Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Ready or Not
Mercedes Point of View
The last week before the beginning of my senior year was just as exciting and action packed as the rest of the summer. There was passion, and drama. There was pleasure and pain…lots of sore and achy pain. I had Cheerio practice every day from seven to noon and on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, I also had it from one to four. Tuesday, I had an appointment to get my hair weave replaced and I went straight up unbe-weave-able. I managed to catch a sale on the twenty-four inch straight tracks and I got hella happy. Thank God Mom and Dad still pay for that shit…as long as I'm responsible and don't change it on a whim like I'm ballin' out of control.
Puck and Sam were both a little unhappy with my decision to have more weave put in. I guess I can understand their reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that I had to spend the entire afternoon, evening and most of the night at Veronica's getting it put in. I was lucky though, this time I made it home a little before midnight, and she started at half after noon. But their main reason had more to do with them missing my hair and all they were allowed to do with it that they couldn't do with my weave. It was simply because they are two kinky buggers who love to do things like use my afro puffs like handlebars when they a pistoning in and out of my mouth before they explode all over my face and chest, or wrap their fingers in my curls while they are making me cum over and over again, or and this only happened once, the night before I got my hair did, -apparently my boys figured that since I was going to 'hide my light' back under a weave, they would give it a grand send off by masturbating with and into it. I swear those two are way too creative for my own good.
I can honestly and modestly say that our two Cheerio routines are on point. The choreography is the bomb, Kurt and my arrangements of the two mashups are fierce, and so divergent that there is no way that any judge anywhere will be able to say 'seen it before'. That's one thing I can honestly say I learned from going to Nationals with the New Directions…Judges are looking for not only the BEST, but something New and Different-something that WOWs them. And even without the human cannonball stunt, Sue has that covered.
Sunday morning the Evans family came to church with us. Puck joined us as well. That boy will never convert, but he knows he loves him some gospel. Tessa didn't join us, though we invited her. She went to the Synagogue with Puck, Rebecah and Sarah last night, and she's thinking of converting to Judaism just to get to sleep in on Sunday mornings. The adults in our family seem to have reached a place where they don't care how you worship, just that you do worship. Sam and I had gone with Puck to Temple a few weeks ago, but we both had to admit we'd had some trouble following things since their main service is still done primarily in Hebrew. Still it felt like prayer and worship, so I have no problem going back.
Tessa has spent the week making her first 'outside the family' friend. Part of me is very thankful that it's not a Cheerio. She and Sam's friend, Aidan, have a lot in common. They keep each other talking forever. Not sure if it's just friendship or what…but the best 'or what's start off as friendships.
Our friendships with the other New Directions are going well. Kurt and I are almost closer than ever. We no longer share every single detail of our day when we talk, but that's just part of growing in our romantic relationships. We can talk easily about the non 'smexy deats', but we keep private things private for the most part. He and I have talked through everything, I even told him how truly surprised I was when he sided with me against Rachel that day in the cafeteria. That lead to some ugly Oprah crying on both our parts, but we made it through to the other side right as rain. Quinn has returned to being a fixture around the Jones home. She had taken Tessa under her wing a little in the squad. Making sure that the Manhattan girl wasn't inundated by people bothering her to find out more about the city most could only dream of one day visiting. Quinn also made it her mission in life to make sure that there was no way Shane Tinsley would ever recover socially from what he'd attempted at Santana's party.
Santana, Artie and Brittany are going strong. They hit a bump in the road a few nights ago. Their first fight was just what you would expect form Santana…loud, huge and ugly. Somehow, not sure how it happened, but they ended up over here looking for mediation. How we were supposed to mediate when Santana had denigrated into Spanish and Artie was matching her rolled R for rolled R. But finally we decided just to divide and conquer. Sam took Artie, while I grabbed Santana. Puck and Brittany just went to make ice cream sundaes for Triple S. It took a minute but I was finally able to get Santana to remember that she does, in fact, speak English. From there I got the story in like no time flat.
