She loves to make Kurt laugh. Not the smug chuckle of thinking that he has the upper hand in an argument, or the affected titter that pops out whenever he's embarrassed, or even the fast, high-pitched giggle that occasionally escapes when he's really excited about something. The laugh that she most wants to hear is that rollicking, chortling, full-body guffaw. The absolutely out of control laugh that comes out deeper and more genuine than any of the others.
Ironically, the one that Kurt himself does not like because it is so undignified.
The first time she ever heard it was when Kurt swiped Sue Sylvester's "Physical" tribute from her file cabinet. That hilariously awful video that had every one of them dissolving into disbelieving mirth. Kurt had been so tickled by what he was seeing that he had totally lost it, rocking and snorting in a fit of delighted laughter.
Mercedes had felt her heart melt into a warm puddle of goo at the sight and sound of him.
Oh, she wasn't delusional or anything. She had given up on the idea of her best friend ever becoming her boyfriend the moment he had haltingly confessed to being gay; something she had known all along but stubbornly denied to herself in the hope that she might be mistaken. But she could not help loving him, just the same. She loved his sweetness and charm, his combination of strength and vulnerability, that beautiful high voice and those crazy fashions. Even his occasional, ridiculous hissy-fits that made Rachel Berry look like the Queen of Cool.
She loved him as a best friend and a brother . . . okay, sometimes more like a sister . . . but now and then she had to admit to herself that the feeling still ran a little bit deeper.
When Kurt had suffered his fit of temporary gender-conscious insanity, Lumberjack Ken dating Cheerleader Barbie, she had felt a pang of hard jealousy even as she worried for his mental health. But his strange phase had not lasted long and Mercedes had felt better the moment she realized that she had never once heard Kurt laugh when he was with Brittany.
Not the way he did with her.
After that, she had started going out of her way to provoke his laughter more often. Her ability to mimic any teacher in the school, a hidden talent that nobody else even suspected, never failed to get him started. The right combination could get him going so hard that tears would pour down his face as he breathlessly begged her to stop. His favorite routine was the one she had named the "Schuester-Sylvester McKinley High Smack-Down". Kurt had damn near wet himself the first time she tried it, so now she only pulled it out on special occasions.
Mostly when she felt that Kurt needed some more laughter in his life.
It worried her sometimes; the pain she could see filling those big blue eyes. The unrequited emotion he aimed at Finn, naively believing that nobody else could see it. The lost expression whenever he told her about a way that he had tried and failed to connect with his father on some mysterious "guy" level. The naked longing she witnessed sometimes when the two of them had gone to her house after school and her mom would give Mercedes a hug or a kiss hello.
She kind of thought that Mom must have seen that pain, too, for lately she had taken to bestowing those same affectionate gestures on Kurt, and Mercedes was glad of it.
Kurt's dad was a great guy, but not nearly as demonstrative as her own parents. Mostly he just smiled and stayed out of their conversations, but one day last week she had told a funny story that got Mr. Hummel laughing right along with Kurt. The pleasure in her friend's face at that simple moment of bonding, a moment that she had been responsible for, had made Mercedes Jones feel ten feet tall and bullet proof for the rest of the weekend.
And the other kids were helping too, though Mercedes sometimes wondered if any of them even knew it. Kurt was thawing more and more around the other Glee kids. Less acidity, a little bit less of the snark used to keep others at a distance, a little more laughter.
As they perform their new number for Regionals, those beautiful eyes connect with her own, sharing happiness and wonder at being so included and welcome within this group, and she lets that same emotion shine back at him.
New Directions finishes their song and Mercedes' loud, bright laughter breaks free, unable to hold back the overwhelming fullness in her heart. Kurt squeezes her hand and begins to laugh too, the sound of it so infectious and wonderful that soon the entire group is laughing along with them.
Pure honest delight ringing through every corner of the empty auditorium.
Suddenly, Kurt throws his arms around her and hugs for all he's worth. They are freaks among the freakish, and neither one of them would have it any other way.