I don't own glee. Sorry for all the tears last chapter! I hope this makes up for some of it :)

Puck was happy. Blissfully happy. He gave Mercedes her gift, all except the envelope. The envelope that held the letter where he was going to tell her everything she was to him, but he felt with the events going on in his life lately that he'll just hold off. Not in a cowardly way or anything like that, but because he didn't want Mercedes' feelings to be influenced, either for him or otherwise to affect the way she reacts when she reads it. He wasn't technically homeless, he still had his grandmother's house a few doors down, and Finn reached out to him and said if he never needed a place to stay that his house was always open, but Puck genuinely liked it here. Sure after pap Jones leaves it'll be a little awkward with just the ladies, but maybe thats when he'll move. He still wasn't sure though.

"Knock, knock." Puck turned to see Mercedes lightly knocking on the door. It was only them and Miss. Jen home, but she was prepping something downstairs. Pap Jones and the JJ's went to buy supplies for an extra shelf (yes it took three of them, they were boys) while Puck unpacked the rest of his clothes.

"Hey, pretty girl." He said, turning back to his folded clothes.

"How are you doing?" She asked. It's only been a week since he moved in, but he already felt like he was truly at home.

"Never better." He smirked when she moved next to him.

"Good. I was worried this house was too crowded for you and you wanted to leave or something." She said playing with one of his shirts.

"Really now? Did you forget I lived in a two bedroom with five people?" He asked skeptically and she lightly laughed. "I'm fine." He said and gently kissed her forehead, that light electricity feeling radiated through his lips and cheeks again.

"Well thats very good then." She laughed and pulled him into a hug. They weren't together, heck, they still didn't even talk about anything that had to do with them in general, but he was happy to hug her back. Resting his head on hers.

"Not to ruin the mood or anything, but you kinda stink." He quickly pulled away and eyed her.

"What?" He asked, bringing the cloth that was by his pits to his nose. Ew yeah, she was right. "Blugh! That is rotten." She nodded her head with an amused smirk on her face.

"When was the last time you showered?" She teased and he stepped toward her as she backed away.

"I don't know. Could've been yesterday, could've been last year." He winked as she made a face.

"Last year? That explains a lot." She said and he widened his eyes.

"I was joking."

"Yeah, well, I'm not." He made is face in an 'Oh really?' way as she backed up, but was quickly stopped by the wall.

"Puckerman, no! No!" She squealed as he rubbed all against her, trapping her against the wall. She was snorting and he loved it. Letting out a few chuckles every once in a while because he couldn't hold it in.

"Now you stink too!" He said as he backed away a little, still trapping her, but giving her more space to breathe from all the laughing she was doing.

"Ewww, you're right." She grimaced attractively. She was so close, yet again, and unlike the other times, this was more playful, more them. None of the dramatic or drunk crap, and he liked it. Despite his man stink from moving everything around to accommodate his things, she still smelt lovely. "You're such a poop head." She said, a playful twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, but I'm your poop head." He smiled lightly, and her eyes widened. Wait, did I just say that out loud? He quickly backed away from her and turned his attention back to his clothes.

"Um, I-I better go see if my mom needs help." She stammered and he heard her trip on something as she exited. He turned to look at her in time to see her straightening herself out.

"Uh. I'm okay." She said, and she rushed down the stairs.

Puck sighed. Well, he didn't mean for that to come out. And even if he did, that wouldn't have been the reaction he was looking for, but at least she didn't laugh and call him pathetic or something like that.

Mercedes quickly exited the room, not even going toward the kitchen. She went straight for the front door, forgot she needed a jacket, went back in the house, grabbed it then left again going straight for Tina's. Her mind was everywhere. She felt so frazzled and scatterbrained. He called him hers. He called him hers. She didn't know how to comprehend all of it. All these years of the rejection, hurt feelings and late night poems that she wrote for him seemed almost… worth it. That scared her, because she was pretty sure Puck saw her as just a friend. She wasn't his type, not skinny and blonde like Quinn or Brittany, not popular like him, she was a totally ballgame, and so was he. Not to mention, all that protection she build when it came to him, how was that going to work? How was she supposed to break it down?

