I don't own glee.

So this chapter is going to be a little jumpy (again, but not as much). This focuses a lot on Puckcedes, obviously, and I just want you guys to get a gist of what they're like over their early years. So, bear with me.

"So let me get this straight. You didn't kiss him." Mercedes jumped. She was in her room doing her homework. She didn't hear anyone come upstairs.

"Puckerman! What are you doing in my house?" She asked.

"The JJ's let me in." He walked over and plopped himself on her bed which was right next to the desk she was sitting at. "So why didn't you kiss him?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I find it interesting. I thought you liked him." She rolled her eyes. He was now laying on her bed, smelling her sheets. They smelt fresh.

"I do, but when the time came, it just didn't feel it." She put her pen down and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know how much he likes me, but I got scared, he's my friend, I don't know how I truly feel. And would you stop smelling my sheets?! Its weird."

"So not like that then."He ignored her protest, and stated a statement, not a question. Puck hardly asked questions about her, most times he just knew.

"No I guess not. Can you leave now?" He smoothed down his shirt and shook his head.

"No. I hope you're planning on telling him sooner rather later."

"Can't you talk to him?" She asked in vain and he laughed.

"Good luck with that one." He said getting up to leave. When he was gone, she took in a big breath, he was right, she needed to tell him sooner.

Mercedes hung up the phone feeling a million times better than she did before. It was a little awkward telling Finn that she didn't mind hanging out with him, it was just she didn't think she felt like she could be with him because her feelings weren't at that level yet. She felt bad because when she agreed to go out with, she said she liked him to prove a point to Puck and Finn was standing right there, but he understood and agreed to sticking with just friends. He was happy she told him sooner, that way he wouldn't set himself up. All in all, he called her a good friend for letting him know, and they left it at that. She closed her eyes in relief. Further proof there was a God.

A few months passed by, and Mercedes couldn't believe how quickly time flew. It was now February, and she didn't have anyone to spend Valentine's day with, not like thats brand new information, but it still sucked. She was in high school, and she wanted it to be different.

"Hey 'Cedey." Artie came up behind her. She was at her locker.

"Oh hey, boo." She greeted.

"Whats wrong?" She couldn't lie to him, no matter if she tried or not.

"Valentine's day." Artie's head tilted made his mouth in an 'o' in totally understanding. His head was facing her, but his eyes were on the floor.

"Actually, thats why I came by." He turned his eyes back at her. "I wanted to know if you wanted to be my valentine?"

"You just made that up. Besides, what about Brittany?" Artie looked down. They'd all been on a bit of shaky grounds lately in terms of friendship, but Artie and Brittany had something more going on. It was apparent on every given level.

"Eh, we lost her, but I still have hope for my dancing princess. She'll come around. She'll see what a knock out I am, come back to her senses, and we'll wheel off into the sunset." He said far off, and Mercedes laughed, bringing him back to the present. "And no I didn't just make that up! C'mon, you know boys, so you know we're not capable of coming up with that idea when a girl is feeling in the dumps, let alone come up with that question in two seconds." He stated and she chuckled. "So what do you say? We don't even have to be lovers, we could just be friends."

"Sure, I'd like that." She said, and he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Cool. You'll feel like a queen." He said matter-of-factly, and she giggled.

"Boy what am I going to do with you?"

"Well, aren't you going to tell me you're going to make me feel like a king?" He pouted, and she threw her head back, laughing harder.

Puck looked down the hall and saw that Artie was holding Mercedes' hand, and kissing it. What was the dork doing? Puck was sick of showing up sporadically in her life, and frankly, it was getting old. He pulled out his phone and called Quinn. She mentioned them being together for Valentine's, and he didn't consider it, though he told her he would. But here and now, he made up his mind. The other line rang twice before she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Quinn, baby. So you, me... Valentine's day?" He pulled away the phone when she squealed in delight, and despite himself, he let out a chuckle when she agreed. "Okay, see you beautiful."

Mercedes put her books away then turned to go to the girls' restroom. On her way there, she saw something very interesting. Puck had hi arm draped around Quinn's shoulders, but that wasn't the interesting part, it was that he was staring at her while Quinn was talking animatedly amongst their friends.

