Disclaimer: I don't own glee.

So this chapter is pretty jumpy. I just want you guys to get the gist of their relationship. I won't jump as much when they're in high school, and especially not during their upperclassmen years. Hope you guys enjoy.

Mercedes tentatively walked into the Jr. High class at her church. She started intermediate school earlier that week and it had been alright. Switching to six classes was a huge change. She exhaled nervously as she entered the room. It was just church, but still, she didn't know what to expect. She looked around the small room and found a few familiar faces. Quinn Fabray, Sam Evans-She met him in Art class-and finally Tina. She smiled hugely and made her way to the asian. They'd grown closer over the years, Brittany didn't go to church, so it was just them.

"Hey!" Mercedes said, voice full of relief.

"Hey!" Tina greeted with a huge hug.

Mercedes looked around, it was not anything like she imagined. The room wasn't all that wide, but it was long, like a Matson container only bigger. There was an air hockey and a foosball table at the back of the room, and in the front there was a small stage with instruments. The wall behind it had a black board covering the entire thing, and kids were drawing on with with chalk.

"This place is pretty cool, huh?" Tina bounced on her toes. Honestly, the dual wanted to be in the Jr. High room because they heard theres all these awesome games in it, and they were right to be excited. Half the wall that was adjacent to the back wall, was also covered with black board. There were all kinds of drawings on it, and it had a cool vibe. The walls that weren't covered with the board were white, and the carpet was a dark shade of green. It had a 'rock' feel to it. Not really Mercedes' style, but she still kinda dug it.

"I want to play foosball, but you need four people." Tina said, service didn't start for another fifteen minutes so they had time to play. Mercedes was about to look around the room to see who else wanted to play when a voice interrupted them.

"Hello!" A friendly face greeted, he was young looking, not their age young but maybe in high school, and Mercedes was instantly drawn to him. He was very handsome. He was taller, way taller than them, brown skin, and dark brown hair that went past his ears. His eyelashes were long, and he had light brown eyes. She just stood there and couldn't say anything.

"Hi." Tina greeted, and bumped her friend on her arm.

"Um, hi." Mercedes said blushing.

"I'm Tyler. Whats your guys' name?"

"Tina." She immediately replied, again, Mercedes just kept standing there staring at one of the hottest guys she'd ever seen. When she noticed he was looking back at her she blushed.

"Mer-Mercedes." She stammered.

"Nice to meet you. You guys just entered middle school?" He asked, looking from girl to girl.

"Yes. You don't look like you're in Junior High." Tina pointed out and he chuckled. Mercedes cocked her head to the side. Even his laugh was so attractive.

"I'm not. Actaully, I'm the Jr. pastor for you kids." Somewhere between 'pastor' and 'kids' Mercedes snapped out of it.

"You're the pastor?" She asked incredulously. "But you're so young!"

"Yes. Would you prefer my dad?" He chuckled and leaned closer, "He could, but it would be boring." He said and her eyes widened. Wow she thought, he smells good, too.

"No, I think we're okay on that." Tina said smiling, and he laughed.

"Okay, well, good to meet you girls." He said shaking their hands. First Tina, then the diva. Even after he was gone, she still had her hand out. Tina giggled.

"Earth to 'Cedes." She waved a hand in front of Mercedes' face.

"Wooooow." Was all she said. Tina let out another laugh, and pulled her friend to the front of the room. On the way to the front, she saw him from the corner of her eye.

"'Cedes!" He greeted loudly, and that was enough for her to completely snap out of it.

"Puck." She said less enthusiastically, nodding her head once at him, but kept moving forward. Tina rose her eyebrows. She never knew if they were friends or not. Now that they weren't in elementary anymore, and they were all going to the same school again, she wanted to see what was going to happen between them because sometimes they'd show they were friends, and sometimes it was cold turkey.

The two girls sat down and talked animatedly about the room and how being in Junior High was going to be the best thing ever! They were sharing what they liked about their classes when Puck sat next to Mercedes.

"A head nod, really?" He asked, leaning into her. She pulled away with a look of disgust.

"I said 'Puck.'" She protested, and he chuckled.

"So you find that Tyler dude hot, huh?" He asked bluntly and she did a double take at him. "Oh don't look at me like you're all innocent and don't know what I'm talking about, I saw you and you couldn't even speak! Tina had to do it for you!" He said laughing harder. Her face got red again.