She finally reached Tina's house, she swore the walk never felt that long before. She knocked like a madman until someone finally answered.

"Tina! Oh thank God!" Mercedes said, rushing in her house. She forgot she wasn't wearing boots, and her toes were freezing.

"Wha-are you okay? Why are you in flip flops, and why-?"

"He called him mines." Mercedes bounced on her toes with a slightly excited smile on her face. Tina looked at her like she was crazy.

"What? Who did? Are you okay? Did you have too much of your mama's sugar cookies? Because you know what they do to you, yes they're good but you have to limi-"

"Tina! Shh!" Mercedes said grabbing her by her shoulders. "Puck called him mines!" Mercedes watched in anticipation as Tina's face became one of recognition. Mercedes had a fat smile on her face and nodded slowly, excitement fully taking over.

"Told you so." Tina chuckled. Mercedes rolled her eyes and dropped her hands from her shoulders.

"You sure did. But I don't know if he really meant it, after he kind of just turned his back on me." Mercedes went back to the moment.

"Okay, hows about you step back, and tell me everything from the beginning." Tina was now clutching Mercedes.

Mercedes told her everything, from her checking on him, to him wiping his man stank on her, to what he said and what he did after. She even included how she went straight out of her house and almost forgot her jacket, but seemingly she forgot her boots. By the end of her story Tina's eyes were wide with a smile bigger than chestire cat's.

"Oh my gosh! He probably just turned away from you because he was embarrassed." She reasoned, and it made sense. He did just kind of blurt it out of nowhere.

"You're probably right. What do I do now? We live in the same house, its kind of weird." Mercedes said.

"Just let the card fall where they may. Wait it out, see whats going to happen now. I've been cheering you and Puck on all this time, as you tried to ignore it," Tina side eyed Mercedes, "But now you seem totally into it. I need to know, what changed?" Mercedes thought of her question a whole two seconds before she answered.

"Puck is a great guy. Sure, he has a few issues, but don't we all? I just, I don't know. He's different. To be honest Tina, I don't think anything has changed. When it happened, I was so excited, and there's only one reason. I obviously already liked him!" She squealed, and Tina chuckled. "I actually had this whole thing planned out on Christmas for him where I was going to be honest, but then I chickened out, you know how I am." She grimaced.

"Told yah." She wiggled her eyebrows. "But seriously, Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" Tina knew Mercedes was a great poet, and that resulted to a great speaker.

"Yeah, yeah, and I'm sorry! Now tell me what to do next!" Tina's smile faltered a little.

"Just let the chips fall where they may, like I've said before. Don't rush it Mercy. This guy is obviously butt crazy over you, but I don't want you to get hurt. He has a lot going on with his mother and himself. Just take it easy. Thats just my opinion. I think if you're going to talk to anyone about it, it would have to be him." She pulled her lips to a corner and shrugged.

"You're right. Well, I should probably get going. Sorry for scaring you." She said opening the door that they were standing by the whole time.

"It was worth it." Tina chuckled and ushered her friend out the door.

"Remember what I said Mercy." The diva nodded and walked back to her own home. On the short route back, she thought about it, and hoped she actually had the guts to do so. She thought it wouldn't be a problem giving him his space, but what happened when everything came to light? She often retreated from things like this. Mercedes loved herself, no doubt, but sometimes she got insecure. And because of those insecurities, she knew it would be hard to seriously let go and just be. Her whole life she hid behind her voice and her clothes, but the time was nearing where she couldn't hide anymore. She'd have to face the truth, and that was her feelings Puck, and his feelings back. She was scared letting the strings for those feeble cardboard walls she had up against him, but in order for it to work, she had to.

She walked back in her house and hung up her jacket. She was surprised to hear Puck and her mother in the kitchen laughing. She walked the short walk to her kitchen and saw Puck trying to crack an egg. She noticed that he changed his shirt.