Mercedes learned a long time ago that they were on the opposite ends of the scale, her and Puck. He was a jock, popular, a womanizer. She wasn't athletic, she had friends, but not everyone knew her the way they did Puck, and she was conservative. She was in high school, and she never even kissed anyone. Sure Finn was just as popular as Puck, but Finn was a true dork at heart, and everyone knew it, plus he didn't care about popularity as much as Puck did so things were more straight up with him. It didn't surprise her in the least Quinn and Puck were together, she wouldn't be shocked if they done the deed. She didn't want to think of that, it was too disgusting. But him and Barbie sure did make sense. After she was done in the bathroom she made her way to the cafeteria where her friends were.

"Okay, so I was thinking we could jam at the lake for Valentine's." Artie said to his friends, it was lunch they were sitting in the cafeteria, surprisingly Brittany was there, too.

"Really? That sounds totally random." Tina said, "Why?" She asked looking at an intrigued Mercedes.

"Well, I know Mercedes likes volunteering at her church to babysit, so I was doing a little research, and they're having a little thing for the sixth graders where they could take a date, and theres going to be all kinds of things for them. Including us singing." He said slyly eyeing Mercedes. He looked fully at her when he saw she was smiling.

"That sounds awesome!" She said. It really did. She never thought about doing something like that, and it was infinitely better than going to the movies, or having dinner. They were giving back and she still got to hang out with her best friend and do something she loves to do: sing.

"So that sounds good?!" He asked excitedly, and she nodded, "Good, because I sort of already signed us up. I'll be playing guitar, and you can sing while I back you up."

"That sounds great."

"And they end at seven, but we can leave when our set is over. We start at four and we'll be there for about an hour. Its supposed to be really small, so we won't have to set anything up really, then we could catch dinner on me. Of course." Artie said, more sure of himself, and she nodded.

"Okay master planner!" Mercedes was definitely excited for valentine's day.

"I don't know. I'd rather be having sex." Everyone looked at Brittany like she was crazy, except Artie who looked apprehensive. They couldn't believe she'd actually say that aloud.

"What?" She asked, clearly confused at everyone's flabbergasted expressions.

"Discretion." Tina said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder, and Brittany looked even more confused.

"What does traveling have to do with sex?" Mercedes rolled her eyes fondly. Figured Brittany would be the one person to confuse discretion and direction.

Valentine's day finally came, good thing it was a Wednesday because school got out early and that meant she had time to shower. She already had her hair semi how she wanted it and it still looked really clean, so she didn't have to wash that. After she was done, she got dressed. She wore a cute sweetheart cut pink dress, with a black, high cut cardigan that had these lace sleeves that Tina absolutely loved on Mercedes. She threw on dark wedges, a pair of inconspicuous chandelier earrings and bangles. She curled her hair a little and pinned back on side. With a light touch of make up and her perfume, she was ready.

She walked down to faint voices that came to a complete halt when she arrived at the bottom.

"Oh honey, you look gorgeous!" Her mother said gripping her face.

"Thanks, mom."

"My, my, my I know Artie's been your friend for a long time, but I might have to keep you in tonight and not let you go till your skin is old and wrinkling." Her father said on a chuckle. He adored Artie, he really did, and when he found out she was going on a Valentine's date with him, he counted his blessings.

"Dad, stop!" She said lightly.

"Whoa! You do look great." Jensen said.

"We're going to have to talk to young Artie." Jacob said agreeing. She twirled a last time, and when she stopped she saw Puck coming from the kitchen.

"WHA-!" Puck exclaimed suddenly, then controlled his emotion. "Nice dress." He said, trying to sound casual, leaning against a small table. Mrs. Jones chuckled lightly to herself at his actions then looked at Mercedes but she wasn't looking at him, she was looking at her dress as she smiled wider.

"I know." She responded and he smiled slightly. She looked really nice, then it occurred to him, it was Valentine's.

"Where are you going?" He swiftly asked.

"Um, with Artie, he's my valentine!" She said, and he shook his head.

"Didn't he already give you flowers at school today?" He asked and she motioned to the bouquet of daisies on the table he was leaning on.

"Yep, all my favorites." It had daisies, lilies, and catililies with an array of colors, from yellow, light orange, green, purple.

"Oh, so now he has to take you out?"

"We're going to the lake. We're singing for an event that the church is holding for the sixth graders. It should be fun. Then after we're going to dinner. So if you'll excuse me-mom!-" She called the woman who had small tears in her eyes, "Can you drive me there?" She eagerly nodded and pulled Mercedes out of the house without saying anything further.

After Puck could even process what just happened they were out of his house. He thought she and Artie were just friends and now they're going out together on Valentine's?

