Shake It Out
Diamonds can come in many shapes and sizes, a person, a situation, an intervention, even jewellery
Mercy sat on the balcony looking down at the sea, she could never get tired of the view, they'd brough the summerhouse because of it, despite having to pump almost as much money as the property as it was worth to get it how they wanted it. They were taking some time out to just be, having sent the twins off with his parents in Tennessee for the week, because this part of the summer belonged to them.
They worked hard and long at their careers, both in the singing and acting business while Mercy ventured into theatre too. Sam has started out first, playing guitar for some of the more renowned artists which quickly got him a really big break.
Their twins were the unexpected present they'd loved from conception, they were the last of their peers to do the whole date, family, marry thing, in that order, which meant their children were the babies of their extended family. Having just turned thirteen years old, they were travelling alone with their grandfather for the first time, which for Mercy had meant lot of chats and calls until they boarded, one last call to say they'd landed, then she was calm enough to enjoy the four days they'd planned together.
Those days had been relaxing, but now that break was over, Sam was going back home to grab the children from the airport, because his mother was doing a return flight within the hour. While Mercy had been forced into creating this situation with her girlfriends, because the two of them hadn't spoken in nearly two months, and frankly she was fed up of being the go-between. The pending visit might not have been a problem had the one known the other had been invited.
"You still sulking?" Sam's head popped around the door asking; waving a pair of her panties as a truce to make her laugh
"I'm not sulking" she giggled "I'm just not looking forward to the girls coming"
"They'll sort things out, I'm sure" he leaned over the chair and kissed her on the lips
"Are you finished packing?"
"Yeah, I'm just waiting for the car"
"A whole night, I'm going to miss you" she grabbed his chin "So much"
"It's usually you leaving me" he laughed "And I don't need the guilt trip" he pulled away from her
"I'm not guilt tripping, I'm just missing my husband already"
"You had enough to last a week last night, and the night before" he turned to remind her "And maybe the night before that too" he laughed
"If this was just about the sex…" she got up to follow him "You know I wouldn't have let you get out of bed" she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately
"Babe" he pulled away rolling his eyes "You're not being fair"
"Just wanted you to remember what you're missing" she giggled letting him go "Safe journey, just make sure you're in our" she looked at the bed "When I get back"
"That promise tempts me to order you to come home with me right now" he laughed "I love you Mrs Evans"
"I love you too Mr Evans" she giggled "Is it odd that our honeymoon isn't over yet?"
"It's only been fifteen years, I don't expect it to just yet" he laughed pulling her in for a kiss "Okay" he pulled away "The cars here, I've got to go" he grabbed his coat, small case, blew her a kiss and made for the door "And don't let those old birds give you a headache" he smiled and then he was gone
"Sugar" Mercy slammed herself on the bed, she really wasn't looking forward to this meeting, it had been five months since they'd got together, and boy had it been a chaotic five months
They; Rachel, Quinn, and Mercy had been friends since birth, they'd gone through puberty, losing their virginity, falling in love for the first, second, third, and even fourth time, nursed broken hearts, getting engaged, marriage, grief, childbirth and celebrated every milestone in their careers. Now at just over 40 years old, they were looking at walking through a strange road, none of them had ever dreamt anything like this would have happened to them.
She smiled at Sam opting to go home and be with the children alone, just to get away from the drama that was about to unfold. There was nothing wrong with his parenting skills, to be honest he probably lay the law down more than she did, but somehow Remy and Tyler still managed to run rings around him, turning him inside out sometimes
"The girls" she sighed remembering where they were coming from and scared for where this could all end if things didn't go to plan
Flashback
Mercy's POV
To understand the enormity of the situation I guess you'd need to understand the relationship between us three women, there wasn't very much that happened in our lives that we didn't know before our parents, boyfriends, husbands, fans, and sometime each other. We talked to each other with our eyes, whole jokes could be shared with a single look that would have us rolling around the floor in fits of laughter, we'd cried, cussed, and fought together, that was how we were.