"You're seriously not telling me you don't know how to crack an egg." Mercedes said, leaning on the wall and crossing her arms. Puck jumped really high in the air and dropped the egg on the ground.

"Mercedes. You scared me." He said walking to where the napkins were. She giggled, and so did her mother.

"Sorry." She said, and when he looked at her, he tentatively smiled, she returned it.

"I need to go check on the laundry." Her mother said as she went to the laundry room.

After she was gone, Puck tried to avoid eye contact with her, but Mercedes wasn't having any of that. She raised her eyebrows at him. With her arms still crossed, she pushed off the wall and walked closer to him. It felt weird, being in control. Usually it was him, but she was having the upper hand tonight. He shakily grabbed another egg and tried to crack it. She gently grabbed it from him and their hands brushed. He finally looked at her, and she looked up at him. She had no idea where this bravado was coming from, maybe it was the adrenaline from earlier and seeing his face again, maybe it was because she was trying to let go. Or maybe it was seeing him flustered, it was cute as hell. Either way, it was fun seeing him like this. She heard him clear his throat as he started facing her fully. She looked back at the egg. He didn't do any of it in a sexy smooth way, but rather an almost quick, awkward, jerky-movement kind of way. It was still cute though. Honestly, she'd prefer to see him all awkward and jerky, it was way better than 'smooth Puckasaurus' and it was more genuine.

"You have to make sure you hit it one strong time against the counter like this." She slammed the egg with enough pressure to make it split in two. "If you don't hit it hard enough, there will be more than one cracked place and when you finally do crack it, there will be eggshells spilling everywhere." She said as she dunked the egg with the dry ingredients.

"Here you try the next one." She gave him the next egg and he looked at it for a long while. He brought his eyebrows in deep concentration. "You're over thinking it!" She exclaimed and he looked at her. She couldn't help but chuckle at his childlike expression. Seeing this Puck was definitely fresh. She'd seen him vulnerable a few times, but never naïve, so it was strange having him react as such.

"What if I slam it too hard and the egg can't handle?" He asked quietly and she looked back at him. "What if no matter what I do, it'll have cracked places everywhere? What do I do then?" He asked, moving a bit closer to her, and she suddenly didn't get the vibe that they were talking about eggs anymore.

"Then you have to learn how to give it just the right amount of pressure." She said, "Until then, you're just going to have to take that chance." She said boldly, and he looked looked down at the egg that represented their situation.

"But of course we're just talking about eggs." She said and urged him to try to crack it. He did it the same way she did, and he hit it too hard, and the egg ended up leaking from the multiple cracks it had.

"Ugh!" He exclaimed in frustration, and tried to get the rest of the egg in the bowl.

"Luckily you have one more egg to go. Here, try again." She said giving him another egg. He tried again, and this time remembered not to give too much pressure, and it cracked almost perfectly. He smiled wide. He made an almost clean break, just like she had.

"See, I told you that you could do it! Worrying for nothing." She said. "You got this you know?" He knew her implication, but had no time to act on it because her brothers and dad was back with the shelf they brought.

"Anyone home?" Jensen called out and Mercedes walked out of the kitchen with Puck following.

"Took long enough." She said and Jensen eyed Puck.

"What were you guys doing?" He asked skeptically.

"Cracking eggs." Puck said and Mercedes snorted as Jensen rose an eyebrow.

"We're baking, doofus." She said.

"Uh-huh." He said. He hiked the shelf that was under his arm higher up as he began his journey up the stairs to his room.

"I better go help him." Puck said and Mercedes nodded.

Mercedes was sitting in her room, writing a fresh poem about Puck. She sighed and looked at the note book. It wasn't big, there were about 75 pages in it, small like a handbook but still a little bigger than her hand and blue that says 'write' all over it. For as corny as it sounded, she liked that it said 'write' in script over and over, because sometimes she wouldn't let it all out even in her journal, she was afraid of the idea that it was out in the universe. She'd write his full name, memories, and her feelings, but most times, she'd hold back her hopes. But she'd close the book and it would remind her to just write. Don't be afraid, that it was there for her. She was thinking about the events earlier that day when she heard a knock on her door. She told them to come in, and when the door opened, Puck's head popped in.