"So what are you doing today? Aren't you taking Quinn out tonight?" Jensen asked. They were now sitting on the couch watching some basketball game.

"Yeah. Is Mercedes and Artie together now or something?" He internally slapped himself.

"No, I don't think so. I think they both needed a date, and there you have it." He said shelving popcorn in his mouth. "YES!" He cheered when Howard dunked the ball. "Thats my man!" He yelled. Puck rolled his eyes.

"I gotta go man." He clapped a hand on Jensen's shoulder, and grabbed his jacket.

"Don't forget to wrap it up tonight." He winked back and his friend.

"Like I ever do." He chuckled then left the house.

Puck set out to get ready for his date. He wore a tight fitting long sleeve shirt and jeans. He flexed his muscles in the mirror, he really was toning up, but he felt like he was missing something, but what? He had the perfect cheerleader girlfriend who everyone knew and loved, he was on the football team, popular, and girls loved him. Things at home with his mom was okay, and his friendships were going smoothly. Well, all except one, but he wouldn't think of that. With one last look in the mirror he was out of there.

Quinn and Puck arrived at the movies at 7:30, they had just finished their dinner, and she already promised him that tonight would be his lucky night. That motivated him to do whatever sappy crap she wanted to do tonight, that sounded piggish, but he was a guy, he had needs! They were in the concession line when he heard her laugh. He turned and looked by the bathrooms to see Artie wheeling Mercedes… on his lap! Puck flexed his jaw. This guy had moves!

Apparently seeing them together made him fidget because Quinn was now yanking on his arm.

"What are you doing baby?" She asked. "Why are you so jumpy?"

"I don't know, maybe I'm just excited for the movie." He said quickly.

"For 'The Vow'? Aw babe, thats so romantic." She tip toed to his height, "Then later I'll see just how romantic you can be." She whispered seductively, followed by a flick of his ear with her tongue. Puck immediately forgot about Mercedes and pulled the blonde closer.

"Mmm, I know you'll like that." He said, slapping her ass a good one and she squealed.

The movie really was sappy as fuck. How the fuck was he supposed to follow that act? Channing Tatum being so romantic, and muscular, and hopelessly devoted… it was making Puck sick. But every time Quinn looked over at him, he'd smile politely but that got old real quick. He started kissing her neck, and she squirmed a little.

"Puck!" She hissed, then released a giggle. But he didn't stop, he just kept going, adding his tongue and sucking it a little. Making a hickey. She was trying to hold in her giggles, but eventually they came out.

"Shhhh!" Someone hissed.

Puck decided enough was enough and he focused back on the screen. Just then Quinn moved in closer to him, and it took everything in him not to move away. Some chick was crying a few seats down from him, and Channing Tatum was saying some speech about loving her, Quinn was cuddling as close as she could and it was just too much for him, he didn't want to be mean, but he needed out.

"Babe, I have to go to the bathroom." He said, getting up.

"Okay." She muttered.

Once he was outside the auditorium, he took a deep breath. Boy that movie blew. He walked out to use the bathroom, and saw Mercedes walking to the bathroom from her auditorium with a small smile on her lips.

"Hey!" He shouted, and he clearly scared her.

"Gah! Puck?!" She said and he smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on a date."

"Oh, well, cool." She continued on to the bathrooms.

"Why are you here? I thought you were going to the lake to volunteer for the church? Were you lying to your mother?" He asked in mock disappointment.

"Shut it. We got out of the event by 6:00, so we grabbed dinner and now we're here." He smiled, he never knew why she always did that. Told him details that he really didn't need to know. But she wouldn't be Mercedes if she didn't, and he liked that. Where as Puck tried to be vague as possible so people would wonder, she liked saying how she came to be. She had nothing to hide because even stating every detail, she was still fascinating. How do you come by that?

"Interesting." Now he was just stalling.

"Yes, and I really like the movie we're watching, so I need to hurry back, and I can't do that if you're standing here blocking me from the urinals." She said, and again he smiled. She never failed to do that. And of all the words she could've said, she chose urinals.

"Sorry. My movie's a drag… so I'm trying to drag this out as long as possible." He admitted, and it was her turn to smile.

"Thats rude."

"What can I say?"

"Well, yes. You are Noah Puckerman. Thats a reason on its own." She smirked, and pushed past him.

"Do you need a ride home?" He asked, and she turned to face him. He later remembered he was going back to Quinn's.

"No. We got it covered, but thanks." She said, rushing quickly into the bathroom.