"Oh so he does see me." Tina muttered

"Shut it, Noah!" Mercedes said.

"Okay, okay. But if you must know, he's only a senior in high school. You have a chance, Merce." he teased.

"Ugh, you're so annoying, get away from me." She said, pushing him away. They continued with their banter till Tyler walked to the front of the room.

"Hey guys, can you all stand so we can sing worship?"

Mercedes thought the worship was great, even if it was a little punk rock. Actually, the whole service was awesome. They had a thing for the incoming Jr. Highers, and even had an icebreaker so everyone could get to know each other. It was awkward but fun. The seventh graders had to stand up and tell everyone their name and whether they 'scrunched' or 'rolled.'

"Whats scrunch or roll?" Sam asked, and Tyler looked excited.

"So glad you asked that. Okay, so say you're done using the bathroom, preferably number two," Mercedes looked at Tina who had the same 'what the heck' expression, and she looked over at Puck who had a hand over his mouth trying to contain his laughter, "And you get the toilet paper out right? How do you do it, do you scrunch it up in a ball, or do you roll it neatly?" When Tyler was done explaining it, Puck bust a gut.

"Classic." He muttered.

"Mercedes, we'll start with you." Mercedes looked around the room at all the other kids who had amused expressions on their faces.

"Um, hi, I'm Mercedes, and I-" She looked around at everyone, not quite sure she was making sense of everything, "I roll?" She said, and everyone giggled in anticipation.

"You roll? You sure?" Tyler said into the mic, and she nodded. All the other leaders, and a few of the other kids roared!

"Another one for roll!" Someone yelled, and Tyler walked over to a board and put another tally mark on the wall, 'Roll' had another 5 points above scrunch. Mercedes sat back down and looked at Puck.

"What the heck?" She asked a bit amused herself, and he laughed.

"Welcome to Jr. High." He said.

The next couple months past by really quick and it was now the beginning of December.

"Hey Mercaydaysss!." Artie rolled up behind her. During the summer before their fifth grade year, he and his mother got into a really bad accident that left him paralyzed.

Mercedes never forgot those weeks he was in the hospital. She spent as much time as she could to be by her best friend and sending tiny prayers for him and his mom. She also never forgot that day in her room when she was on her knees and praying for Artie to be okay.

He was hooked up to a lot of machines and it scared her. He hadn't woke up in a week, and his condition remained the same. Eyes shut tightly, she couldn't get the images out of her head, and was beginning to cry again when she felt someone kneel beside her. She didn't have to look up to know who it was. They had a connection and she just knew he was there, it wasn't so much of an electric feeling as it was an inkling. She felt the weight of his arms as he propped them up on her bed to mimic her praying hands.

"Lord, please, please, let my best friend be okay." She kept repeating, and eventually her throat became sore so she just rocked back and forth.

"Lord, please, please let 'Cedes best friend be okay." She instantly looked up at him. He was continuing the chant for her when she couldn't anymore. He looked so precious with his fingers laced in front of his mouth, eyes shut, and head humbly bowed.

He soon opened his eyes and looked down at Mercedes. He didn't say anything, instead opting to hold her close while she cried in his shoulder. She didn't know how long they stayed like that when her mother came to her room.

"Noah, your father is looking for you." She said lightly knocking on the door.

"Alright. You'll be okay Cedes?" He asked, she looked up at him and nodded. With one last hug he went up to her mom and whispered something to her. After he was gone her mother took his place.

"Artie!" She said, hugging him. Still best friends, ever since the third grade.

"So I've been working on your gift, girl. You better like it." He said.

"I'm sure I will." She said smirking.

"Need a ride to class?" He asked and she giggled, "I'll pack you."

"Okay," She said sitting on his lap sideways and hooking her fingers around his neck. She looked up and saw Puck looking at them. That was also something she'd never get used to. Anywhere she looked, he'd be standing there, watching her. Not in a creeper way, she never got that vibe, but in a reassuring way. He'd often glance in her direction, and she somehow picked up that habit, too. But once they made eye contact, he'd look away, like it was all he needed to see. She'd look away too, but every once in a while Mercedes would look back to see if he would glance her way again, but he never did.