We even have a song, that stems back to some film we'd watched as children when it was deemed people who loved each other had to have a song, and having just watched the film in Quinn's den they claimed the chorus as theirs, and sang it at every occasion they felt it merited
What's it going to be, cause I can't pretend, don't you want to be (Don't you want to be), more than friends
Then hold me tight and don't let go, don't let go
You have the right to lose control (You have the right, yeah), don't let go 'Don't Let Go' by En Vogue
So far our darkest moment had been when Finn had passed, just five years after the birth of Rachel and he's daughter Barbra, we were all devastated, it had taken the couple long enough to get their act together, they'd both played the field before they settled for each other, how were they to know they'd have such a short time together. They were the goals couple, met in school, went through college, and then got engaged and married within three months
Quinn wasn't happy but she finally came around to the idea of one of them leaving the fold, Rachel and Finn moved into their own apartment around the corner from where Quinn and I lived. For all intents and purposes, they used their new home when they wanted alone time, which was rare with everything we had going on at college. Finn had been in a tragic accident, leaving before anyone had the chance to say goodbye and that had hit the hardest, of course Rachel and Barbra moved back into the apartment with us, it wasn't even a question
Back in our first year of college Quinn, for all her sins, had fallen in love with a player, within the first six months they'd been so many ups and downs in their life, there was no surprises about today's situation to be honest. There were so many arguments in the house about her relationship with Puck, Finn stayed out a lot, and maybe that was the reason he moved Rachel out, but we'll never know. When Puck and Quinn announced Beth was on the way, less than a year into the relationship everything changed, Rachel and I backed off and let them live their life, regardless of the apparent toxic undertones.
They were super young, we all were, and to this day Quinn had never said any different, but Rachel and I know, that in the early days if things had been different for her, Beth or Puck might not have been in her life. Whatever the thought was Quinn had made her choice and to all intents and purposes she'd stuck with it through thick and thin, and sometimes things were very thin.
Rachel finally met Brody when Barbra was eleven, at that point everyone was just happy she'd got herself back out there, she'd spent too much time focusing on her busy theatrical life, her daughter, and travel. She'd had a lot of doubts and maybe guilt about the whole thing for a while, and nobody pushed, but over time she decided that she needed a companion, and they got serious. They still hadn't taken the plunge and got married, but they lived together, and everything was true of their union except the ring, she seemed happy enough until four months ago.
Rachel, Brody, Quinn, and Puck had opted for the high life and stayed in New York after they finished college, I'd stayed for a year, met Sam in the meanwhile, then when he got the offer of his dream job in California, against my friends better judgement I left with him.
It was a traumatic break for all three of us, we'd never been apart for more than a week before and with me being so far away of course, they hated Sam for a long while, even after we got married a year later. Rachel threw herself into work while Puck and Quinn made a home for their family and somewhere in the middle of all that, Barbra was left fending for herself, so, it was a shock, but not a surprise, when Rachel called to say her eighteen year old daughter had taken to seeing Puck's thirty two year old brother, when it came to light everyone knew it was something that might have been bubbling for a while, but nobody was ever going to say that out loud, to perfect mommy Rachel.
"Have you spoken to Barb?" I asked when a traumatised Rachel finally let me get a word in
"She's a child, what's to ask?"
"She'd eighteen Rachel, ask the girl what happened?"
"I know what happened" she screamed down the phone "Quinn knew, and she said nothing"
"I'm sure…"
"Pick a side Mercy" she snapped
"Tell me what happened?" I snapped back, not liking the ultimatum
"I walked in on them, kissing" she sobbed at the memory "I asked him to leave I went to see Quinn because I didn't know what to do, and she already knew about it, she didn't even tell me that's not a friend is it?"
"And then what happened?"
"I told her I didn't want to see her again and I left" Rachel shouted over the phone
"Okay, let me call Quinn"
"So, you don't believe me?"
"Of course, I do, but there are always three sides to a story" I hoped that had been delivered in the sincerest of ways "I'll call you back in a while" I cut the call and called Quinn
"What's happened?" I asked as soon as she picked the call up
"Jake" Quinn gasped crying as she spoke "I don't know what's wrong with the guy, I tried talking to him, to them, but they say they're in love, I tried to tell Rachel as soon as I found out" she cried again "And now she's not talking to me.." she sobbed "What are we going to do?"
