A/N: Hey guys! So here the next chapter of Gleeclipse. I hope you all enjoy it.
Enjoy!
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ProTIP:
Sam and Mercedes pass notes in class. The note is centered.
Written like is Mercedes
Written like this is Sam.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own: Glee, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, any characters, places, words or phrases from the television show, movie or book or anything else you can find outside of fandom.
THIS FANFICTION IS UNBETA'D BUT PROOFREAD BY HUMANS. ANY REMAINING MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL. APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.
When Sam and I arrived at my house, Gordon was in the living room. Waiting. Sam placed by bag by the steps as my dad approached us.
"How bad?" I muttered.
"He's not going to be difficult," Sam whispered. "He missed you." I didn't doubt that my dad missed me but I did doubt that he wouldn't be difficult.
"Welcome home, kid!" Gordon said. "How was Laguna?"
"Sandy and hot," I answered.
"So Yvette didn't sell you on colleges in California?"
"She tried but if I'm going to be in the heat I'd rather it be just be hot and not just a dry heat. Dry heat makes you too sweaty."
"You lived in L.A.," Gordon chuckled.
"And the sun was blocked by the smog," I shrugged. Gordon laughed but his laughter died quickly as he unwillingly turned his attention to Sam.
"Did you have a nice time?" he asked.
"Yes," Sam said with a small smile, "Miss Yvette was very hospitable."
"That's...um, that's good. Glad you had fun," Gordon said stiffly before he pulled me into a hug.
"That was impressive," whispered in his ear. I felt his body rumble with laughter.
"I really missed ya, Merc. The food sucks around here when you're gone."
"I'll get on that," I said as he let me go.
"Would you call Maverick first? He's been bugging me every five minutes since 6 o'clock this morning. I promised I'd have you call him before you even unpacked."
When we first entered the house, Sam has tensed beside me. I knew that it couldn't have been about my dad but I'm assuming he read the Maverick stuff in his head.
"Maverick wants to talk to me?"
"Pretty bad, I'd say. He wouldn't tell me what it was about – just that it was important."
Suddenly the phone rang loudly.
"That's probably him again. I'd bet my next root canal," Gordon muttered.
"I got it." I hurried across the living room to the land line. "Hello?"
"You're back," Maverick said. His familiar husky but boyish voice sent a wave of melancholy through me. A thousand and six memories slide across my mind, intermixing together. The beach on the rez, a garage that smelled of motor oil and pizza, warm sodas and lots of laughter. The smile that always seemed to reach his beautiful brown eyes, the fevered hand around mine, his beautiful white teeth showing when his face stretched into a wide smile that always made me feel like it was a key to a secret door where only kindred spirits could enter. I hadn't realized that the absence of his voice was like a homesickness. That longing for the place and person who had sheltered me through my darkest nights and helped me navigate them like a lighthouse for wayward ships. I had spent most of this past school year grounded and I only really had time for Sam, or so I thought. I don't know. Maybe the homesickness was self-imposed but I still felt it full throttle now, regardless.
"Yes," I answered.
"Why didn't you call me?" he demanded. His anger caught me off guard.
"Because I've been in the house a total of five seconds and your call interrupted my dad telling me you called."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Sure. Now, why are you harassing Gordon?"
"I need to talk to you."
"Yeah, I figured that part out all by myself. Go ahead."
There was a brief pause.
"You going to school tomorrow?" he asked.
"Of course I am," I said, frowning at the question. I didn't know where he was going with this, "why wouldn't I?"
"I dunno. Just curious."
Another pause.
"So what did you want to talk about, Mav?"
"Nothing really, I guess," he said hesitantly. "I...wanted to hear your voice."
"Yeah I know. I'm so glad you call me, Mav. I..." I started. I was going to tell him that I was on my way to Westerville but I couldn't tell him that. For a couple of reasons. I didn't want to fight with Sam about going and I wasn't sure that Mav wanted a face-to-face with me.
"I have to go," he said abruptly.
"What?"
"I'll talk to you soon, ok?"
"But Mav..." I said into the receiver but he was already gone. I listened to the dial tone with disbelief. "That was short," I muttered.
"Is everything alright?" Sam asked in a low tone. I turned to him and his features were emotionally clear.
"I don't know. I wonder what that was about," I said with a brief smile. It didn't make sense that Maverick had been hounding Gordon all day just to ask me if I was going to school. And if he wanted to hear my voice, then why did he hang up so quickly?
"Your guess is probably better than mine," Sam smile crookedly.
"Mmhmm," I murmured. That was true. After my time with Mav, I knew him inside and out. It shouldn't be that complicated to figure out his motivations.
"I'm going to head home," Sam said wrapping his arms around my waist; placing his forehead on mine. "I will pick you up for school tomorrow," he said his lips against my forehead now.
"Ok," I whispered. Sam kissed my temple, bid Gordon goodbye and left. I headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner, my mind miles away. I couldn't get my mind to make sense of that phone call. It wasn't like Maverick to beat about the bush. He was much more of a straight forward creature.
