In which Stacey has a crush on a guy (who’s interested in another girl) and wants advice on how to get his attention.

“What are you watching?” Stevie was startled out of his trance watching Cartoon Network when he heard Mercedes’ voice. He looked up to find her staring at the TV screen with a raised eyebrow and her hand on her hip, stifling a laugh.

“Cartoons,” he replied, putting his hand behind his head on the pillow. He was laid out on the couch, as he’d declared today his lazy day. Today there were no wedding planning activities he wanted to partake in, which meant total relaxation. “Wanna watch em with me?” he added, looking at her.

“Rain check?” she said, walking over to the mirror on the wall. He noticed she was in a black dress and purple cardigan. Purple was seemingly her go-to color, and obviously for good reason. She looked perfect in it.

“Are you going somewhere?” he asked when he saw her take out her lipstick.

“Yeah, when Sam gets back from being fitted we’re gonna go out,” she replied, twisting off the cap. He simply nodded and looked back at the TV, in no way interested in the details of their plans. He glanced back over at her and rested his arm on his torso, squinting as she glided the lipstick on. Her hair was falling perfectly today and she’d already put on eye make-up, making her doe eyes look even bigger and prettier.

His gaze landed on her lips and willed himself to look away, but he couldn’t. They were so full and soft looking. He wanted to kiss her until it was all gone and she had to re-apply.

Wait.

He sighed and reminded himself to stop thinking like that. He was pretty sure his crush on her was just a part of puberty (when he was 14 he tried to kiss her on Sam’s bed) and tied to his admiration of her as a kid, but seeing her every day now was killing that theory. She closed the lipstick and puckered, grabbing a napkin out of her purse to close her lips over and dab it. Then she fixed her hair, though he was sure there was nothing really to fix.

He didn’t realize how long he’d been staring until she turned her head and locked eyes with him.

“What?” she said, laughter in her voice.

“N-nothing,” he replied, his cheeks flushing as he snapped his head back to the television.

In which Mercedes does her make-up in the living room mirror and Stevie gets distracted.

“That’s an awesome idea!” Mercedes said, writing it down in her pad. They were in the God Squad meeting room and Quinn had been absent that day. Joe was seated next to Mercedes giving her his new community service ideas.

Sam was across from them with his lips pursed. As soon as Joe changed his seating so he could be close to Mercedes, he’d gotten tense.

“And we could even bring candy for the little kids, you know?” Joe added, smiling at her.

Sam folded his arms. Why was he smiling at his girlfriend like that? The kid was acting a little too familiar.

Mercedes wrote it down and they high fived. When the meeting adjourned, they stood and Joe scooped her in a tight hug. When they pulled away and the sophomore left, she smiled at Sam.

“Ready to go?” she asked.

“Yeah…in a minute.” Sam jogged out of the classroom and caught up to Joe, who was already half way down the hall.

“Sam? What’s going on man?” he said when the blond caught his shoulder.

“Are you into my girlfriend?” Sam asked, cutting to the chase.

“What!? No!” Joe responded with wide eyes.

“Really? Because you were awful chummy in there.” Joe shook his head frantically.

“No! I’m not…into her! Just no! For goodness sakes, she’s my mo—

Sam raised an eyebrow.

“My…most…cherished friend!” he saved. “Look, you have nothing to worry about. I am in no way into her.” Now Sam was offended.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“What? Nothing! She’s the most beautiful woman in the world!” Joe answered honestly. When Sam’s jaw clenched, he went on. “I think Mercedes is really great and one of the closest friends I’ve made here. But it’s nothing more than platonic. And I kind of like Quinn.”

Sam let out a sigh of relief and nodded.

“Okay then. Sorry, I just…”

“I get it,” Joe said. Even though he knew Sam had nothing to worry about, why wouldn’t he be worried? Even as a teenager, Mercedes was amazing.

In which Stacey isn’t the only one questioning all the time Stevie spends with Mercedes.

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