"We?" I asked wondering how I'd suddenly gotten in the middle of their disagreement
"This affects you too"
"How"
"I thought this was about me?" Quinn slipped in, she always did that when she was pushed into a corner, a trick she's learned to master quite well from Rachel "She slapped me you know?"
"She did what?" I gasped
"Oh, she didn't tell you that bit?"
"No, what happened?" I asked in shock, that wasn't us
"I saw her at the mall asked her, no I begged her to speak to me, she told me I was being irrational, slapped my phone out my hand, told me I was responsible for Jake's behaviour, said she always know Puck's family was dysfunctional and she wasn't surprised that I saw what that predator was doing as normal. Told me to get my entire family into therapy, accused me of being jealous of her perfect family when Puck was such a bastard"
"That was below the belt" was all I had; I'd joined in on those conversations with Rachel when he was being just that
"I was angry at that, and I might have said something along the lines of her daughter having better taste than her and maybe we Puckerman's weren't that bad if her daughter felt the need to upgrade" she gasped "And then she slapped me"
"Quinn" the disappointment in my voice apparent
"I've been calling her for nearly twenty four hours straight and she refuses to pick up, anybody would believe this was my fault"
End of Flashback
And so, the conversations had gone on for nearly four weeks, Mercy had been sick of playing friend on the fence, that had never been her role in this friendship, so she bit the bullet and set up this meeting, that neither of them knew about. She'd had Barbra crying to her on the phone because Jake had finished things with her blaming it on the hurt it had caused everyone, and the poor girl couldn't understand why the split needed to happen now everyone was hurt already.
Eventually Mercy had spoken to her like a woman, put all sides of the hurt to her and the girl had finally agreed, there was much too much to lose. She'd built bridges with her aunt but was having problems getting through to her mother, she knew that wasn't going to be easy, so in desperation, again, she ran to her Aunt M. In a final attempt to bang their heads together Mercy had enlisted Barbra as her wing person and they'd manoeuvred everything up to the two arriving at the summer house separately, and after that hopefully Mercy was going to have a little gem that could bring them back together again.
She smiled at Sam's message 'You've got this' flashing up on her phone "Oh he of much faith" she thought sending him back a message 'Might need extra TLC after this' laughing when he sent back the no clothes zone signs "Speaking my language" she put her phone in her pocket. She couldn't even call the whole thing bad; it had inspired her new single, it was all about them, and because of that she flet she actually needed their blessing to release it, but that was a conversation to have closer to some sort of resolve.
The doorbell rang sending her into a bit of a panic, she knew it was Rachel, but she didn't know how long she could keep her poker face going. She walked across the bedroom, down the hall, and opened the door "Hey" Rachel half smiled falling into her arms
"We'll sort it out" Mercy assured her
"I've never felt so alone"
"Where's Brody been?"
"I don't mean him, he's been a rock, I miss you, I miss us"
"Does that include Q?"
"Not yet, I'm not ready to deal with her" she walked off into the house "I love this place"
"So do we"
"You did the right thing moving away" she backed her coat off and threw it on the couch "I wished we'd have had the hindsight"
"The girls are fifteen" Mercy gasped "Are you suggesting Jake was a predator?"
"I'm confused"
"Very" Mercy rolled her eyes "That girl was in love with the man"
"She's a child"
"She's nineteen Rachel and she was in love"
"Was?"
"Don't you talk to your daughter?"
"Why should I when she has you and supposedly Quinn to talk to"
"But who she needs to talk to is you, and if you'd take that pretty head of yours out your ass for even a second, you'd realise she's screaming out to be heard, by you"
"I'm not ready"
"Rachel" she went to dig in, but the bell rang again
"Expecting someone?" Rachel looked at the door "Please tell me it's not…"
"It is, and before you ask, she doesn't know either, you two need to sort this out, today"
"I'm…"
"Be ready" Mercy snapped at her walking off to answer the door
"Finally," Quinn fell into her arms "Someone to talk to"
"Hi Quinn" she hugged her, the woman looked five years older because of the stress the situation was causing her "I'm hoping you two can sort his out" she turned to look at Rachel sat watching them "And before you ask, she didn't know anything about this"
Quinn stood at the door taking her coat off, hung it up, kicked her shoes off and carried on into the house "How are the girls?" she asked Mercy as they walked over to where Rachel sat
"They're good, Sam's gone home to pick them up" she smiled "How's Beth?"