Gordon and I ate dinner, he did the dishes and I grabbed my bags and headed up to my room. I had been tempted to call Maverick back all evening but what would have been the point? It's not like Maverick would have answered or if he did it would have been another brief conversation that wouldn't make a lick of sense.
I unpacked my things, took a long, hot shower before I slipped into my pajamas and into my comfortable and familiar bed. I hit play on the iHome beside my bed and let the melodic vocals of Mariah Carey lull me to sleep.
The next morning I dressed casually in dark wash jeans, a purple and gray plaid shirt, moto boots and a leather jacket. I grabbed a bowl of cereal with Gordon before he left for work. I went out and sat on the front porch to wait for Sam. My mind was so bogged down. I still had that weird ass phone call from Mav in my head and then when I woke up this morning I realized I was back in Lima and I missed my mom. It had been so wonderful to see her.
Sam pulled up and quickly got out and opened my door.
"Good morning," he smiled.
"Morning," I said as I climbed inside. We drove to school in silence except for the music coming from the radio.
"Are you alright?" Sam asked as McKinley came into view.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just having mom withdrawal, you know," I said. He nodded as he pulled into the space in the center of the parking lot.
"Do you regret going?"
"No. It was really great seeing my mom," I told him. "It was just really hard saying goodbye."
"It doesn't have to be goodbye," Sam stated seriously.
"Is that why you asked me to go?" I inquired. "You thought I was going to change my mind?"
"I'm always hoping for that," he smirked, his eyes finding mine. Suddenly, he jerked his head and his eyes began searching the other side of the lot near the entrance.
"What?" I asked.
"If I asked you to stay in the car, would you?" he asked turning back to me. I didn't answered but he also didn't wait for an answer. He pushed his door open and got out. I got out too; for a few reasons. I'm nosy and it was almost time for school. "Of course not," he muttered as we started across the lot. That's when I saw him. Maverick.
"Hey," I said as we met each other.
"Hey," he said in a gruff voice.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was just..."
"He's checking to see if your still human," Sam declared with a taut laugh. I turned to Sam to see if he was joking but he just smiled.
"Look, I'm here to warn you," Maverick declared, directing his attention to Sam who rolled his eyes. "If your kind come on our land again..."
"Wait, what?" I questioned.
"You didn't tell her?" Maverick asked him.
"Just leave it alone, Maverick," Sam demanded.
"Tell me what?" I asked, my attention on Sam now.
"Finn and Matthew had a misunderstanding," Sam explained. "Nothing to worry about." Only I was worried. Finn is a big guy and Matthew is a big wolf and when two big things collide they don't usually end up left in one piece.
"Listen to you. Did you lie to get her out of town too?" Mav alleged, with a morose laugh.
"You should just leave," Sam cautioned, his voice lethal as he got in Maverick's face, "now."
"She has a right to know," Mav countered. "She is the one the redhead wants."
"Scarlett?" I asked anxiously. "Tina's vision." I looked to Sam for answers.
"I was trying to protect you," Sam stated.
"By lying to me?"
"I didn't lie to you, Mercedes. I just...didn't tell you," Sam tried to explain.
"Ok, we'll talk about his later but, you," I said directing my attention back to Maverick. "What was with that weird phone call and then the quick rebuff?" He looked me in the eyes and I don't know what was behind his eyes but he quickly looked away.
"I had nothing else to say," he muttered, folding his across his chest and turning away from me.
"Well, I have tons," I told him as he started to walk back toward his motorcycle, "hold on."
"Mercedes," Sam's soft voice said as he grabbed my arm.
"Just wait here," I said, pulling away. I walked over to where Maverick was standing with his bike. "Pick me up after school today."
"Why?" he asked.
"We have to talk, Mav."
"Fine. I'll be here."
"Thank you," I said as he kick-started his bike and sped off. I turned back to Sam. "Come on," I beckoned. He sighed heavily and grabbed my hand.
On the way past my friends, who walked behind us into school, I overheard their conversation.
"My money's on the big Indian," Jerry said.
"It's Native American and yeah I agree," Greg said. "Did you see the size of that Maverick kid? I think he could take Evans down," he said in a jovial tone.
"I don't think so," Robbie disagreed. "There's something about Sam. He's always so...confident. I have a feeling he can take care of himself."
"I'm with Robbie," this guy they knew named Brady said. "Beside, if that other kid messed up Sam, you know those big brothers of his would get involved."
"Have you been to Westerville lately?" Greg asked. "Sarah and I went to the lake a couple of weeks ago and believe me, Maverick's friends are all just as big as he is."
"Huh," Jerry said. "Too bad it didn't turn into anything. Guess we'll never know how it would have turned out."
"It didn't look over to me," Brady said. "Maybe we'll get to see."
"Anyone in the mood for a bet?" Greg grinned.
"Ten on Maverick," Jerry said.
"Ten on Evans," Robbie said.
"Maverick," Greg said.