"So you and Quinn done the deed last night?" Jensen asked and Puck nodded. "Dude, she's beautiful. And head cheerleader?! When'd you get so lucky?"

"Ha-ha." Puck said. And in all honesty, it was a good night. Quinn had really soft skin, and nice eyes, and sure she lacked in some departments, but other than that, she was a good fuck. Point blank.

"You forget that the women love dear 'ol Puckasaurus here!" Jacob laughed at Puck's hip thrust.

"Whatever, I'm getting a coke. You guys want one?" The boys nodded at Jacob and went to playing Call of Duty.

"So are you guys an item now?" Jensen asked.

"Yeah, sure, I think so. And a girl thats DTF… why not?" He shrugged, and Jensen rolled his eyes.

"Hey." Puck froze at the feminine voice and perked up, forgetting the game momentarily.

"Well if it isn't the pretty girl I saw at the movies last night." Puck said, facing her. "I see I made an impression."

"Yeah okay, thats why you came to my house?" She teased lightly, a tiny smile gracing her face.

"Just couldn't get enough of you, hot mama." He winked.

"Okay, thats my sister." Jacob said with wide eyes, looking grossed out, he made it back from the kitchen and plopped himself on the chair. Mercedes sat next to him on the couch, exhaling deeply as she landed.

"Whats your deal?" Jacob asked, eyeing his sister.

"No deal." She responded.

"Um, so are you done dicking around so we can get back to the game?" Jensen asked a little annoyed. He kept playing, and was failing miserably because his partner wasn't paying attention.

"Jake, you want to take over?" Puck asked.

"Aw hell, if you're giving him the remote, we're rebooting, I wanna beat his ass." Jensen turned to his twin with a challenging smirk.

"Game on, brother." Jake responded. Puck and he traded spaces, which led Puck to sit next to Mercedes. They watched the game another few minutes before he turned to her.

"So how was your night?" He asked. Looking down briefly at her boobs before making it back up to her face. The couch was small, so they were touching shoulders

"It was fun." She shrugged, sipping her hot chocolate.

"Oh really now? Singing for a bunch of sixth graders, that must be really fun, huh?"

"Yes, and it helps that you and said person you were singing with have amazing vocal chemistry."

"Vocal chemistry?" Puck laughed, "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, that Artie and I, our voices just melt together, and we sound really amazing. When it comes to harmonizing, it doesn't take much effort." She shrugged. "I figure it would be self explanatory, but obviously not."

"Funny." Puck said. For some reason, he couldn't get melt together, and sound really amazing out of his head. "Do you like him?"

"No. He's my best friend."

"Right." He said looking from her face to the floor.

"Well, who were you at the movies with?"

"Quinn." She started to face her body more toward his direction, face full of interest.

"Oh, and hows that going? I thought I heard about you two being together now." She observed.

"From who?" He really wanted to know… for reasons.

"Puck, seriously? You guys are really popular, it was bound to be news one way of the other." She sighed, "I think its good. Dating at the top of the pyramid and all that." She clapped him on the leg and he looked at it as casually as he could muster.

"You finally got everything you wanted. Well, I gotta go meet Artie, we're supposed to practice singing." She said standing, and Puck couldn't help where his eyes went. She was leaving after all.

"Have fun with chemistry boy." He smirked and she turned back to him, sticking out her tongue.

"Oh shut up." He smirked, then thought about what she said, 'You finally have everything you wanted.' That may be true, but he still felt like something was missing. He knew what that was, but he wasn't ready to admit it because it would never happen.

Puck starting to actually like her. Like, like her, like her. She was pretty smart, and apparently just as Godly as Mercedes was. She was pretty, and popular, and a lot of people just wanted to be her friend. She had a snarky attitude that Puck was often drawn to, but it was mostly times like these that he kept her around.

Puck continued thrusting into the now screaming blonde. She was face down, ass up, and he was gripping her hair. With a few more pumps, he felt the familiar tightening in his abs just as she clenched harder around him and that drove him to go faster.

"Mmmm, yes!" She exclaimed, "Faster!" She begged and he obliged. After a while of pure ecstasy, they both came.

"Damn." She said when they were done. She had a tiny smirk on her face as she laid down on the bed, with him following.

"Damn." He said back at her. She began stroking his mohawk.

"I love you, Puck." She said suddenly, and clamped a hand over her mouth. "I know you think its too soon, but I knew we were bound to be together eventually." He didn't know what to think just now. Did she just say what he thought she did? He removed the hand from her mouth.