"Hey." He said, slowly coming in. She quickly sat up straighter in her bed. Her legs were crossed under her blanket. She quickly closed the book, and shelved it in her lap.

"Whats up?" She asked. He stood at the foot of her bed, unsure of what he should do. She motioned for him to sit, and he did.

"About earlier, with what I said. It just came out." He said and her face dropped a bit.

"Oh."

"I'm not saying that I didn't mean it! Just that, it wasn't… supposed to." He said quickly, trying to ease his dumb opener.

"I get it." She said, looking down at the book.

"Well, it was supposed to, just not yet. Not while my life's complicated." He shrugged and took out a hand to touch her cheek. He gently guided her chin with his thumb to look at him.

"Yeah, when isn't it, huh?" She chuckled a little, and he released his hold on her chin as she looked up.

"So obviously I like you. I'm not sure how you feel about me, but its okay if you don't feel the same. I mean, its not okay, it'll suck, but I'd understand. Its not like I was expecting you to or anything like that." He paused and when she didn't say anything, he grimaced, "Mercedes, I'm rambling, please, feel free to stop me." He said looking forward at the wall, as opposed to the side where she was.

"Sorry, I just… I do like you, too." She looked at him and he smiled lightly at the wall in front of him. She looked at him a moment longer, and when he didn't move she got nervous. "Will you say something!" She exclaimed with her arms flailing everywhere. He finally looked at her.

"Wow, you can't just let that sink, can you? You ruined the marinating part." He sulked a bit and she laughed.

"Marinating part?"

"I was marinating the moment. You know? Savoring the flavor, committing the moment to memory, that sort of thing and you ruined it!" He said, moving closer so that he was now sitting beside her and not in front of her.

"Well, you were taking too long with the savoring, buddy." She said, but felt the blush come up her cheeks. Now she was 'marinating the moment'.

"So what now?" He asked, and she looked at him.

"I was marinating the moment, and you ruined it." She teased.

"Tough. Its only fair." He chuckled as she hit him on the arm.

"Ow, mama!" He cradled his shoulder in mock pain.

"Oh suck it up." She said and he bumped his shoulder lightly against hers, getting her attention.

"I want this to work." He admitted.

"Me too."

"But with my situation I don't think thats very wise right now." He admitted.

"I know." She agreed and he raised his eyebrow at her. She caught it and sighed.

"You have a lot on your mind, you don't need another thing to worry about." She shrugged.

"Okay, first off, you're not just a thing, you're Mercedes, and not like the car Mercedes, but you Mercedes." She laughed at his rendition of what she said the first time they met.

"You remember that?" She asked a bit incredulously.

"Yeah, but so did you." He countered.

"Thats because I said it." She said right back.

"Yeah, well, that was the first time I knew you were badass." He replied and she rolled her eyes. "But continuing on. You're always going to be on my mind. Worrying or not, girlfriend or not, you'll always be right here." He pointed to the front of his brain, and laughed at his dorkiness. It was still a bit weird seeing him act and speak like this, but at the same time it wasn't. Because he was sometimes sweet Puck, she guess the thing she'd find different now is that sweet Puck would show up more.

"Thats sweet." She said and bravely grabbed his hand. Yes, she was all kinds of brave tonight, but to her relief he took it, threading their fingers together. "That feels nice." She admitted, and he rubbed a thumb on the back of her hand.

"Yeah, it does." He said, "But do you want to hear my reasons now? Because I feel like they're very important." She nodded and he continued, "I don't want my situation to effect the way you feel about me. Sure we're together in the same house and everything, but I don't want you to feel anything along the lines of pity." She opened her mouth to say something and he stopped her.

"Ah-ah. Let me finish, doll. I want you to like me without the influences of whats going on. And I want you to know that before my problems escalated to this badly, I was already starting to like you, and I don't want you to ever think that me being in this situation is whats drawing me to you, because its not. And I also want to be able to concentrate fully on you, and how can I do that when I'm still thinking about my mother and what she's doing? I want you-if you'd let me be in a relationship with you-to be my priority."

