I don't own glee.

Turns out, Rachel and Finn had great vocal chemistry, and Mercedes felt like a hero! She basically made the group sound better, sure she'd rather sing, but their voices went well together.

"You're right. Glee's not that bad." Finn admitted one day, they were sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch.

"I know." She said, smiling and popping a fry into her mouth, he smirked.

"You know, me being the captain of the football team, it won't fly with the guys." He said picking at the bread on his plate.

"So get them to join." Finn quickly looked at her.

"What?"

"Or at least a few of them."

"Like who? Who would really fall for that?" He asked, bringing his bread to his mouth.

"Ask Sam."

"I don't think he'd want to. With Tina being in the club and all." They'd been dating for a year before they broke up. And although it wasn't on salty grounds, she figured it was still awkward.

"Oh." Mercedes replied. Finn took in her sad expression and sat straighter.

"You know what? I'll talk to him. Its just asking right, what do I have to lose?" He said, taking another bite of his apple.

"I'm just doing this for your own good." He chuckled at her comment.

"I know." He replied, "What about Puck?"

"Puck? In the New Directions? Are you high?" She scoffed lightly.

"No, he might be interested, we like jamming sometimes. He'll play his guitar, and we'd both sing."

"Well, if you think its a good idea, go for it." She said. Having Puck in the same group? She didn't know how she felt about that. They were always so up and down, and she never knew where their friendship stood. Well, honestly, she thought they were friends again-ish, but then Puck will do something-or not do something, and it would leave her lost. For now, she was nonchalant about it. It wasn't worth losing sleep over, and obviously he wasn't interested, seeing as he was still with Quinn. Or at least, thats what she told herself.

"Join glee, dude." Finn told Puck. Him, Puck, and Quinn were at the mall sitting in the food court.

"NO. That club is beyond loserville." Puck said and looked at Quinn making a motion that he thought Finn was high.

"We have a chance to change that. Could you imagine? The coolest kids in the school making a comeback for a club, and we'd be the ones to make it famous?" Puck shook his head somewhere in the middle. Quinn just sat quietly eating her yogurt and thinking it over. She knew Mercedes and remembered how she'd sometimes be open for Quinn to hang out whenever Puck was at Finn's or his grandmother's over the summer, and truth be told, the girl was a savior! She didn't have to sit through boring Call of Duty marathons. Besides, Quinn liked to sing and dance, and if there were a few feet in the door, maybe the club would rise in the chain. She didn't say anything though, she just kept her thoughts to herself.

Puck didn't want to join the group, there was no way. Okay. So maybe it wouldn't be so bad, he knew like half the kids that were in the club. All except for the brunette jew, and the other guy that wasn't Artie. Plus, he knew Mercedes wasn't lame. Sure, she wasn't nearly as popular as they were, but she wasn't in lameville either. He'd been dating Quinn for about six months now, so his status was getting higher and higher. Being in the upperclassmen years of High School, and one of the school's biggest bad ass, nothing could stop him. Except for maybe a small club that had a certain girl in it. A girl that he never really stood a chance with.

"Okay guys, so we still need new members. We have only six of you and according to the rule book, we need twelve to be in the group to compete at Sectionals. Mercedes looked over at Finn and he looked back and shrugged. In their unspoken glance, both knew his talk with Puck failed, so now they needed to find people wherever they could.

"Actually, you'd only need three more." Quinn corrected, she was standing at the choir room entrance. She had her HBIC attitude in full effect with Santana and Brittany flanking her. Heads held high, and hands on their hips they walked in almost synchronized.

"If thats okay." She looked over at the teacher in a challenging way. Mr. Shue's eyes lit up in hope and disbelief.

"Um, they're going to have to audition like everyone else. Right?" Rachel protested, and Mercedes and Finn smirked at each other.

"Fine. Want us to audition, hobbit?" No one knew what the deal between these two were, but it was like a rivalry, for nothing. They were on complete opposite ends of the spectrum, with not one common ground, except apparently now Glee.

"Yeah, girls, lets see what you got." After the New Directions' risqué rendition of 'push it' in the auditorium last week to recruit new members, they were only allowed to sing from a select number of songs approved by Figgins. And the girls did great! Quinn had a nice soft voice that matched her angel face, but not her attitude. Santana had more of a raspy voice, and Brittany's voice was pretty basic. It worked well for the three though, and everyone was happy they auditioned. Except Rachel, of course.