"She's just as upset as I am with all this"
"I've brought the two of you together to work through this, we're bigger than this and it affects everyone when you two behave like this"
"Mercy" Rachel hissed "My nineteen-year-old daughter was sleeping with a thirty two year old .." she looked at Quinn knowing she wasn't going to get away with the word she wanted to say in front of Mercy "Man"
"She didn't sleep with him" Mercy told them
"What?" Rachel looked at her shocked
"As I said if you'd take a minute to talk to your daughter…"
"Okay" Rachel held her hand up "I saw a kiss"
"A kiss that Barbra instigated, I might add" Quinn added "It all happened so fast, before Jake know what was happening you were at the door telling him to leave"
"But" Rachel looked at her with disbelief "That's not why I'm mad at you"
"I know" Quinn looked at her "I found out Barbra felt like that about him the night before, I hadn't slept all night trying to find the words to tell you what was going on, and then apparently that same night, after she'd agreed to stop crushing over him, she called him round to yours on the pretence that something was wrong, enter Rachel"
"Is that true?" Rachel looked at Quinn asking
"I've been trying to tell you that for nearly four months" Quinn sat down on the couch opposite her "it was a stupid crush that got out of hand"
"Did he move away because of the way I reacted, Barb told me he'd gone, but I didn't believe her"
"That's a problem on it's own, how could you not believe your own child" Mercy shook her head telling their headstrong friend
"I generally do, but I really didn't expect this of her" Rachel told them "And then to hear she instigated it all, I feel like I've been living with an alien"
"She's turning into a woman, remember that?" Mercy smiled sitting on the couch near Rachel
"The feeling of dying it you didn't get invited to the party of the week" Quinn rolled her eyes
"Sweat" Mercy laughed "Buckets of it"
"Sex" Rachel laughed
"And if I remember rightly, at her age you were already with Finn and thinking about the M word" Mercy smiled
"Your face when I said I was thinking about mentioning the M word" Rachel pointed at Mercy
"Okay" Mercy rolled her eyes and held her hand up at her "I was slow to the party"
"She kept asking why you were going to tell Finn about your menstrual cycle" Quinn laughed
"Back to Barb" Mercy giggled "She's nineteen, doing her studies, living up to your and maybe even Finn's expectations, her body's changed, she looks great, and of course she wants boys to like her, which girl doesn't"
"I remember the competition" Quinn laughed "There are so many more influences these days, she's under pressure to be liked, and the poor thing thought she could find it in Jake"
"Why didn't you call me that night?" Rachel asked
"That kind of thing isn't something you deliver cold to someone you care about" Quinn told her "I wanted to be with you I guess"
"Drinks?" Mercy asked at the pause in the conversation
"Please" Rachel smiled
"Super Star Handshakes all round" Mercy got up "Coming up" she went off to make their drink which was in lay man's terms a Pina Colada with an extra dash of rum, covering rum-soaked pineapples at the bottom of the long glass, she'd had them resting in the fridge from last night. "So," she walked back into the room to silence "Where do we go from here?"
"I need to have a conversation with Barb, a serious one" Rachel told them "And I really don't want to lose my best friend" she looked at Mercy and Quinn "We've come through so much together"
"Does this mean you'll stop ignoring me when I come round?"
"I guess it does" Rachel smiled "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, and for the slap"
"We said some horrid things to each other" Quinn reminded her "And I'm sorry too" she got up "I want us back more than anything"
"I don't know how to be anything else but us"
"Thank the lord for that" Mercy passed them their drinks "Cheers to friendship, it conquers everything"
"To friendship" they knocked glasses and took their first sip
There was much to catch up on, it seemed it had taken some time, but Puck had turned into someone worthy to be called a husband and a father in Quinn's eyes. Rachel was finally thinking of making Brody and her official now the prospect of Barb leaving home seemed to be imminent. Mercy finally broached the subject of the song she had sitting on the back burner waiting for approval from them.