"Evans," Brady said as Greg collected the money. "Hey, do you guys know what it was about?" he asked. "That might affect the odds."
"I can guess," Jerry said. They were all quiet for a second. I glanced over my shoulder at them and they all looked away quickly. I rolled my eyes and turned back around.
"I still say Maverick," Jerry muttered.
When we finally got to Mr. Armstrong's English class and took our seats I pulled out a sheet of notebook paper.
What happened? Tell me everything. And screw the protecting me shit, please.
I shoved the note to Sam. He sighed and then began writing. He quickly wrote an entire paragraph in his own personal calligraphy before he slipped it back to me.
Tina saw that Scarlett was coming back. I took you out of town merely as a precaution – there was never a chance that she would have gotten anywhere close to you. Finn and Mike very nearly had her, but Scarlett seems to have some instinct for evasion. She escaped right down the Daculette boundary line as if she were reading it from a map. It didn't help that Tina's abilities were nullified by the Daculette's involvement. To be fair, the Daculettes might have had her, too if we hadn't gotten in the way. The big gray one thought Finn was over the line, and he got defensive. Of course Rachel reacted to that, and everyone left the chase to protect their companion. Will and Mike got things calmed down before it got out of hand. But by then, Scarlett had slipped away. That's everything.
I frowned at the words on the paper. All of them had been in on it – Finn, Mike, Tina, Rachel, Will. Maybe even Emma and Kurt, I don't know, he didn't mention anyone else. Then Matthew and the rest of the Daculette pack. It might have so easily turned into a fight; pitting my future family and my old friends against each other. Any one of them could have been hurt. Picturing Tina or Lauren or Blaine out there next to one of the huge werewolves, fighting...
I shuddered.
What about Gordon? She could have been after him.
Sam shook his head no before I finished writing. He was obviously trying to downplay any danger on Gordon's behalf. He held his hand out and I ignored him.
You can't know that she wasn't thinking that because you weren't here. California was a bad idea.
He slide the paper out from under my hand.
I wasn't about to send you off alone. With your luck, not even the black box would survive.
The thought of going alone had never crossed my mind. I just meant that we should have stayed here together. But I was sidetracked by his response and a little irritated. Like I couldn't fly across the country without bringing the plane down. Very funny, punk.
So let's say my bad luck did crash the plane. What exactly were you going to do about it?
Why is the plane crashing?
He was trying to hide a smile now.
The pilots are passed out drunk.
Easy. I'd fly the plane.
I shot him a side-eye. Of course. I pursed my lips and tried again.
Both engines have exploded and we're falling in a death spiral toward the earth.
I'd wait till we were close enough to the ground, get a good grip on you, kick out a wall and jump. Then I'd run you back to the scene of the accident, and we'd stumble around like the two luckiest survivors in history.
I just looked at him. Speechless.
"What?" he whispered.
I shook my head in awe. "Nothing," I mouthed before going back to the note.
You will tell me next time.
I knew there would be a next time. There would be a next time until someone lost.
Sam stared into my eyes for a long moment. I don't know what my face said but he was thoroughly examining it. I hoped that he could sense the pleading in my eyes. I just wanted to be kept in the loop if the people I cared about were going to be putting themselves in danger. Especially on my behalf.
He sighed and nodded once.
Thanks.
Before I could write anything else, the paper disappeared from under my hand. I looked up and Mr. Armstrong was coming down the aisle.
"Is that something you'd like to share there," Mr. Evans-Schuester?"
Sam looked up innocently and held out the sheet of paper that had been on the top of his desk. "My notes?" he asked, sounding confused.
Mr. Armstrong scanned the notes. Undoubtedly a perfect transcription of his lecture and then walked away; a frown etched on his face.
The rest of the day kind of just sped by. The only interesting thing, that wasn't that interesting, was the bet that the boys had made earlier had spread to the entire senior class. I was literally waiting all day for someone to tell Sam that they bet big money on him so maybe he would rough Maverick up a little bit but not kill him, that would be great.
After school, Sam walked me outside where we waited for Maverick. We heard his bike rumble into the parking lot and he stopped a few feet from where we stood. I took a step and Sam grabbed me by the arm.
"Mercedes..."
"Sam, you have to trust me," I said turning back to face him.
"I do trust you," he sighed. "It's him I don't trust."
"I'll be fine," I whispered as I backed away from him toward Maverick. I pick up the helmet on the back of the bike and climbed on.
"Hey, lose the grin, Maverick. We're just going for a ride," I said annoyed at the fact that I knew he was saying things in head because he knew Sam could hear them.
"Hold on tight," he said as I snaked my arms around his waist and he kick-started the bike. We sped away from the school. I turned back briefly to see Sam. Worry marring his perfect facial features.
When he disappeared, I focused on the road ahead. The scenery passed in long green streaks and the double lines on the road seemed like they were trying to paint themselves on before we caught up to them.
As the bike slowed down, I realized where we were. In the mountains that belong to the reservation. A place I hadn't been in a while. Gail Smith's house.