"Rachel, why aren't you clapping? We now have three less people to recruit." Everyone looked at the brunette who had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Mr. Shuester, you cannot be serious about letting these three join?"

"Why not?" He questioned.

"Well, for starters, Quinn's voice is way too sharp to hold her own ground, Santana's too flat, and Brittany, well, she can't sing." If Mercedes and Finn didn't stand up in time to block the cheerleaders, Rachel would've been toast.

"Quinn's voice is even weaker than Tina's-" She continued obliviously. Mercedes wondered if she had a death wish.

"Oh hell no!" Tina said, "You're not exactly Miss. Perfect singer either. Last I recalled, you were too pitchy in that number we did yesterday. Mercedes had to sing it so we could pull it off." She crossed her arms.

Rachel's mouth dropped at Tina's comment and crossed her arms like Tina just betrayed her.

"Okay, Rachel, enough! The girls are in Glee now. They did a fantastic job. Ladies…" He motioned to the chairs, "Take a seat." Santana and Quinn glared at Rachel as they walked past her to sit on the top row. Brittany just followed with a 'yes' motion. Totally oblivious to everything else that just went on. Quinn looked at Finn and he smirked gratefully at her, returning it she sat down.

Glee wasn't that bad, until about half way through when Rachel pulled them all aside, save for the three cheerios and Finn.

"Who said they brought Finn in?" She asked in hushed tones.

"I did." Mercedes sassed.

"You realize that, though he was okay, now that his clones are joining, its going to be another thing they take over, right? They're going to humiliate us!" Her voice was rising with each passing word.

"You pulled us all the way over here, to express your paranoia?" Tina looked bored, and Artie held up his hand.

"If I may, Finn's been nice, and since Quinn them joined, he hasn't changed on bit." Artie injected.

"Yeah and so what if they take over? Everyone knows the club needs some credibility. I mean look at us." Kurt motioned to the group he was standing in. "We need all the help we can get." Mercedes smiled at him. She really liked him, he was honest and gave no regrets about it.

"But we need to convince-" Rachel started

"No." Mercedes said cutting her off. Knowing exactly what she was going to say. Without another word, she walked back to her seat, and everyone except Rachel followed her.

"Wait!" She called, but none of them stopped walking. He growled in frustration and made her way back to her own seat.

Puck walked to the bathroom, and on his way there, he heard something pretty interesting. It was Quinn and Mercedes.

"No. no. Thats good!" Puck stuck his head in the choir room and saw Mercedes sitting at the piano, while Quinn was standing.

"Really? I'm not too 'sharp'?" She sneered, and Puck was about to intervene. No one talked to Mercedes like that, but he was stopped by her laugh.

"Don't listen to Rachel. She's ratchet!" She exclaimed and Quinn smiled sweetly. Puck knew that though Quinn was a nice girl, she wasn't exactly genuine… at least not like she was now. The look on her face spiked his interest.

"Thanks again for helping me with my range." Quinn scrunched up her face, and Mercedes smirked.

"No big deal. We sistahs have to help each other out!" She said, placing her fingers idly on the piano. "I'm sorry about what she said. You have a great voice, don't let her or any one tell you otherwise."

"Its no 'Mercedes Jones' voice, but thanks." Puck nodded slightly, no one could touch her vocally... or at all he added. Smirking to himself at his lame ass thought.

"You have a great harmonizing voice. You should-" Her sentence got interrupted by Quinn's phone, except it wasn't her phone.

"Puck?" Quinn asked, recognizing his ringtone. "What are you doing?"

"I should ask you the same thing. Why are you in this room. Running scales with Mercedes?" He questioned.

"I, um… I-"

"You joined Glee, didn't you?" He said walking closer.

"I, yeah. I did." Quinn said, and Puck looked over at Mercedes.

"Okay, well, what do I have to do to sign up for your little club?" He asked, and her eyes widened. He was happy he'd surprised her, and smiled at her.

"Oh baby! Thats great news!" Quinn threw her arms around him, and pulled him in for a deep kiss. He didn't know what Mercedes was doing, but he was pretty sure he felt awkward enough for the both of them.

"Um, I better go." Mercedes said, and he heard papers ruffling together. He pulled away from his girlfriend.

"Where you going?" Quinn asked.

"Anywhere that doesn't mean I'll still be here." She said not making eye contact. After she was done collecting her papers, she looked up and winked at Quinn, who ducked her head "See you later." She grabbed her bag and papers and was out of there. When she made it outside the room she took a really deep breath. She didn't understand the feeling in the pit of her stomach. Okay, so maybe she did, it was jealousy.