"Let's hear it then" Rachel finally stopped Mercy rattling on
"It's raw, I know I have everything, it's just about the order"
"Come on" Quinn smiled at her for stalling "Get it out" they watched Mercy sit at the piano
"I'll give you a verse"
"Or two" Rachel corrected her
Mm, I was turning on my radio today, and it hurt to hear the things they had to say
They were shouting, preaching, words of hate, they were speaking, I was determined not to let it spoil my day
So, I'm asking, what's on your mind, what's on your mind?
With a world that is so beautiful, don't hide, just open your eyes, open your eyes… 'What's On Your Mind' by Keisha White
"That' about us?" Quinn asked when she finished
"The situation was the spark" Mercy agreed "Metaphors for the most of it, but yes"
"I wouldn't have guessed if I didn't know" Quinn confessed
"I suppose that's a positive" Rachel nodded "And I like the song by the way, very you"
"Thank you" she smiled happy the project could get off the ground
The women fell into the handshakes as if they were diving into a pool, by glass four it was hard to imagine they'd started the day in disagreement, but that was how they were, all three collapsing on the couches when they finally had enough, drunkenly calling their families before they closed their eyes
The following morning Rachel was the first to wake up, she was stood in the living room mirror pinning her hair up in readiness for her shower
Quinn: What's it going to be, cause I can't pretend, don't you want to be
(Rachel: Don't you want to be), Quinn & Rachel: more than friends
Mercy, with Rachel & Quinn: Then hold me tight and don't let go, don't let go
You have the right to lose control (Mercy: You have the right, yeah), don't let go 'Don't Let Go' by En Vogue
"I love you guys" Rachel smiled at them taking a moment to just be "I wish we had more time" Rachel smiled at them
"I'm grateful for what we got; it made the difference" Quinn told her
"Are we all leaving at the same time?" Rachel asked
"Yeah" Mercy told them
"By the way Mrs Evans" Rachel turned away from the mirror to look at her "You did the right thing"
"You always do" Quinn hugged her
"Comes with having a smart thinking husband that no one likes" she snapped at them
"We like him" Quinn answered quickly "We just don't like the part of him that took you away"
"It's been nearly sixteen years"
"I've given him his props" Rachel jumped in to defend her actions "Remy and Tyler are two of the cutest human beings I'd ever want to love, he gave them to us"
"Glad to hear it" Mercy laughed "We've got two hours" she got up "If we hurry, we can get breakfast at the airport before you leave"
"Sounds like a plan" Quinn got up to get to one of the bathrooms
Just over an hour later they were all at the airport eating and preparing to say their goodbyes for another six months "Safe journey" Mercy hugged her friends "Call me when you land"
"We will" Quinn assured her as they let go of each other and she watched them walk away before she turned to get back into the car
"Straight home Shane" she told he driver "I'm dying to see the children" she sat back happy with herself for reuniting the unit
Home
"Hey" she walked into the house happy to see the children getting on with themselves, noses pressed into their phones as usual, if they weren't watching TikTok they were uploading something onto one of their social media platforms
"Hey Mom" the girls sang in unison
"No hug?" she asked walking towards them
"Of course," Tyler answered but Remy got up first to give her a hug
"Dad's upstairs" Remy pulled away from her "You should go up"
"Why, what's going on?" she asked suspiciously
"Nothing" they both said too fast
"Girls" her tone warning them to come clean
"Nothing, he's just upstairs" Tyler dismissed the conversation with her tone
"Okay" Mercy spun round and went upstairs "Hey you" she smiled when she walked in seeing him in his suit "Where are you going?"
"I've got a meeting about another tour"
"Wow" she walked towards him "How long for?"
"A month" he kissed her waiting lips "In England"
"Can we come over for the last weekend?"
"Sure" he smiled watching her brush his jacket down
"That's a bit bulky" she tapped his chest and went in to get it out "What are you doing with my panties in your pocket?" she looked up at him asking
"Oh" he smiled "I was going to use it as a sweetener if you kicked off" he laughed "Shake it out"
"What?"
"Shake it out" he nodded at the panties "Carefully"
"Sam" she smiled at the diamond dress ring that dropped out of it "I love it"
"Did you sort everything out?"
"Of course," she leaned up and kissed him