It was now Christmas morning, and Mercedes was so excited. She opened her presents and she got clothes, movies, and a few games. She was so in awe of her new homemade picture frame that had a picture of her and her three closest friends, along with the fashion kit Artie gave her for Christmas that she didn't hear Puck come over.

"All right!" The JJ's yelled when he came over bearing gifts. She immediately turned around.

"Puck!" Jennifer said, hugging him. "I didn't think you'd walk over." She went over to the tree and gave him a large box with all his gifts in it. Michael then appeared with a video camera from upstairs and walked over to Puck.

"Hey, son. Merry Christmas." He greeted, and Puck gave him a fist bump.

"You too. I have something for you guys." He said, reaching for a box that he placed on the table. When they opened it, they smiled wider.

"Aw, Puck, its lovely thank you." Jennifer said looking at the silver picture frame with a picture of the couple from his birthday party a few months back. It really was her favorite picture, she'd been nagging Noah Sr. for a copy of it and she finally got it. Puck smiled smugly.

"I didn't know what to get you guys, but I remembered when you came over to my dad's you asked him for the picture. He couldn't give it to you because my grandmother wanted to keep it for her scrapbook with all the neighbors, but I stole it from her. She wasn't using them anyways, she wouldn't notice." He said, and Jennifer put a hand over her heart.

"You shouldn't steal, but thank you." She said kissing the top of his head.

"Where's ours?" Jensen asked, crossing his arms. He handed them their gifts with a smile on his face. Mercedes didn't see what it was, she didn't care, because now in her view was a purple gift bag with sparkly tissue paper.

"And, uh, this is yours, 'Cedes." He said rubbing the back of his neck as he handed it to her.

When she opened it, her eyes widened. He got he a purple watch, and sparkly hair pins.

"I, uh, I remembered your favorite color was purple. I also remembered you wanted to trade Quinn her pink watch for one of your bags, so I figure why not get you a watch, but in your favorite color? Plus you could still keep your bags, and I know how much you love hair pins, but… my mom helped me get those." He chuckled nervously. He didn't want to seem so lame. Relief washed over him as she threw her arms around him.

"I love it." She pulled away and grabbed the watch. "Help me put this on, will you?" He agreed and placed it on her wrist gently.

All this didn't go unnoticed by Jennifer Jones. She had her hands over her chest, she couldn't help the thudding in her heart. She was a hopeless romantic, and she could see these kids had potential.

"If they want to date each other then just let them go!" Puck yelled at Mercedes as soon as they were dropped off from their 'mini church'. It was like small group and there is one leader, they get together, talk about their week and the sermon they had the previous Sunday. There were about ten of them in one group.

"No, Tina's my friend, she can't date Sam." She said, arms crossed.

"I don't see why you have to get involved is all I'm saying." Puck said, crossing his arms as well.

"Because they're-"

"Your friends, but there really was no need for you to bring it up in group today." He said. "Are you bummed she's dating Sam and you're not?" He asked softly with a slightly teasing tone.

"Sam…" She scoffed, "Sam Evans? Are you kidding me?!" She asked incredulously.

"Well… why were you so worked up?" He questioned.

"Because I don't want her to have a boyfriend yet. She's my friend." Puck shook his head at her.

"Do you hear yourself?" He asked. "She's not your only friend, you know?"

"I have Artie, and Brittany, but thats it. It was always us four, and I have a feeling Brittany and Artie like each other too. So that leaves just me." She admitted.

"Why are you so concerned about who other people are liking?"

"Why aren't you?"

"Because its lame worrying about other people." He said, with his Puck attitude.

"So you don't worry about me?" She didn't know why she asked, but it just came out.

"What? No." He puffed out his chest, "Why would I?" He asked.

"Good. Because I don't care about you either." She retorted, running back in her house. But truth be told, she was starting to like Puck. He was an ass to everyone, but sometimes she liked to think she was his exception. They had a connection that she swore he felt too, seeing that he's always looking at her or smirking at her. It hurt that he said he didn't care about her. And why would he? She was just some dumb girl with frizzy braids.

If only she knew that her thoughts were so wrong. Puck didn't want to worry about girls, especially not of someone he's not even dating. But he was slowly finding out he didn't have a choice because he cared about her. Big time.

