Apparently this one has been long awaited and I actually got requests from people on how they wanted/needed me to write this chapter. I can't make any promises that I followed all of your specifications, as I did have my own plan for how it was going to happen and stuck to that. I hope you all like it anyway.
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Mercedes.
Mercedes watched with horror as the boy she was supposed to call her best friend walked out the doors, hand in hand with a boy who was apparently his boyfriend, after just admitting to weeks of abuse and neglect. What the hell kind of planet have I been on?
"Finn, are you alright?" Quinn's worried voice drifted down from behind her, and Mercedes felt her blood boil. She knew full well that Finn wasn't the one who needed - or deserved - any comfort. That person had just walked out the door, and walked out of all of their lives.
"He shouldn't be." Jumping to her feet, she turned her ire on the rest of the club, knowing that she was just as guilty as they were. "What is wrong with us? We call ourselves a family and we let that happen to Kurt?"
"We didn't know -" Rachel began before Mercedes glared at her, effectively silencing the girl for possibly the first time ever.
"We should have. You saw the bruises on his arms as clear as any of us, yet somehow we were all seeing them for the first time. We let that boy down and I'm glad he's going to go somewhere that he'll finally be safe." Mercedes felt her voice crack a little and fought back her tears furiously. No matter how upset everybody was, she didn't want the others to see her cry.
Glancing across the group, she saw Sam nodding in agreement with what she said. He was one of the few who actually seemed to realize what they had all done, and Mercedes felt her heart go out for him. He had only been with them for a few weeks after all, it wasn't his fault - and as far as Mercedes knew, he had been one of the few who had tried to accept Kurt as he was. Yes, he had let Kurt fade into the background too, but he was hardly as much to blame as the rest of them.
"I'm glad he has Blaine too, because he sure didn't have us. I'm going to track him down and see if he'll accept an apology. And I wouldn't blame him if he doesn't."
As Mercedes turned to leave, she heard the sound of someone standing behind her. "I'm coming with you," Sam said quietly. Mercedes nodded, not trusting her voice and walked out, Sam following quickly behind.
The second she was out in the hall, she broke into a run. Already too much time might have passed, Kurt might have already left and she might have missed her opportunity. Mercedes didn't expect that any apology she could make would be enough, but knew it was what she had to do. I let that boy down, now I need to do everything I can on my part to make things right.
Rushing around the corner, Mercedes saw Kurt walking away from the principals office with Blaine and his father in tow. "Kurt!" she called out before she could think of the possible consequences.
Blaine was the first to turn around, giving Mercedes a glare so strong that she actually took a step backwards, bumping into Sam who placed his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. Kurt's father seemed all set to ignore her and keep walking, but Kurt tugged on his hand to make him stop, whispering something to him before turning and walking back down the hallway with Blaine. Burt waited down the end of the hall, fixing the group with a suspicious stare.
"Mercedes," Kurt said when he finally reached the group. Blaine took his hand again, staring them both down. Mercedes could see the protectiveness in his eyes and knew that he was exactly what Kurt needed right now.
No, what Kurt needs right now is friends who didn't let him down.
"Sam," Kurt continued, directing all of his attention to the blonde boy standing behind Mercedes. "I didn't expect you here, to be honest."
"I owe you an apology as much as the rest of them. It doesn't matter how short a time I've been here, I should have seen it too." Sam sniffed and Mercedes realized he was crying. "I'm sorry, Kurt."
Kurt simply nodded before turning his attention back to Mercedes. She could see the pain in his eyes, just as raw as it had been back in the choir room, and knew this wasn't going to be easy. "Kurt," she began quietly, "I don't even know what I can say -"
"Tell me this, Mercedes," Blaine spoke up, stepping a little closer to Kurt. "You call yourself Kurt's best friend. Explain how Kurt could show up at my school as a spy of all things and myself and my friends noticed immediately what was going on, while you seemed to have no idea?"
Mercedes was lost for words. She felt the tears start to fall again and looked down to see Kurt's knuckles white in Blaine's hand. "Yes, I've been through it before and I know the signs, but that is no excuse for you. You're all used to treatment like that - Sam, maybe not you as much - and you know the signs of it. Kurt told me he relied on you once upon a time, you were there for him. What changed?" There was a moment of silence, then Blaine spoke again, his voice growing in anger. "Tell me!"
"Blaine, it's alright." Kurt rested a hand on Blaine's arm, but Mercedes could hear his voice wavering. "She'll talk if she wants to fix things."
Mercedes knew Kurt well enough to know that this was her only option to talk. If she didn't say something now, Kurt would be gone forever. "I - I don't know. We just... sort of drifted apart. Everybody was thinking about their own thing, we've all been focusing on Sectionals and - oh, Kurt, I don't have an answer! I screwed up co-completely," a sob made its way out before she could stop it and she felt Sam squeeze her shoulders, "and I'm just ... just so - so..."