Mercedes sat stunned, not quite knowing what to say.

"I do like you though, but we can't be together, at least not right now." He said and miraculously she found the nerve in her to nod her head. "I feel so much better now that I told you everything." He scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her, she took it in, and put her head on his shoulder. Her walls were slowly crumbling down and she wanted nothing more in the world to believe and acknowledge what this boy was saying to her right now.

"But I have to get back, before everyone notices you and I are not around." She nodded and felt him kiss the top of her head. She watched as he got out of her bed and made his way to the door.

"Goodnight, pretty girl." He said and before she could respond, he was out of the door. She never knew why he always did that. Freaking left before she could say anything. After her door closed she scooted her butt down until her back was against the bed.

"Well, I'll be damned. Tina was right this whole time." There was no way she could sleep now, no way at all.

Puckerman laid in the room he shared with the twins. They laid out a futon for him to sleep on until they moved back to the University. He was laying on his back and completely consumed with emotion. From what happened to Mercedes, to what happened with his mother a few weeks ago. He called her once and she didn't answer. He stalked the house, but it seemed she was still alive. Though he wasn't living with her, he still loved her and wanted to make sure she was okay. He also called his older brothers to let them know what happened, and they sort of just shrugged it off like it was no big deal. It annoyed him because he should've known better. At least the had the audacity to make sure he had a place to stay… the least they could do, right? He toyed with his phone a little, deciding if he should call his mother, but it was late, and if she was going to be an ass, he didn't have the energy to deal with it. Not willing to take the odds with his mother, he decided to text Mercedes.

He looked in his phone for her contacts and had to go over it again and again, each time creating a new wave of disbelief. There was no Mercedes. So he tried Mama, nope. Hot mama. Cedes. Mercy. No, no, no. Crap. He really didn't have her number. How in the hell did that happen? She had him wrapped around his finger and he didn't even have her number? The irony. Looking around the room in what he could see from the moonlight reflecting in the room, and found Jacob's phone. He unlocked it, thanking everything ever that he never locked it, and searched for Mercedes' number. He didn't have it filed under Mercedes, and Puck sighed, of course not. He went to Cedes, nothing. Mercy. Nothing, he even tried Hot mama and rolled his eyes at himself. Really, fool? He asked himself, then something caught his eye, 'Little Mermaid.' Puck blinked, trying to clear his eyes. What? Shrugging, he copied the number into his phone.

Um, Mercedes? After a few minutes of debate and prayer that it was actually her, he pressed sent. A few minutes later, he got a reply. Thank goodness, too, because he was about to lose his mind. He was even trolling Jacob's phone again to see if there were other options out there.

Yes? It replied. It was her number! He was relived, then he got caught with the giggles. Or the manly giggles, he told himself.

LOL, why are you named 'Little Mermaid' in Jacob's phone? He hit sent, and was trying his best to hide his giggles.

NOAH PUCKERMAN?! What are you doing looking through my brother's phone?! He laughed loudly once, then quickly shut his mouth.

I wanted to text you, then realized I didn't have your number. So I looked through the first phone I saw, which was Jacob's. So… why are you little mermaid?

Oh. She sent and Puck thought that maybe his confession was a bit much. He was about text her back a 'sorry for being lame' but then his phone vibrated again.

& I don't know. Jake calls me Lil Mer Mer. Get over it. She sent By the way, I'm glad you snooped. I was having a hard time falling asleep, too. Puck smiled

Why? He sent

You know why. He read it and smiled wider.

If it makes you feel better, you have the same effect on me, pretty lady.

Good to know. She sent.

Isn't it?

Its so weird to be talking to you like this. Being honest with each other? Its refreshing. Puck smiled into the text.

It really is.

And it felt nice holding your hand. Everyone just looks over it, as if its not a big deal, but its so intimate. Like you're attached to the other person, and no matter what, they'll always come back to you. Puck never thought of it like that, but as she was explaining, it really was an intimate gesture.