"Mercedes, this is the first time you're riding a plane?!" Puck asked incredulously. They were in line for security check at the airport. It had been a few months since the 'worrying' incident, and like almost everything else in their friendship, they let bygones be bygones.

"Yes."

"Are you nervous?" He asked. It was spring break, and their church was heading to New York for a "mission" trip. The group was mixed with high school and Jr high students, so she was nervous. None of her friends were going. She only knew Tom, who was the youth's leading pastor, and Puck. Same thing went for Puck, he didn't know anyone other than Mercedes, so they already made a pact that they'd hang out with each other the whole time.

"Okay guys, stay close. Remember we're meeting at that second bench until everyone's through security." Carl, a high school leader, called out to the group. Everyone nodded their understandings.

"A little. I don't know what to expect." She shrugged, finally answering.

"Take off is fun. And the flight isn't so long, you'll be fine." He responded, grabbing a bucket for her, then himself to put his belongings in.

"What if I need to pee?!" She widened her eyes.

"They have bathrooms." He rolled his eyes fondly.

"No, but what if something happens and I fall through the toilet, and-" Puck turned around to put his hands on her shoulders.

"Will you relax? You'll be fine." He said, caressing her cheek a little in reassurance.

"Right." She said, her heart rate picking up and those stupid feelings were fighting its way back to the surface.

They arrived in New York at 8 p.m. Everyone was excited and a little hungry. Once they got their two rental bus vans, they went to a McDonald's drive thru.

"Okay guys, we're staying at a local youth center from one of our sister churches. Theres two rooms. I want girls in one, and boys in the other." Tom announced.

Mercedes looked at Puck apprehensively, she was painfully shy and didn't want to separate from the only person she really knew. Still, after they arrived to the center, she made it to the "girls' room" and it was nice. The room was big, with a few couches and a soft carpet. It wasn't like their own youth room that was loud. This room was understated, and almost child proof. If someone were to fall on the floor, they'd be fine because the carpet was so thick. Since there were eleven girls in all, everyone decided it was only fair that everyone slept on the ground. The girls around her were teaming with friends, stacking their blankets and sleeping bags so the ground was even softer. She bit her lip. Where would she sleep? By herself in a corner? It was a sarcastic thought, but somehow thats where she found herself. The closest person to her was two feet away. After she made her 'bed', she immediately went to the main room and sat on the couch. The guys were already hogging the T.V. She observed the chaos around her for a moment before she tried to look for any familiar faces that she might've missed; she didn't see any. She'd seen the dark-red headed girl around a lot, she was always talking to Tyler at church. Then she looked to her friends that were standing by her in a circle, beautiful, skinny and blonde. She already didn't feel comfortable.

"Hey!" Puck came up behind her, and it made her jump.

"Gah! Puckerman!" Mercedes yelled with a hand over her chest. He was laughing and when she looked forward again, everyone was looking at them. Immediately blushing, she looked at her nails, hoping to just sink in the couch until she disappeared.

The rest of the trip went by horribly. She made a new friend, but it was still pretty awkward, and she had no intention at all of keeping in touch with her. It also sucked that everywhere they went, the boys were separated from the girls, except for the big events, or dinners that the pastors invited them to, so Puck was hardly around. They shared three lunches in the week that they were there, and even then he was talking to some guy. The more Puck blended in, the more she felt like she stood out. But its not like she didn't try, because she did, it was just hard. The girls around her intimidated her, but they were nice, which made it even more intimidating. Pretty girls that were sweet? That was hard to come by.

Mercedes kept tossing and turning and it was irritating her. The events in the past week was making her really tired, but she couldn't sleep. She reached for her phone to see what time it was: 3:54 a.m. Sighing, she walked to the main room and laid on the floor. The couches felt a better company than the girls in the room anyways. Puck came out not five minutes later and saw her on the floor, he walked over to the couch she was by.

"Mercedes?" He hissed.

"What?"

"What are you doing up?" He made his way around the couch and sat by where she was laying.

"Can't sleep." She replied simply. "What about you?" She turned to face him.

"Same." He said, adjusting himself so he was laying on his back. He looked at her face, and from the light seeping in the room from the moonlight he could sense how lonely she felt. He stayed there a moment before an idea hit him.

"Be right back." He said while getting up, and she looked at him curiously.