She lost it, burying her head in her hands as she began to sob. Sam was rubbing her arm soothingly as he took over. "I know you can't forgive us just like that, but believe me when I say we want to try and make things right."
Mercedes could only nod her agreement as she fought with her tears, finally getting herself under enough control to look up. Kurt's face was carefully impassive, a look she remembered so well from any time someone would slushy him or call him awful names in the hallway. It absolutely broke her heart to know that she was one of the people who had caused that look.
"Sam," he began quietly. "You've only been here for just under two months, yet you out of everybody came out here to apologize to me. You always just accepted me for who I was, you couldn't understand the homophobia. To you, I was just Kurt."
"You still are," Sam interjected.
Kurt smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I can forgive you, Sam. Obviously things won't be perfect but we kind of weren't that close anyway... no offense."
"None taken." Mercedes felt Sam let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Kurt."
Kurt glanced at Blaine, clearly drawing support from his boyfriend. "Mercedes," he continued, pausing for a moment. His eyes closed, and Mercedes knew he was visibly pulling himself together. The reason why became apparent the second he continued talking. "I can't forgive you."
Mercedes felt her heart drop like lead, settling somewhere in her stomach. Of course she hadn't expected Kurt's forgiveness, but to hear it like that was worse than every bad name she had been called in her life combined. She wanted to cry, to scream, to throw herself at Kurt and beg him for forgiveness, but she couldn't. She was absolutely numb.
"I don't want - I don't want it this way." Kurt swallowed thickly. "And I think in time, we could work on becoming friends again, on starting over. That's what I want."
"Me too," Mercedes whispered. "You have no idea how much, Kurt."
Kurt stared at her, unblinking. "Then show me. Not just yet," he added quickly. "Right now I've got to get settled in at Dalton. I need some time to work through all of this and start to heal." Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt who visibly relaxed at the touch, and Mercedes knew Blaine was his comfort right now. "But maybe in a few weeks we can - talk. About all of this, and about whether we can start over again. You have to know it won't be easy though. You'll need to earn my trust back, and it'll be a lot harder this time around after... after everything."
Mercedes nodded. "I understand. It's more than I deserve. Do - do you want me to call you in a couple of weeks?"
"I - yeah. We'll see what happens." Kurt nodded at them both, offering Sam another smile before turning towards the door where his father stood, arms crossed. Blaine moved to follow, then stopped and fixed them both with an intense look.
"He's a far more forgiving person than I am. I'll trust Kurt's judgement, but if either of you do anything to hurt him that badly again..." Blaine trailed off, his voice low. Mercedes nodded quickly - for someone who wasn't quite as tall as the rest of the guys, he was certainly intimidating. Once again, she thanked God that he had sent someone like Blaine into Kurt's life right when he needed him.
As the two left, Mercedes saw Kurt's shoulders begin to shake and knew her boy had finally given in to his tears. He's not your boy anymore, she reminded herself as her own tears began to fall again. A second later she felt herself spun around and pressed up against Sam. "Go on, let it out. I've got you."
"Oh, Sam, what kind of monster am I?" she sobbed into his chest, feeling his arms tighten around her comfortingly. "I was meant to protect him."
"We all were," he murmured quietly. "But at least we're trying to make things right, and Kurt's going to be alright now. He's got a new school and he's got Blaine."
Mercedes pulled away to wipe her eyes, taking a shaky breath and looking up at Sam. The boy was pale, his eyes red rimmed, but he still managed to smile down at her. "Sam, why did you come?"
Sam didn't seem perturbed by the question. "Because the people who should have been coming weren't. I'm not saying I'm not guilty either, but I expected to see at least Finn and Rachel on their way out here to talk to him. I knew you would, but when they didn't, I decided that Kurt should know that there are others who are sorry too."
"You're a good guy, Sam." The words slipped out before Mercedes could think, but she knew they were true. Sam was an entirely different class of guy compared to the ones back in that room, one who would stick up for what was right no matter what it might cost him. The kind of guy Mercedes wanted to get to know better. "I'm not ready to go home yet. Do - do you want to go get a coffee and maybe talk about how we can fix this?"
Sam's smile was more genuine as he held out a hand. "That sounds like a good idea."
Mercedes knew she shouldn't be having the thoughts she was. After everything that had gone on with Kurt, she really didn't deserve happiness. But Kurt had Blaine to keep him safe, and if Mercedes had her chance to get Sam, then she would take it. At least then she might have someone to keep her grounded, to pull her up on things like this.
And at the very least, she would have a friend.
Next Chapter: Rachel.