Mercedes and Tina were sitting in Mercedes' front lawn. Well, Tina was sitting, Mercedes was standing and talking. They were talking about Glee club, and how much its going to change now that almost half the club were school celebrities.

"Yeah I still can't believe Puck agreed to join." Tina said, sipping her water. It was a clear night out in Lima, and fairly breezy, not too cold, but it was still nice.

"I know." They moved on to other topics, how things changed, and though they were only sophomores, how much they missed elementary. It seemed like such a long time ago, but it really wasn't. Still, a lot had changed since those days.

Thats when they saw Puck walking past. And when he saw them, he walked over to greet them.

"Hey." He said, coming literally three inches from Mercedes.

"Hey." Tina greeted back, and Mercedes just looked at him, returning the sentiment.

"I need more water." Tina said pulling herself up, and made her way into Mercedes' house.. Tina quickly ran in the house.

"So how are you?" He asked and she scoffed.

"I'm sorry, yah talkin' tah me?" She asked sarcastically. She wanted to move away from him, but it was like she was frozen in place. Like she forgot how to move, as if moving was ever an option.

"Funny." He said, glancing down at her, and when she looked back up, he looked away.

"Mercedes, do you see that?" He asked coming behind her, and leaning down to her level, pointing to the sky.

"See what?" She asked, really looking. The night sky was really nice, and there weren't any UFO's or anything flying around, so she didn't know what he was looking at. Her searching got cut short when she heard him sniffing her hair. She looked back at him, and still, she just stood there She found that its not that she couldn't move, but that she didn't want to move.

"Right there." He said, leaning in even closer, and she looked up at the sky again. Suddenly not as interested, because of his warm breath against her shoulder and cheek. She could now feel the ghost of his nose along her hair, going up. Another inhale coming from his nose.

"See it?" she shook her head slightly, "Right there." He pointed again. He wasn't even touching her, but it felt good. That thought surprised her. She was shaking her thoughts away when he suddenly buckled her knee!

"Ah!" She almost fell back at the sudden impact and lack of foundation, but he caught her.

"Holy crap you should've saw your face!" He said, laughing. Whatever bubble they had going on, he totally popped it. She slapped him on his arm.

"Asshole!" She said, and they caught each other's eye. Mercedes always felt gravity when she looked in his eyes, but she never understood what it was. Sure Puck was good looking, and he actually had a nice smile-whenever he decided to smile- He was tall, and muscular, but that wasn't what she was drawn to. It was something more.

"Okayyyy…"Tina said, once she was outside again. The two teens jumped away from each other.

"What took you so long?!" Mercedes scolded.

"You're not my mother. And all the water made my blatter full, you figure it out." She replied sassily.

"Well, I better go." Puck said, shelving his hand in his pockets and Mercedes nodded.

"See you." She said, and he sent a small smile at her.

"Bye now." Tina said, sass still in place.

"What are you doing?" Tina asked her friend after he was gone.

"Nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing." She retorted.

"You only saw that last second, you don't know what happened before that."

"Oh, you mean when he practically rubbed his nose up along your hair?" Mercedes' eyes widened, "No, not that part? Oh, what about the fact that he stood even closer to you, and you didn't even move? If not that either, then no, I didn't. But I know I didn't miss anything so..." She put a hand on her hip.

"You said you were in the bathroom." Mercedes dumbly replied.

"I lied." Tina shrugged.

"Apparently."

"Did you prefer me to call you two out, even if you both don't know whats 'going on with each other?'" Tina was actually 100% sure Puck knew, but Mercedes, not so much.

"Shut up." She said, and Tina smiled.

"Deny all you want, but one day… you both won't be able to hide your feelings anymore." She Kanye shrugged and sat back in her chair.

"What feelings?!" Mercedes near roared and Tina slightly jumped. "He's a punk. He throws kids in dumpsters for fun. He's rude, and tells me things that make me feel like I'm losing my mind. And thats both a good and bad thing! Like tonight, you know how long I'm going to think of that while he and everyone else is sleeping? And do you know, that after everything he and I have been through, that he was the one to threw me to the side? Its not fair! Being 'friends' with him is a piece of work, and yet I still want to try!" She exhaled deeply, and Tina's eyes were wide. Mercedes shifted her weight to her left foot. Opting for Tina to say something. She didn't mean for that last part to come out, but damn if it weren't true.