Without another word, he snuck in her room, grabbed her sleeping bag, gave it to her, then he went and did the same for his own. When he came back she was still getting settled in, and he did the same.

"So how are you liking it?" Puck was now wrapped in his sleeping bag and facing her, they'd been talking about the people they met and the food they ate.

"Its good." She lied.

"You're lying." He said, with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face. It was now 5:00, she figured he was drifting, but so was she.

"I'm not. We got to walk in Central Park, and that was awesome. Its so pretty. Then they took us to Times Square." She said with a small smile of her own. Times Square was beautiful, especially at night, the colors were… like nothing she'd ever seen.

"I bet you loved that." He replied opening his eyes. Even through her fatigue he could see she loved it. Mercedes did love color, after all.

"I did." She snuggled deeper into her sleeping bag. Her eyelids were getting really heavy. "I want to go again." She admitted, and he smiled wider.

"We should sneak out tomorrow night." Her eyes flew open.

"No, we can't do that Noah!" She hissed and he rolled his eyes.

"Why not? Tomorrow night is our last night, we should make it count!"

"Um, no! Besides, we're only in Jr. High, and even if that weren't a factor, how would we get there?" Puck smiled mischievously.

"Tom did the wrong thing today. He taught us to hail a taxi."

"What, why?"

"Well, I wanted to see how it was done in New York, and he did it for us. You just stick your arm out really. But you have to be fast. Those suckers only give you about three seconds to jump in, if you're lucky." He said, and she shook her head with a small smile on her face.

"We can't." Mercedes answered, but the idea did seem entertaining to her.

Apparently, somewhere along the line, they fell back asleep, and the next thing they knew, Tom and Carl were shaking them awake.

"You guys can't be here alone." Carl said, and Mercedes wiped the sleep from her eyes. She looked over at Puck who was currently sitting up, still wrapped like a burrito, and she was in a curled position. She looked around and noticed a few kids were heading to the bathroom with their toiletries.

"Were you guys out here all night?" Tom asked. They both shook their heads. Mercedes thought they were overreacting, the main room is what connected the two rooms! What could they do, really?

"Maybe since about five." She lied, it was more like since four. Her and Puck were in completely innocent positions, she didn't see what was wrong. Then she looked again, they weren't even a foot apart! She was facing him, and she assumed he was facing her. The way he was sitting up suggested he was.

"Why were you guys out here?" Carl asked. Their tones weren't rude, but stern.

"Talking." Puck spoke for the first time. "We were excited to head home, and we couldn't sleep. I found her out here by herself, and since we couldn't turn on the T.V without disturbing everyone, we just decided to talk."

"Oh okay, I understand, but next time, you guys will just have to wait in your rooms. Sorry, but those are the rules." Carl said, and Tom nodded, offering to help them up.

"Psst!" Mercedes hissed at a sleeping Puck. She looked nervously around the room at the boys scattered everywhere. "Psst." She hissed again while shaking him, and he jumped awake. She almost fell back from the sudden movement.

"Mercy?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Still up to steal away into Times Square?" She asked and he instantly grinned.

"Duh." He replied, fully awake.

"Well, hurry up and get dressed." She encouraged and he stood up quickly, forgetting he only had boxers on.

"Jeez Puckerman!" She hissed and threw her hand over her eyes, but still peeking through a little bit. He put his hands on his hips, doing a circular motion and wiggling his eyebrows. "Stop messing around!" She removed her hand from her face and grinned. When he continued his silliness she swatted his chest.

Five minutes later and the teens were sneaking past the main room. Tom was laid out on the couch, mouth wide open and spread completely out. Like he was sky diving or something.

"Guess we were the ones to cause that." Puck nodded at the exhausted leader.

Hailing a taxi was harder than either any of them anticipated.

"Tom made it look so easy." Puck said, trying again. Mercedes looked around, and they were in a pretty peaceful environment for New York. There was a park across the street, and actual homes surrounding them.

"I've never noticed how quiet New York can get." She said, looking around.

"Its still a little loud, and a little bright at least compared to Lima."

"Yeah, but its surreal. Contrast the big lights and booming music that comes from the square to this place, its nice." She said putting her hands in her jacket pocket.

"You think this is nice? I have something to show you." Puck eagerly grabbed her hand and led her behind the church. It was a little creepy, but oddly she trusted Puck. Another few minutes passed before she spoke up.