They were arguing over the dumbest thing ever…okay maybe not as dumb as the ugly ass shower curtain; but still really dumb. It would seem that the Morehouse rep at Nationals had more of an impact on Artie than we realized. My soul brother decided that he really wants to apply. His parents are so not onboard with the idea, and they are refusing to pay the application fee. They haven't pulled their support if he gets in and goes there, they just don't want to help him get in. Usually the fifty dollar fee wouldn't hurt him too badly, but thanks to him paying his senior fees and updating his AV and Tech equipment so that his 'kung fu would be the bomb diggity' he was kinda wiped out. Now Santana being who she is, and actually caring about 'his old flicted ass' she offered to pay the fees for him. Which should have been a sweet gesture.
Unfortunately, Santana's ability to be sweet is greatly overshadowed by her natural ability to be a world class bitch. Add to that the fact that while Artie may look like Weird Al he has pride like Chamillionaire…so of course he took it the exact wrong way. Now when Artie's feathers are ruffled, it really doesn't take much to get him back to normal. But with both him and San getting their pride all bruised, it's almost like their anger was feeding off each other. Thankfully before they could truly get going and say things they didn't mean but couldn't take back, Brittany brought them to us.
"Tana…just admit it…you could have worded the offer better…you know maybe make it an actual offer. The man has his pride." I told her honestly.
Santana rolled her eyes. "Pride, my tight, perfectly formed ass. He's just being stubborn."
It was my turn to roll my eyes, and I couldn't bite back a laugh. "Well then, this is a clear case of you two being too damn much alike."
She sat on the arm chair in the corner of my room with a huff. "Maybe…and I'm not saying it's true…but maybe I could have found a better way to say it."
I took a seat on the floor across from her and leaned back against the foot board of my bed. "So what, exactly, did you say to get Artie's back up?"
She laughed. "Nothing…I just said fuck it. I'll pay for that shit and he could pay me back later."
"Uh huh, and I have some ocean front property for sale in Arizona." I shot back.
"Well I just suggested that he could pay me back by getting me a handicap parking pass for when I go shopping." I know I was looking at her like she had grown another, even more evil, head. "What? Those tickets ain't no joke."
"So you asked a handicapped person…to help you dick over other handicapped people? What's next? Are you gonna ask one of your cousins to join the fucking border patrol?" I swore.
Santana's entire countenance conveyed her extreme shock. "That's racist's!" She finally spat out. I'm not even Mexican…I'm Puerto Rican, Bitch!"
"Yeah well, I'm black yet everywhere I go people call me African American…What the hell for…I've never been to Africa, I have no desire to go to Africa. Why can't I just be an American? You don't want me to say racist shit, I'm pretty sure that Artie doesn't want a girl he cares about, and who says she cares about him, to belittle and demean those with disabilities." I shot back.
She gave me a screw face, but I knew from the lack of venom behind it that she was finally getting the point. "Ugh…so what now?"
"Now, you figure out how to apologize."
"No, hell to the no. Santana Admire Lopez, does not apologize. Not willing, or if willingly then not sincerely." She vehemently denied.
I had to laugh at her antics and the truth of her words. Fortunately while she and I had been talking Sam had managed to convince/remind Artie that when he decided to take on a relationship with Santana especially when he decided to make it a more than friends ship, he had to learn to keep his 'hip off his shoulder' and listen to the meaning behind her usually abrasive and slightly hateful words. So that crisis was adverted.
Thursday afternoon Lauren got home and she and Finn decided that we all needed to do something to celebrate the last weekend before the start of our senior year. But then the guys all decided that they would do whatever the girls wanted to do. Which lead to a conference call of the girls of our group plus Kurt and minus Tessa. We talked it out and decided to do it up big. Spend the whole evening together, chilling out and having fun. Kurt, of course, suggested Breadstix, but that got quickly vetoed when Santana and Quinn started arguing about breadstick thievery and consumption. So Lauren suggested we go to this place that she and Finn like. "It has an all you can eat steak and shrimp buffet. Aren't you skinny chicks always going on about how much better it is to eat protein over carbs any way." She pointed out. Then Kurt pointed out that with so many of our group being teenage boys and football players, that place did sound like a great idea…so that decision was reached.
Then Tina spoke up. "We should all go to Excess."
"I don't know…I said hesitantly.