You've opened my eyes, once again, pretty lady. He texted back.

I know, I have that effect... Haha! I can't believe you looked through Jake's phone. He is sooooo going to kill you when he finds out! Puck started grinning again.

You sure do, and I don't mind it one bit. And snooping through his phone? Yeah, I don't care. I regret nothing. As long as it means I get to text you. It took a few minutes, but he finally got a reply.

Same here. But I'm finally getting sleepy. Figures. I'll see you in the morning. Puck was a little bummed it was getting cut short, but smiled at the fact that it was very true, he would see her in the morning.

Goodnight pretty.

Goodnight. Nice to finally have your number ;) Puck smiled and let out a chuckle. Leave it to her to figure out, amongst all the numbers, who it was that was texting her.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for him to fall asleep either. Maybe it was the thought of really getting to see her in the morning, but either way, he was feeling extremely tired, and he was happy, because the last people they both talked to was each other.

Mercedes father left for war and it was such a horrible experience. All the bliss she'd been going through lately, managed to mask the fact that her father still had to leave. There were a lot of tears and hugging, they wouldn't see him until estimated, August, and that was just too damn long. Seven long, straight months. It wasn't fair, but thats life, isn't it? Her and Puck's confessions happened a few months ago, and they were still just friends. Good thing is, their friendship never went backward, just progressively moving forward.

She was watching T.V when her brothers and Puck came downstairs in sweatpants and basketball shoes. The twins were back for spring break.

"Ugh, cover up!" She yelled at them, and they were all laughing, except for her. "I could not be more serious." She said, and despite herself, she started smiling. She tried not to linger too long on Puck's body, and she made a grimace to mask her want.

"You know you want this!" Jensen said, and started to put his butt all up against her body, but she blocked it with her knee, which he continued dancing on.

"Jensen! Get your ass off of my knee!" She exclaimed with a laugh as she saw Jacob coming to the side, trying to dance on her the same way Jensen was.

"STOP IT!" She was now snorting. "Ewww! Mom!" She yelled, but her mother wasn't home. She was at the neighbor's house, helping them with a recipe she learned.

"No one can save you now!" Jacob said.

Puck felt like he should do something, either play along, but that didn't seem acceptable, or stop them, but he didn't want to ruin the family moment. He knew that was rare for her, and didn't want to take that away from any of them.

"This is serious torture." She said as she gave up and crossed her arms, letting them dance as they will.

"Hey guys whats going….on….?" Finn's voice became less enthusiastic as he came in the house and saw what was going on, and the twins finally stopped.

"Thanks Finn, I freaking owe you." Mercedes said as she tried to straighten out her hair and sit herself up better on the couch.

"No problem?" He said a bit confused and Puck chuckled.

"They were dancing on her, and she was screaming her head off." Puck teased and stuck a tongue out at her. She copied his actions and he laughed harder.

"You guys are going to put on a shirt right? Because-" Finn was cut off by Jensen.

"I know! T-shiiiirt time!" He said grabbing his shirt and whipping it in the air. Mercedes rolled her eyes as the rest of the boys laughed.

"GTL! GTL GTL!" They shouted in unison, and Mercedes pulled the couch pillow over her face. Boys.

She groaned, and eventually they pulled on their shirts. She watched as one by one they left the house to head to the gym. Puck leaving last, with one last glance, he was out the door too.

"Drive safely!" She yelled after them and shaking her head.

She still didn't have a date to her prom, and decided to just ask Puck. Why not? They already mentioned their feelings, what was a prom going to affect? It would be fun. She already knew he could dance. Obviously they weren't going to dance like that, but she knew he could handle her. She twined the pen that was in her hand as she contemplated what she wanted to write this time. She knew she wanted to write, but she wasn't so sure what about. She decided just to leave it till later. Whenever she forced herself to be creative, it almost never worked. She sighed and capped her pen.