"I know you're being honest, but there is something going on between you. The both of you! And I'm sure when the day will come where he gets rid of the chip thats on his shoulder, you'll both be able to move on, either together or apart. And I can't wait because this tango you guys are dancing is making me dizzy too, you know."

"Yeah, he's an ass." That was all she could think to say. She didn't even want to think about what Tina said. Despite herself, her heart was beating a million miles at Tina's words. But she immediately stopped the giddy feeling, she didn't want to feel anything more for him because he didn't feel the same way about her, it was pretty obvious in how he treated her, no matter what Tina said. She wouldn't believe it, and probably still wouldn't even if it came out of his own mouth.

"He's not the only one that needs to remove that chip though." Tina sat, observing the emotions crossing Mercedes' features. "You have to learn to be warmer to him too, be more open." Mercedes looked at her incredulously. "You freeze him out." Tina knew Mercedes was blocking out the good that Puck does for her, and it was pretty frustrating.

"WHAT? He was the one that told me he didn't care about me." She pointed a finger at herself. Tina internally rolled her eyes, always focusing on the negative. Of anyone, Mercedes should be the one to see he had self esteem issues.

Do you really believe that? Tina thought. "I know you, and I know that somewhere along the line, you weren't letting him in. You tend to shut people out, specifically Puck. Let him in, I know you like him, and I know he likes you. You'll never know how the outcome will work. Maybe it would be a different result. You can't keep putting the same efforts in and expect different results."

"Tina, if I let him in, do you realize I'm setting myself up for hurt? I can't do that to myself." Tina's eyes softened, and Mercedes continued, "I love me too much." The thick air disappeared a bit and Tina chuckled, shaking her head. But Tina knows that protecting yourself isn't necessarily self love. Especially if you're denying herself the love that she and Puck could have.

"Maybe if you lower your walls, so at least its a little more potent for him to climb?" Tina asked tentatively, she felt awkward about talking to Mercedes about it, mainly because the connection she and Puck has is so intimate, sometimes if you just witness it, you'll blush. Not to mention all that anger and hate and denial they have pent up, mixed with the attraction and chemistry could make for some great lovin'.

"Its getting late, I need to go inside." Mercedes said after a minute of letting Tina's words soak.

"G'night Mercy." She said, and walked to her own house.

Mercedes wanted to let him in, thinking about it, she knew what Tina was talking about. Mercedes almost always had a wall up when it came to him. No matter what, if he came over to hang out with her brothers, she'd sometimes give him the cold shoulder. Still though, he shouldn't treat people the way he most times treats her. Mercedes thought a lot about what Tina was saying. She'd try her best to be friends with him again, and the first step? Why not invite him to her youth group? He hadn't been to church in ages, and truthfully, she'd been praying for him to go back.

"Hey Puck." She walked up to him when he was grabbing something from his locker. He looked at her.

"Uh, hi." He said, turning his attention back to his locker.

"So what are you doing Wednesday?" Puck didn't know what to think but that he was with Quinn, there was no way she'd be asking him out, right? He smirked internally, and tried his hardest not to actually do it. Maybe last night had half the affect on her than it did on him, because he knew if it fully affected her the way it affected him, she would've pulled him in the janitor's closet, and there'd be no going back because he would never give her back. He snapped out of his thoughts and tried to think clearly.

He didn't want to get his hopes up, but obviously last night had some kind of effect on her because if not, she wouldn't be standing at his locker, talking to him. Again clearing his head he thought of what he was doing on Wednesday. Ugh, he had basketball practice.

"Why?" he asked nonchalantly. Thinking if it were a good enough reason, he'd blow it off. Sure he had to answer Quinn's questions b-

"Mini church. I have my own group now." She perked.

"Oh," Church? So this wasn't about anything else. "I'm good." He said closing his locker and walking away, leaving her behind.

"Well, screw you, too." She said quietly. Wondering where the hell last night's Puck went. Then again, that was their life.

"Mercedes." She turned around to see Artie there.

"Hey." She greeted.

"Hey, um, why are you at Puck's locker?" He rose an eyebrow.

"Well, I asked him to join my mini church."

"And what did he say?"

"I'm good." She mimicked, and crossed her arms.

"What a douche." He noted, and she chuckled.

"Like thats brand new information." She stated sarcastically.

"You mean like how you admitted to having feelings for him?" He crossed his arms, too.