"Come on…didn't you have fun?" Tina asked leadingly.
"Wait, what's Excess?" Lauren asked.
"It's this teen club that opened up while you were at AV camp." I explained. "And yeah, I had fun. It was kinda cool. There were just a lot of broads there trying to push up on Sam and Puck." I muttered the last sentence. It sounded all kinds of stupid when I said it out loud.
Apparently Tina thought it was stupid too. I could tell from her tone as she pointed out, "and yet they left with you and they were dancing all up on you all night. They didn't even see those hoochies."
"I know." I groaned into the pillow. I'd put the phone on speaker minutes into the call so it was easy to bury my head in the pillows and laugh at my own senselessness. I did't realize that Sarah and Stacey had entered the room to snuggle with me, and heard my insecurity blurted out.
"Haters gonna hate." Sarah said sagely, as she climbed up into my bed. "You can't let those jealous chickenheads stop you from having fun."
"I could not have said it better myself." Kurt almost shouted.
Suddenly Stacey got this wicked little smile on her face. "I let my haters be my motivators." She said her accent thicker than I had ever heard it. There were several beats of pure silence before we all dissolved into peals of laughter.
Once we all calmed down somewhat, Lauren brought us the rest of the way to normal. "Umm…so if you guys are going to drag me to a somewhere club like…" Lauren began
"You have nothing appropriate?" Kurt reasoned.
Lauren laughed. "Hell Tink, I haven't even done my school shopping yet."
"You do realize that school starts in two days." Quinn said stridently.
Lauren groaned. "Well, a-I just got home after being gone the better part of the summer, and b- Monday is technically three days away."
"Lauren, you should thank your lucky stars that Coach gave us all the day off, because that means that we are available to help you." Kurt said mildly. "Girl, get ready, comfortable shoes, we will reconvene at the mall outside the Macy's entrance in one hour. Lauren, I'll be to your hour in thirty…I'll drive."
"Hey, I'd show." The state wrestling champion defended.
"Oh please, you wouldn't even be on this call if you thought it would end in a trip to the mall." Kurt shot back teasingly.
Sarah and Stacey laughed with the rest of us before starting to bounce on the bed. "Can we come, Cedes, can we?" they beseeched excitedly.
"Of course she's bringing you two. After all Tessa's coming with you guys, and they can't leave you two at home alone. Who knows how long this could take. Where is Pippy?" Quinn asked.
"She's sleeping in Stacey's room. She to just let her know what we're doing and she will text Aiden." I responded.
"Well go get her pale ass up. You heard the homo…we're meeting to gets Lauren hot." Santana laughed. "Or as close as she can hope to get."
"Watch it Satan." Lauren said warningly. "I can still swing you around like a rag doll. Not to mention this sweet new move I learned at wrestling camp."
"Damn Large Marge… I was just playing." Santana groused. "Thick as your backside is, you'd think you'd have a thicker skin."
"Are they always this mean to each other?" Stacey asked, her little voice concerned.
"Oh Sweetie, we're just joking with each other." Lauren and Santana both assured her. Though their voices seemed strained by the nice, sweet tone. "It's just, when two people are both used to being top dog, they tend to tease and taunt as a way of ensuring that they let everyone know they're still queen bee." Lauren explained.
"Not to mention Big- I mean Lauren- might pick on me…but she would never let anybody not in our clique say boo to me. And I'd do the same for her." Santana said reassuringly.
Stacey looked at Sarah and shrugged. "Teenagers are weird."
I grabbed them both close, tickling them until they giggles. "You'll understand soon enough. But stay little as long as you can," I advised.
"Yeah, cause growing up is not all it's cracked up to be. Quinn told them.
The call ended pretty quickly after that. I took the girls to Stacey's room to get dressed, texting Puck and Sam as I walked. Stacey and Sarah jumped on the bed waking Tessa. They couldn't wait to tell her about meeting everyone at the mall. "Wait, we're going shopping again?" she whined. "Don't you people do anything else?"
I rolled my eyes. "We sing, we dance, we go to church, we help our families. We cheer, we get good grades…" I began.
"Ok, okay. You guys are all very multi-dimensional." She said cutting me off before I could really get going.
