm glad I finally came out."
Quinn chuckled. "I'm not surprised."
Puck frowned playfully.
Finn laughed. "Aww, don't feel sad, dude. You've still got me." He said as he hugged Puck.
"I've always loved you, man." Mike said dramatically. He put his arms around the two other guys.
Sam groaned and smiled. "Ugh, stop crying, you damn idiots!" As everybody laughed, Sam turned his attention back towards Mercedes. He noticed the void expression she had and figured she was daydreaming. "Mercedes…are you okay?" He asked.
Lately, all of her dreams have been about the accident. Vivid images flash over and over again in her mind. Although the task is difficult, she tries to put aside her thoughts regarding the dreams and focus on what is currently going on. "I'm fine," Mercedes said. She looked at his hopeful smile and gave him an assuring nod. She smiled as well and linked her arm with his, earning an eager smile from the blonde teenager.
Mr. Schue walked into the classroom, greeted with cheers from the students he was proud to have as members of his show choir. "Good afternoon, everyone," he smiled. "Judging from this reaction, I guess everyone's ready to perform."
Rachel responded. "We certainly are. You're going to love our performance, Mr. Schue."
"Yeah, between our awesome vocals and this amazing song, this should do great."
"And if it ends up sucking…" Puck said. He pointed to all of his fellow glee club members and mouthed the words 'not my fault' to Mr. Schue.
Mr. Schue chuckled. "You all are going to do just fine, I'm sure." He sat down and allowed the students to prepare for their performance.
They stood up and walked to the center of the room.
Mr. Schuester smiled, immediately recognizing the music the band played.
Finn:
"Is it getting better,
or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now
you got someone to blame?"
"You say..."
Rachel:
"…one love,
one life.
When it's one need
in the night.
One love,
we get to share it.
Leaves you baby
if you don't care for it."
Santana:
"Did I disappoint you
or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
and you want me to go without."
"Well it's..."
Quinn:
"…too late
tonight
to drag the past out into the light.
We're one, but we're not the same.
We get to
carry each other
carry each other."
Everyone:
"One..."
Tina:
"Have you come here for forgiveness?"
Brittany:
"Have you come to raise the dead?"
Mike:
"Have you come here to play Jesus…
Artie:
"…to the lepers in your head?"
Puck:
"Did I ask too much?
More than a lot?
You gave me nothing
now it's all I got."
Kurt:
"We're one,
but we're not the same."
Blaine:
"Well we
hurt each other,
then we do it again."
"You say…"
Mercedes:
"…'Love is a temple,
Love a higher law.'
'Love is a temple,
Love the higher law.'"
Sam:
"You ask me to enter,
but then you make me crawl.
And I can't be holding on
to what you got
when all you got is hurt."
Everyone:
"One love,
one blood.
One life.
You got to do what you should."
"One life,
with each other,
Sisters,
Brothers."
"One life,
but we're not the same.
We get to
carry each other,
carry each other."
"One...life."
"One."
Mr. Schue applauded as the song ended. The students sat down as Mr. Schuester stood in front of them.
"Excellent, exactly the performance I hoped you all would have." He said. "I know you worked hard and it definitely shows." He could not stop smiling. "I think we're going to have an incredible year."
About half an hour later, practice was nearly over.
"Okay everyone, one announcement before you're dismissed." Mr. Schue said. "As you all know, the theme this week was 'One,' which required you all to work together as 'one,' one sound, one group, one performance. But for next week, the theme will be…"
The students made 'drum-rolling' noises.
"…'Duets,'" the teacher said.
Everyone was excited.
Mr. Schue grabbed a hat, a notepad and pen that sat on top of the piano. "I'm going to ask six of you to write your name on a piece of paper and place it inside of this hat. Then the rest of you will select a name from the hat. Since we currently have 13 members, one of you will select a piece of paper with a question mark on it."
Everyone was confused.
"What does that mean?" Finn asked.
Mr. Schue smiled. "We'll be getting a new member on Monday." He said. "I want to give him the opportunity to introduce himself, so I won't tell you his name. But for those of you that like clues, obviously 'he' is a boy." He said with a chuckle.
"Ooooooh," the girls said playfully.
The hat, notepad and pen were passed around the room. Eventually, the task was complete and the hat was returned to Mr. Schue. He shook the paper around inside of the hat and then he put it back on top of the piano.
"Who wants to go first?" Mr. Schue asked.
Sam looked around as he considered his initial idea of picking towards the end of the selection process, since he figured his chances of picking Mercedes' name would be better when some of the others were already selected.
Artie raised his hand and went up to the piano. He grabbed a piece of paper, unfolded it and looked at the name that was written down. "Puck," he said.
Puck clapped. "We got this, dude!"
Sam sighed in relief.
One by one, members of the group continued going up and selecting a name. Santana selected Rachel, Kurt selected Brittany, Tina selected Finn, and Blaine selected Mike. The only papers left in the hat had Mercedes' name and the 'Question Mark' on them.
"Sam, Quinn, who's going to go next?" Mr. Schue asked.
They looked at each other, playfully encouraging the other to go first.
"Okay, I'll do it." Sam said as he decided to try his luck.
He stood up and out of his chair before going up to the piano and reaching inside of the hat. Dramatically, he closed his eyes while unfolding the paper. He inhaled deeply and read the name that was written down. A sexy smirk formed on his face. 'Awesome!' "…Mercedes."
A/N: Song used in this chapter:
"One" by U2