"How did you-? Tina!" She said in a way Cory used to say Tapanga's name whenever she tricked him. Artie was the last person that needed to know about this, he hated Puck, and every time they spoke, Artie gave would her crap about it. Saying she was too good for him, and that he was an ass, so he never understood why she'd still try to be friends with him. When she admitted she liked him back in intermediate he near sprouted three heads because he couldn't believe it! 'Why?' He'd always ask. Sure he was just protecting her, and 99% of the time he was right about Puck's asshole-ish ways, but Mercedes has known Puck longer than she'd knew Artie. And she knew from day one things were always at their own pace. Weirdly hot and cold, but neither the less, there.

"He was smelling your hair?" Mercedes rolled her eyes. Fricken Tina! She thought.

"Yeah." She sighed.

"You do remember that he's with Quinn, now… right?" He asked and she nodded. "Just making sure you're still with us."

"I am!"

"Really? Because it sounds like you're back on that crazy train." He pointed out and she smirked.

"Why thanks Artie. You're always so sweet." She said and he shrugged.

"Just keeping it real." He said, and she laughed.

"Well, I need to get to math." She said, walking to the class she shared with Puck.

Mercedes sat two seats behind Puck. The guy that sat between them was a guy named Anthony Rashad, but he always skipped, so most days, like today, she was staring at the back of his head. Burning holes in the back of his head would've been a more accurate description, but whatever. The class went by slower than usual, and she wanted out! She didn't want to sit there, behind the life ruiner (in more ways than one), and recount the events that happened the night before. How could he be so casual? She was freaking out, but like she called it… while he and the rest of the world laid fast asleep, she tossed and turned thinking about what it all meant. And when one memory came back, all the other ones did, too. Sitting and watching the sunrise in New York, him caressing her cheek at the airport, waking up next to him in New York, praying with her in her room, cuddling with him in his bed when his dad died. The way they acted toward each other was not normal!

"Ugh!" She exhaled loudly, and everyone looked at her. She quickly looked around then at her book with wide eyes.

"Something the matter, Jones?" The teacher, Mr. Morgan asked.

"Nope. No." She said shaking her head and looking around, when finally Puck decided to look at her. "I just… really don't get math." She chuckled to herself.

"Funny, you're a sophomore that placed in trig! I thought you would've been fine, being the smarter part of you class and this one." He said, and she blushed.

"Yeah, well…" She let the sentence hang, and he continued on his lecture.

She released a breath of relief, till she saw that Puck was still staring at her. She made a 'What?' motion with her hands, and he smirked then focused on the teacher again.

Mercedes was so cute. And last night, she smelt of something sweet. It wasn't overpowering, rather subtle. And for subtle as it was, it filled him with desire. Desire? What the fuck, dude? He thought. He got his hopes up when she asked what he was doing on Wednesday, and then answered her in the most rude way possible, he couldn't hang out with her anyways, she was too dangerous. He promised himself when he first got into high school three years ago that he wouldn't let anything turn him soft again. That mainly meant no Mercedes. Then there was last night. Last night he was out of hand, he gave in to what he wanted, but now it was going to be harder to shake the idea of 'them' away. All that pent up frustration, all that attraction, all that time of still feeling the same way, and all that well... everything, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He didn't mean to get so close to her last night, he really didn't. But every time he didn't 'mean' to do something that involved the name Mercedes Jones, he ended up doing the exact opposite! He told himself to stop where it was socially acceptable to be next to someone, but with how tiny she was, it was intoxicating. Then he caught her scent and it just pulled him in. Then, for the love of everything that was holy, he sniffed her! Twice! And that wasn't the worse part, not even the fact that there wasn't anything in the sky to even show her. No, the worse part was, he was taking her in like a crack addict sniffing coke. He was about to exhale in frustration when he heard someone do it behind him. He didn't have to turn to know that it was Mercedes. It took him a minute of internal debate to turn around, but after hearing her voice, the debate was over, he had to look at her.

In a traditional Mercedes fashion, she called him out with her sass, and he couldn't help but smile. She was really something special. Turning back to the teacher, he tried to focus.

A/N Okay, so uhhh...

Ah crap what was I going to say?

Sorry, I'm still frazzled at the fact that there was a supertinybaby frog hopping around my house, but don't worry, we got it out! Obviously, if it were still in the house I wouldn't know how to function. Lol! I really do hate our screen doors. Anyway...

OH YEAH! I don't know if trig is normal for a 10th graders, I suck at math, so its not normal for me! Haha, but if its average for a sophomore, can we pretend its not? Okay? Cooooooool.

Thanks for reading, until next time :)