"Besides," I laughed. "If Aiden is gonna come with us tonight…Lauren's not the only one who needs something more 'club appropriate'."
"I have clothes." She defended.
'Yes…yes you do, and often it seems that you are trying to wear them all at the very same time." I chided lightly. "You dress in layers…what are you a thirty year old soccer mom?"
She stopped getting dressed to give me a sarcastic look. "Been holding that one back for a while, haven't you?" she asked dryly.
"Well better me than Kurt or Santana." I rebutted. "At least I try to say it in a way that doesn't hurt your feelings."
"Yeah, you still need to work on that one." She sighed. "Fine. I'll get ONE new shirt. I'm sure we can find one we can agree on. But no annoying patterns, super loud colors, or big, bold prints."
"bet." I returned and we got everyone dressed, packed Stacey and Sarah into my Tahoe and headed to the mall. Everybody got there before us, but before Kurt could throw me the stink eye, I reminded him, 'two smallish children to help get ready."
He nodded regally. "Alright ladies," he said rather than argue the point. "We have at least four stops to make. Fredericks, Lane Bryant, Macys and DSW. Oh wait, we'll need to hit Footlocker for her wrestling accessories. But first I'd like everyone's opinion on your favorite color on our Dear Lauren."
"Burgundy." Santana and I said at the same time. We both remembered the way L-Boogey looked in that burgundy night gown in New York.
"Jewel Blue." Quinn said after a moment's thought. "Though she did look really amazing in black and white at the luncheon."
"True." Tina agreed. "You're all gonna boo and hiss, but Lauren, remember when you did that Twilight thing and came to school all gothed out? You looked really cute. Even if you were on the wrong side of that argument, everybody knows vampires shouldn't twinkle."
"Anime Babe, don't make me hurt you." the larger girl teased.
"So, we'll look at the jewel tones, eschewing the amber and amethyst families, and well play with the wine tones." Kurt said as though marshaling his troops. "Now we will focus on cut and fit. The proper cut and fit can turn anyone from lumpy and dumpy to statuesque. Proper tailoring can hide a multitude of Snicker bars. However, Lauren, has reminded me…many, many times, that if she isn't comfortable, she will make sure that we are all uncomfortable. So let's stick with natural fabrics that are breathable and allow her to feel good in her clothing, not just confident and hopefully sensual."
"Damn skippy, Tinkerbell." Lauren agreed. "Alright Fredericks first?"
"Actually Macy's first." Santana said with a smirk. That way you can work around things like neckline and strap issues."
Lauren nodded even as she shrugged. "Ok…I guess that makes sense. But I'm putting my foot down right now…No Thongs!" with us all in firm agreement on that one. Because really when someone like Lauren puts her foot down that stridently, no one…not ever Kurt is going to try to gainsay her. We headed to Macys and found her a good start on a wardrobe for the year. After Macy's we hit Lane Bryant and found her several more dressy outfits, things that would work for Senior activities like grad night and the awards dinners, as well as an outfit that was absolutely perfect for nights out on the town. We started to skip finding her something for another Nationals luncheon, but when she reminded us that she would need something that would work for dinner with scouts from colleges, we prayed it wouldn't jinx us and we found her a dress that was perfect for any semi-formal restaurant type occasion.
Sarah and Stacey were cleaning up just as much as Lauren. Everyone seemed to find something they just 'had' to get for the girls. Brittany found them each a pair of rainbow arm/leg warmers. Santana, found them the cutest little shorts set, pink for Stacey and a bold teal for Sarah. Kurt got them some SPF 50 moisturizer because 'it's never too early for proper skin care.' Lauren got them these fun kiddie cameras that weren't expensive but they took digital pictures and video. And we won't even talk about all the crap Quinn and Tessa got them from Claire's and Afterthoughts. I may or may not have been just as bad…I admit nothing. We took everything out and stored it in Baby and my Tahoe, and then hit the foot court. We'd barely gotten our food when almost all at once, our phones rang.