"Where are we going?"

"Don't worry, we're almost there." He replied. She looked around and noticed they crossed a few backyards. When they arrived where they needed to be, she gasped.

"I didn't realize how close to the ocean we were."

"Yeah, Carl showed this to us today."

"Wow." The lights from the city more up north were shining on the water, and it left pretty colors. When she looked up at where the lights came from it was almost like a skyline. She couldn't see it very well, but the outline of it was still breathtaking.

"I know." He said, finally letting go of her hand, "Did you still want to go to the Square?" Mercedes shook her head.

"I want to go swimming." She said, taking off her jacket.

"What?" He asked incredulously.

"Oh like you've never skinny dipped before." She replied, kicking off her shoes, and he immediately imitated her actions. Okay, so she still had her underwear on, Puck didn't mind. He was thrilled and it was one of the funnest nights of his life. It turned out to be completely unexpected, and pretty kick ass. Sure, it was cold, but their bodies became immune to it after a while and being at the beach was really refreshing. It was even relaxing, chilling with a girl who you could be real with, and have the quietness, the only sounds coming from the waves and their talking. What excited him the most was sneaking back into the church, having to sneak past Tom again. Dawn was breaking thought and they needed to change their clothes in time. Puck thought if they were to get caught, it would've been worth it.

The more Mercedes went to mini church or to service and Puck was there, she wasn't just getting closer to God, but to him as well. They were now pretty good friends. They helped each other with whatever problems they had, and later that year Puck lost his father.

Puck had been avoiding everything, including Mercedes. She'd call, and walk over to his dad's house, but Puck's grandmother would say he wasn't there. She even walked to Finn's house to see if he was there, they were practically brothers, after all. But Finn hadn't seen him since he heard about his father. It was a few days and panic was really starting to take over when Mercedes decided to visit his mother's house. She got off the bus and walked across the street to his house, squaring her shoulders and praying he was there, she knocked on the door.

"Mercedes!" His mother, Jamie, said.

"Hello Aunt Jamie." Even if that wasn't her real aunty, it didn't matter. "Is Puck here?" She asked and his mother nodded.

"He's in his room, you can go on up." She motioned to the stairs. His mother's place was even smaller than her own. Mercedes had a three-bedroom that often felt cramped, while Puck had two, and he had two brothers and a nephew. Thats why he liked being at his dad's, there was always extra space for him. She made it up the carpet-clad stairs and stopped in front of the second door on the right. He was kneeling by the side of his bed, hands up in prayer mode. She was a having a sense of deja vu when she silently walked in.

She knelt beside him, and he slowly looked over at her. She just looked at him softly, then faced the same direction he was in, copying the same motions with her hands, then bowed her head. Without any other word, he continued praying. When he was done crying, she said one from the heart.

"Father, I thank you for Noah. I know what he's going through is hard, but I want you to remind him that he has people here for him. He's entering high school, and this is the moment he'll need his father, but remind him in your grace that there are people here who could help him, and that he could look to you. I know that no one could take the place of papa Noah, but just know that someone will always be there to guide him. Please, please, please let my best friend be okay." She finished. Puck was trying to hold it together, but by the end, he broke down. She opened her arms and he took in her hug. Though she was shorter than him, it was still effective. He faced her and deepened the hug. He was now holding her, but he didn't care about being held. He just needed someone with him, and he was glad she had the mind to be there. About five minutes later, he stopped. He pulled back and his tears were in her hair, he looked at her face and tears were also on her round apple cheeks. He sighed, and smiled slightly at her.

"Sorry." He grimaced, and she reached up to wipe his tears. She shook her head with a small smile letting him know it was okay.

"Will you lie with me?" He asked. It wasn't manly, but he needed her touch and he felt spent, plus he didn't want to be alone. She nodded. He got up and pulled her up with himself. After lifting the covers, he motioned for her to go in first, then he followed.

Once they got settled in, she had her head on his chest, and his cheek was on her head. He put his arm around her, and rubbed a hand up and down the length of her arm while her other arm was draped lazily across his stomach. They didn't say anything, and he felt her lightly kiss his chest. That was the first time he'd cuddled with a girl, and though it wasn't 'badass', it was comforting. He fell asleep with her in his arms, and when he woke up she was gone.