"I love you, too." He replied, not too sure if he really meant it seeing he just admitted to himself while pounding in her that he was really starting to like her.

Puck and Quinn walked hand-in-hand down the halls and people did a double-take at them. Puck looked over at Quinn who had her head held high and a smug smirk on her face. Of course she'd be happy, she lived for popularity just as much as Puck did, if not more. They were only sophomores, and they were getting all this attention. Then he spotted Mercedes a few lockers down and he noticed her give them a double look also, he couldn't handle the smug smirk at her actions as he pretended he didn't notice her at all and opened his locker. It was an asshole move, he knew that.

"Here we have Quinn Fabray and Noah Puckerman making them all official! After their valentine's date, we weren't sure, but her we are. An official hand hold." They both turned to see JBI with his microphone and camera. "So tell us, are you guys really the new power couple?" he waved his mic back and forth between the two, and Puck stopped it in front of him.

"You see us holding hands, what do you think?" He thought it was funny hand holding was more official than sex. He pressed his lips together and looked back toward Mercedes, his badasstitude in full effect.

"So it is true. We heard a rumor that you were both just canoodling in the front of the school. Cozy, cozy." He commented wiggling his eyebrows.

"JBI we don't have time for this. We have other business to take care of." Quinn sighed in a bored tone and looked up at Puck, and he didn't miss the lustful look in her eyes.

"And by business you mean-"

"Move it!" Puck pushed him aside and grabbed Quinn's hand, making their way to the auditorium.

Seems as though everything Puck wanted he got, and Mercedes was happy for him, its just… she wanted him to realize that all of this was superficial, and none of it really mattered.

"Hey Mercedes." She turned around to see Sam standing there.

"Hey Sam." She said, they didn't talk much, but they had almost the same classes every year, and it was needless to say they considered each other acquaintances in the least.

"Are we still on for tutoring? You know english isn't my best suit because of my dyslexia and I need all the help I could get." He shelved his hand in his pocket.

"Sam you know I got you." She smiled up at him. Sam was really cute, he had nice eyes and was tall like Puck.

"Cool, see you." He said rubbing a hand on her arm.

"See you."

The rest of the year went by uneventfully, and summer came and went, nothing really changed. Mercedes was returning to McKinley as a sophomore, and she needed to make quick changes. She needed to start looking for groups and clubs that were beneficial to her college applications. Looking at the school's club bulletin board, she saw it, Glee sign ups. How had she not seen it last year? In the description it stated that if you loved singing and dancing you should audition. She quickly grabbed a pen and jotted her name down. She was the first one to sign up and prayed she wouldn't be the last.

She wasn't.

She convinced Tina and Artie to sign up, and there was another short brunette girl who was kind of annoying, and really obnoxious. Rachel or something. She was a sophomore also. Then there was a guy with soft looking skin and a great fashion sense, Kurt, she knew him from a textiles class she took last year.

It was the second day and they were working on a number, 'Rock the boat' or something like that. Granted, they sucked bad, and she already wanted to punch Rachel because she kept making herself seem superior, and like no one else knew what they were talking about.

"We suck." She said, and for once, Mercedes agreed with her.

"Yeah, we need new voices." Mr. Shue, the glee coordinator mused.

"Finn!" Mercedes called out to the tall teen.

"Hey Mercedes."

"So remember when you said you liked singing, and we should sing sometime?" She asked and he nodded.

"Well, yeah."

"How about you sign up for Glee?" Finn was already shaking his head, but she continued anyways, "You sing and dance, and its really not that bad. Its actually fun, plus theres this crazy girl that says stupid things all the time so we can just laugh at her. Stop shaking your head!" She said eventually.

"Glee is supposed to be lame. Last year they were the pit of the school, no one wanted to even walk close enough to the choir room." He said and continued walking.

"Um, excuse me? Are you calling me lame? Because I am very much a part of that group." Finn did feel bad, he didn't even think that by associating her with the club that she was lame.

"You're not lame. The club is."

"Exactly! It doesn't make you lame." She put a hand on his shoulder and he softened a bit.

"Fine, I'll check it out. But this stays between us." He said, kissed her on the cheek and then walked away. Mercedes frowned, she knew Finn still wasn't completely over her from last year, and this summer he still hinted to her that he wouldn't mind if they went out again. She hoped he would be tired of waiting, and just move on. Apparently not.

A/N: Sorry if the ending was awkward and misplaced, but I was eager to introduce Glee Club already. If you couldn't already tell!