It would seem that after learning of our plans for the evening, Puck and the guys had decided to do us one better. There was a marathon of texting and phone calls as the girls were frantically trying to get their parents to agree. Santana, of course, was the first to say yes. Her parents were calling mine even as we spoke. Somehow Lauren convinced her parents to allow it and Tina was able to parlay the Zizes agreement into her parents giving her permission. Burt and Carol had already gotten the heads up from Finn and had spoken to Mom before Kurt even knew about it. He, however, still had to call Blaine and let him know about the secondary invite, and the conditions attached to it. Brittany was coming, Santana had called the blonde's parents because Britts and Stacey and Sarah had gone to get ice cream since the rest of us were boring them. Quinn's mother was being a bit of a hold out, until Quinn reminded her that David, the Warbler from Santana's party wouldn't even be there tonight. It was just a night for the New Directions to bask before going back to school. Finally Mrs. Fabray agreed, sighting that since she had a date this evening Quinn would have come home to an empty house anyway.
After everyone had called their parental figures, including an amusing Tessa who called Becah and asked her imploringly; "Becah, can you please call, well your other moms and tell them I can sleep over at the family's other house tonight with all the other New Directions, and maybe Blaine and Aiden?" Becah was appropriately amused and granted Tessa permission; we returned to our shopping endeavors. We checked out Rainbow and found a few great pieces for Lauren and a few shirts for Tessa, including a gorgeous amber colored silky boat neck top that made her skin look like alabaster and her hair look like fire. She was wearing that tonight or else. We hit the shoe stores next before finishing in Fredericks. Of course every one of us left that store with something. Even Kurt found a bunch of nail lacquers he just had to have. The little ones, Brittany and I cleaned up on a sale they were having on their flavored lip glosses. Of course all the bigger girls got some at least a new set as well. We finally left the mall five hours after we got there and completely lighter in the pocket.
Sam Point of View
Coach Bieste was good enough to let us out of the last practice of the week at half after noon rather than keeping us 'til four as the schedule suggested. We headed in to shower and Puck grabbed his phone to check his messages. "Yo Sam, Aiden…dudes, it's on and poppin' tonight." he yelled. "The girls finally decided what we're doing tonight."
"Ooh, what?" Finn asked coming over.
"We be clubbin." Puck sang the chorus of an old Ice Cube song. When he finished, he continued. "Dinner first at some all you can you can eat place you took Lauren to Finn, then we're heading to that sweet teen club we hit last month. Hells yeah, man, gonna dance all up on Sexy Mama." He laughed giving me a pound. We tended to be more circumspect at school about our personal interactions after we gave that poor girl a concussion. "We should all stay over someplace after the club man. You too Aidan."
"Hold up man." Mike said, ever the voice of reason. "None of our parents will let us take over their house rolling fourteen-fifteen deep."
"Well, we'll never know unless we ask." Finn said excitedly. "I'll call Burt and Mom, Puck you can call your mom and let Sam call the Joneses. Mike, no offense, but we'll skip you. Last time I was at your house, your mom tried to give me something made out of Panda hair and ginseng."
Mike kinda shrugged. "Yeah. My mom reads Santana's blog…she thinks it's hilarious. That tea was supposed to help improve stamina, you know staying power."
"Dude!" Finn exclaimed embarrassed as he finished his text. He looked around before lowering his voice and asking "does it work?"
Puck looked at Finn like he was crazier than a little bit. "Dude…its panda hair."
"It could be worth it." Finn defended.
While they argued that one out, I grabbed Puck's cell and called the Joneses. "Jones Family Dental Care, this is Gabby speaking, how may I help you?"
"Hey Mommy Lady..." I said suppressing a chuckle at her professional voice. "You having a good day?"
"Hi Sammy, I am. How about you? Are you and Puck ok?" she asked curious as to why I'm calling.
"Oh yes ma'am…we're fine. I was just calling to see if it would be ok if I went out to dinner and Excess with the kids from glee. Then Puck came up with the idea of us all having a sleepover somewhere after the club, and he'd like me to ask Mr. Benton and Ms. Danica if they would let us have it over there tonight."
"Oh Sammy…yes to the dinner and club thing. Mercy already called. But I don't know about a sleepover. Benton won four rickets to the Hip Hop Legends concert in Columbus, and your dad and I are going with them. We're gonna make a whole weekend of it."