Sitting back in the chair she turned on the T.V, but her thoughts wandered to Puck. She felt her walls start to deteriorate, with every passing glance, every text, smile, conversation, it was adding kinks to her armor, and she wasn't so opposed to it. Baby steps. She just hoped he meant what he said. They continued their texting, and he helped a lot around the house. She also noticed that her mother was growing quite fond of him, and they'd often have conversations when she wasn't around, she caught them a couple of times just sitting and talking. Her mother would be sewing and he'd be sitting there, just chatting and laughing as if they were best friends in the whole world. Mercedes took it as a good thing though. And everyday that passed and he got better, she became more excited because that meant they were that much closer to talking about having an actual relationship. He even started coming to church now, well, he had to, it was one of the conditions he had to fulfill so he could live there. She still didn't know exactly what happened in his house, except that his mother was drinking, but she wasn't going to pry and pop this bubble of contentment he had going on lately.

There were so many things she was thankful for, but she couldn't stop thinking about her dad. She missed him so much, the hole in which he left was black and huge, and it was threatening to suck her in. She wrote him a letter every single day. Every, single, day. But with his busy schedule they only spoke a few times a week on the phone-if they were lucky-and she'd get a letter back at least once a week.

Yeah, prom was around the corner and since she promised her mother if she couldn't find a date, she'd ask Puck, she may as well get to it sooner rather than later. It was a month away, after all.

Puck had just finished showering and was doing some homework. The twins were on spring break for two weeks, but McKinley wasn't as dope as Ohio State University, so the second week they were back, Mercedes and Puck still had to go to school, much to their annoyance. Puck was in the middle of doing his history assignment when she sat in front of him on the floor.

"Hey." She smiled at him. He watched as she brought her knees to her chest. The space in the room was okay for him, but as soon as she was in the room, it became too small for his sanity. He hadn't been so physically close to he since they had that talk in her room, and it sucked. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch her.

"Whats up, m-pretty girl." He was about to say my pretty girl, but quickly caught himself. She wasn't his. Sure she was pretty much his heart, but she wasn't actually his.

"I wanted to ask you something." She said a bit timidly, and he put down his pen to smile at her.

"Shoot." He said, leaning forward.

"I was wondering if you'd… like to go to prom with me?" She asked and he smiled wider.

"I'm not sure if you were going to your senior prom, which I know is coming up, too, but um, you know what? Now that I think about it, I don't think it would be all that possible. Since you wouldn't want to relive your junior prom with underclassmen, did you go to junior prom? I can't remember I-" She was rambling, and Puck thought it was adorable.

"I'd love to go. Are you kidding?" He interrupted, and she finished talking the same time as him.

"You sure?" She asked stunned, "What about your senior prom?" She bit her lip and looked to the side.

"What about it? I want to go to yours. And I wouldn't mind it, since I'll be reliving it with you." He reached out to make his pointer finger brush her nose and she scrunched up her face. He noticed she as blushing a bit, and he scooted closer, caressing her cheek.

"You're so beautiful, Mercedes." She didn't have makeup on, and because it was the weekend and she didn't go anywhere, her hair was wrapped in a scarf. He loved seeing her like that, all domestic and homey. She was so relaxed, he felt honored that he got to see her like this. She leaned into his touch and he felt her cheeks get warmer.

"I would love to go." He answered. He wanted to kiss her right then and there, but decided it would be best if he didn't.

"Awesome." She smirked and he reluctantly withdrew the hand that was cradling her face. "Well, I better leave you to your homework." She said, getting up. Just like when he had that little slip, she tripped on the rug and quickly turned around.

"Uh, I'm okay." She said, backing away slowly, and he tried his hardest not to look amused.

"Glad you filled me in, I was about to kick the carpet's ass." Puck said and she laughed.

"Okay, Chuck Liddel." She giggled and turned around to head back to her room. Once she was out of sight, he threw his back against the bed he was leaning on earlier. One thought kept passing his mind: Yes!

A/N HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS CHAPTER! YAY! MERCEDES GOT HER MAN FOR PROM, AND HE IS HOT AS HELL ;) lol