"Oh so we're gonna have Triple S for the weekend then?" I questioned. It wouldn't bother me if we did, but it would change our plans for the night.
"No…Stevie is having a sleep over of his own at the Hardings, and Stacey and Sarah are doing a slumber party at Becah's with the little girl triplet. We all figure you three wouldn't mind having the house to yourselves." She kidded. "So who are we talking about…you three and the rest of the New Directions?"
"Yeah, and maybe Aidan and Blaine. If everyone else is all couply, we can't not invite those two, it wouldn't be fair." I added.
"So you want to invite fifteen kids, six couple type groups to an overnight party." She said doubtfully.
"We'll be good Mom." I said confidently, ok hopefully.
"Let me relay the question to Danica and Benton…it's their house so it's their call. You understand young man?"
"Of course, Moma." I said, my offence at the insinuation ringing through my tone. After all they have done for my family, let alone giving the world Mercedes, I would carry Mr. Benton on my shoulders over forty miles of broke glass just 'cause he asked me to, Bare foot even. That wouldn't change even if he said hell to the no.
"Alright, I'll call you back with an answer." She said and hung up.
I turned to the guys and told them the sitch. We all showered and got dressed as we waited anxiously. We heard from Artie's parents. They were a definite no. the Changs were a hell no, or at least I think that's what it translated into. The Hudson-Hummels were cool with hosting the boys, but the girls and Kurt would have to have a separate party elsewhere. Puck hadn't bothered asking Becah since she's hosting the little girls' slumber party. So our hopes were resting solely on the Joneses, and to be honest, it wasn't much of a hope at this point. But there was still enough hope in our anxious little hearts that when Puck's cell rang we all totally jumped.
"Hola, Angel Mom." Puck said when he answered. "Yes, we're all right here. No…everybody else said no. Ok Hold up." He said before pressing a button on his phone. "Ok go ahead oh angelic one."
"Alright you boys lucked out. Benton and Dani have said yes. But there are more than a few rules. First of all every parent must call and give permission. Not only must they give permission, but they must know exactly what they are giving permission for. We will make sure that they understand that this will be co-ed and unsupervised…so don't bother lying to them. Let me remind you that we've all spoken together several times over this summer, so don't even try to fool us. Number two, Benton's liquor cabinet stays locked, and no drugs of any kind! Three, ya'll's party stays down in the basement. If they have to use the bathroom they can use yours or Mercy's no one in mine, Dani's or Stacey's. NO ONE at all in Stevie, Stacey, my or Dani's beds. Keep ya'll nasty hormonal patoots out of the bedrooms. Fourthly, the rules you three live by, they apply to each and every one of you…even Kurt and Blaine. I don't think we have to worry about Tessa and Aidan yet." She murmured that last as though she were talking to herself. "Fifth…the house will be absolutely, positively, pure-dee spotless by the time we get home on Sunday. Which leads me to the last rule. Anything you guys break, you are responsible for replacing, or having fixed. Do you all agree to the terms?"
"Yes, Mrs. Evans." Artie said quickly. Mike, Aidan and Finn chimed in with their agreements and thanks as well.
"Of course, mom." I said when they finished their assurances.
"Its all good, Angel Mom." Puck responded last.
"Now you'll need to hop to. Your parents need to talk to us before we leave the office at 4:30. That only gives you a couple of hours." She told us. "Hope it works out for kids." She signed off.
The others grabbed their phones and were busily trying to contact their girls and their parents. All of a sudden fin stopped and looked at Puck. "Why do you call Mrs. Evans 'Angel Mom'?"
Puck laughed and simply shrugged. "Have to differentiate her from the other moms. My mom is just Mom, Mercedes' Mom is Moms D and Sam's mom is Angel Mom."
"But why Angel Mom? Is it the blonde hair and blue eyes?" Finn said confusedly.
"Naw…her name is Gabrielle." He explained.
Finn looked even more confused. "Still don't get it."
But Artie did. "Gabrielle is the feminine form of Gabriel." Still a confused puppy face on Finn, "Gabriel is the name of an Angel…you know, from the Bible."
"And the Torah." Puck chimed back in.
"Oh…I get it." Finnocence finally said. "I guess I just thought it because she's always so nice." He said before returning his attention to back to his phone.
As he finished his call, Aidan gave Puck and me a look that clearly asked us if Finn was serious. We both had to nod. "Ok then…well my parents are gonna call yours. They were a little worried about the lack of supervision, but I told them the rules we agreed to, so they said yes. Apparently they figured I might want to make myself scarce tonight anyway with Stevie and Evan getting together at our house."
"Cool." Puck said giving him a fist bump. "But dude, I'm just gonna say…I like you. I do so I'm gonna give you a verbal warning, rather than just beating your ass…"
"I've got it Puck." Aidan cut him off. "Tessa and I aren't there yet. So you don't have to worry. I mean she is great and I like her, despite Sam's feeble attempt at matchmaking last week, but if we even kiss tonight; it would be the first time so relax big brother."
"Good-cool- cause I'd have hated to have to kill you. I mean I would have done it…but I'd have felt really bad about it." Puck's honesty won out.
"Dude, I feel so bad for Drizzle and any daughters you guys have with Mercedes." Finn laughed shaking his head.
Puck reached over and shoved Finn, making him hit the doorjamb as we left the locker room. "Her name is Beth, man. Besides, I doubt I will get to scare off her boyfriends."
"Dude, I'm always going to call her Drizzle." Finn stopped laughing. "Crap…man I forgot to tell you all. Mr. Berry called us last night…Leroy, not Hiram, he called us to let us know that Mr. Schue had called them it was the only number he had with him. Apparently Rachel had programmed all her numbers in his cell phone at some point last year."
"Rachel programmed her numbers in Mr. Schue's phone?" I asked aghast.
They all gave me a 'really, you are surprised' look before Finn continued. "Any way, April's play did about as well as we all thought it would. Universally panned by the critics, except for Mr. Schuester's performance. They wanted him for a role in a production of Memphis, of course he took it. So Shelby is coming back here to take the job of running the glee club. Since we won Nationals the school board had freed up a bunch of money to pay her to get us there again. Ms. Holliday and some Martinez guy are going to take over his Spanish classes."
Puck sat down, unseeingly, in the middle of the hallway. "Beth…Beth's coming home?"
I dropped to my knees next to him and pulled him into a hug. "She's coming home." I whispered tenderly. "She's coming home and we'll help Shelby whenever she needs a sitter or whatever. We'll get your mom, and the Joneses and my parents together and we'll make them part of our family." I wiped away tears that he wouldn't want anyone else to know he'd shed from his cheeks. "She's coming home and this time you are ready to have a place in her life."
Completely uncaring of where we were or who might see, Puck buried his hands in my hair and devoured my mouth in an epic kiss. We kissed unmindful of our surroundings until we heard Azimio's laughter ring through the hall. "Told Karofsky he could stay…this damn place is becoming Homo-High. I thought you two were all up on Jones big butt, but really she's just you fag hag, huh?"
"Hold your horses, Adams." I snarled. "You're stupid. Mercy is ours so you can just roll your ass on through and keep your bullshit to yourself."
"I'm just saying you rainbow flag waving, fans of Gaga should move over and make way for a real man to get with her." He said cockily.
"You know, Adams, the last person who tried to push up on Mercedes got his ass beat." Artie said conversationally.
"And the last one to try and say that Puck and Sam were using Cede as a beard…had to have reconstructive surgery." Mike continued in the same tone. He neglected to point out that the surgery had come before the accusation.
"Anybody who spends any time with them at all can see the love." Finn told the tubby prick, Finn's tone completely conveying that he doubted Adams' intelligence. "Hell, even their parents see it."
"Whatever." Azimio said dismissively. "All I know is I walked out here to see Puck slobbin' Evans down."
"Yeah and if you go to Excess tonight, you'll see them both kissing their girlfriend just as passionately." Aidan spoke up.
Anything else we might have said got squashed as Stevie and Evan came running up "Sorry ya'll had to wait." He said laughing at whatever thing had him and Evan in stitches. "Coach wanted to remind us to remind Stacey and Sarah that we all had to ride the bus here after school starting Wednesday." He looked around at all of us. "What's wrong? Why's Sam all bowed up like a wannabe KickAss."
"Man, Stevie, do not let the moms hear you use that word or else me and Sarah will get our asses handed to us." Puck groaned as he finally got to his feet. "Now what do you mean he's making like KickAss?"
I'm pretty sure that we all rolled our eyes at Puck's curse filled attempt to convince our younger brother not to curse. Stevie just gave him a cheeky smile. "You haven't notice that when Sam gets real mad he stands just like that kid KickAss from the comics and that one movie."
All eyes flew to me so I straightened up, hoping that if Stevie were right this would help. We all had to laugh though since my quick movement only served to give truth to his words. The tension in the hall way was quickly diffused. We headed up. Stevie climbed into the middle seat of Puck's Truck and I climbed up after him. "So how many of us are gonna be able to stay tonight, do you think?" I asked as Puck turned over the ignition.
"The guys will probably all be able to come. The girls will probably be the biggest problem. Parents are notoriously overprotective of their daughters." He theorized.
"Quinn's probably the one most likely to get told no. Santana's parents know her well enough to know this ain't nothing to her." I said tyring to keep the conversation 'Stevie appropriate. "Don't know about the rest of the girls, though of course Mercy and Tessa will be there. What do you think?"
"No clue…the Cohen's tend to be kind of hippish…so they could go either way. Depends on what the Zizes do. They live near each other, so knowing Lauren will be there might help." Puck answered thoughtfully. "You know, Que's gonna be the only one there without even a prospect, she may not want to do the sleepover thing."
"Hadn't thought about that. Guess that would su-stink for her." I amended.
"Too true." Puck laughed at my quick word switch.
Stevie just got offended. "I can say sucks…I'm not a baby." He griped.
"Whatever man. You've been lucky, you've never gotten your mouth washed out with soap…literal soap." I told him belligerently. "So I will watch what I say around you…just to make sure that I never have to have that experience again." I pouted a little just remembering the day MeMaw has caught me 'practicing cussing' Everytime I think about it, I can still taste the octagon soap.
When we got home the house was expectantly empty. Mercy and Tessa had gone shopping with the new direction girls and taken Stacey and Sarah with them. So we guys just hung out and chilled for a while. We played some Call of Duty and some Star Wars Force Unleashed. The round four the parents called and gave us the go ahead for the party with all invitations accepted. As we were celebrating that Mercy and the sisters got home.
"All the girls got permission." Tessa said amazedly. I think she was surprised that not all parents were as suffocatingly overprotective as George. I dropped her, Sarah, and Stacey kisses hello on their heads. I pulled Mercedes into my arms and covered her lush lips with my own. I feasted on her taste desperate for more of her. When the kiss ended I realized that I had a very firm two handed grip of her oh so sexy ass. As Puck moved into place to give our girl his hello, I looked over at Sarah and Tessa to find them clearly mocking me. I felt my face flame.
"So Stace-Sarah, what did ya'll get at the mall?" I asked hoping to shift the attention from us. The girls whipped out bag after bag, showing off the stuff the girls had gotten for them. After Puck, Stevie and I had heard all about it. I was finally able to send the three little ones up to get Stacey's and Stevie's stuff together in preparation for their overnight trips. While they got their stuff together Mercy, Puck and I made out and chilled. I pulled Mercy into my lap and we sat there trading kisses and holding each other.
They came down stairs laughing and chatting, the little girls were as excited about their slumber party as Stevie was about his, though he refused to let them call it a slumber party. Puck took the younger ones with him in Mercy's Tahoe. He dropped Stevie off at the Hardings, and then took Tessa, Stacey and Sarah to his house. He and Tessa were only there long enough to get what they needed for the sleep over. Becah, hearing all about the party, had gathered both of her air mattresses and sleeping bags together for us. "Now Bent, Dani. Sand and Gabs are gonna be gone…but I'm just a call away if you need me." she told us a little concerned.
"We'll be good." Puck told her quoting me. Yeah. I guess, given the circumstances, the parents should have realized that our definitions of good would probably differ greatly from theirs.
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