Hello kind people, this little story is an adaptation of one of my Merlin stories.

I just want to do my little part, in keeping folks entertained, whilst entertaining myself.

The world is full chaos, sadness, fright...you name it and I need to keep my mind from being crowded with it.

I find joy in writing. It relieves a lot of my stress and if it does the same for even one person who reads this...I will take comfort in that, knowing I have done something right.

Thank you for your continued, kind support.

Standard disclaimer.

"That's the third time her phone has rung off," a concerned Tina Cohen-Chang mumbled.

"Try one more time," her friend Kurt Hummel said, as Tina's boyfriend, Mike, paced the length and breadth of their floor.

'Rrring! Rrring!'

"Same as before," Tina replied, with a very worried look on her face.

"I think something's wrong…Mercedes always answers, no matter…" Mike started. He was cut off by his girlfriend saying,

"Let's go."

The three scrambled out of the apartment and headed to their vehicles.

A few hours before, they had tried reaching their friend Mercedes Jones, by cell-phone and on hearing no answer, they thought her battery had died, or she had turned the phone off.

Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up in front of her modest apartment, in the seemingly nice neighborhood, which she lived in.

Tina scurried out of the car, before Mike could turn the engine off, with a flustered Kurt on her heels, having exited his car in a hurry, also.

She knocked and waited for an answer, or the sound of their friend's footsteps. No reply.

She knocked a couple more times and again, no reply.

Kurt sidled her out of the way, searching the set of keys in his hand, until he found the one he wanted and proceeded to unlock their friend's apartment.

They entered the apartment, calling for their friend, as they did so. And again, no answer.

Tina and Kurt decided to look around, just in case she may have fallen asleep.

Just as they exited the hallway and entered the living area, a foul smell assaulted their noses.

Three pairs of eyes looked around in shocked horror, to see the normally immaculate apartment of their best friend, resembling a hovel.

Tina turned to Mike and said to him,

"Keep looking, me and Kurt will go to her room and see if she's fallen asleep."

Mike nodded.

He was completely floored.

As he moved around, he began to tidy up.

He saw no sign of Mercedes and his thoughts drifted, wondering, when was the last time he'd actually been over to his friend's place.

He'd seen her a few days earlier, when she and Kurt had met him and Tina for lunch. And they spoke daily…the four of them and their other friend, Santana Lopez.

Mercedes was actually the one to call up everyone, to see how they were doing, and no matter how busy they were, they always made time to chat with each other.

He looked at the floor and was amazed to see it strewn with papers, books and clothes, among other things.

He continued to tidy as he went along.

Immediately, his eyes were drawn to the beautiful cream colored sofa set, Mercedes had picked out with Kurt and Tina, a few moths ago.

His heart sank at the sight of it.

It wasn't the books and clothes scattered all over it.

It was an awful brown stain, resembling tea or coffee, that must have spilled all over the L-seat.

This chair set was special to Mercedes.

The day she bought it, was the day she'd decided, according to her, 'to liberate her mind and free up her body'.

Her smile was infectious that day.

Her beautiful face, told exactly what she was feeling.

He was so proud of her that day, when she and her two cohorts had returned from shopping, with big happy smiles on their faces.

He walked to the coffee table and started removing cups and in some cases, half-filled ones.

As he headed to the kitchen, to put the dirty cups in the sink, he had to wonder, what could have happened, to make his friend live in such a state.

'As if I didn't know,' he thought to himself, as he tidied the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Tina and Kurt were having their own experience.

On the way to their friend's room, they heard the sound of running water, coming from the bathroom and they made a detour.

On entering, they found the tap running slowly in the tub, and the water was spilling over.

Both locked eyes and sprung into action.

Moving cautiously around, Tina turned the water off and pulled the plug to let the water out. As soon as the water was out, both took up the soaked bathmats and threw them into the tub.

They then grabbed whatever towels they could find and started to sop up the water on the ground.

After they were satisfied that the water was dried up, they tossed the towels into the tub also and headed for Mercedes' room.

"This isn't like her…uh-uh," Kurt said, shaking his head.

"I know. Something's wrong," Tina voiced.

They arrived at the bedroom door and Tina knocked softly.

They waited for a few seconds before she knocked again, this time, slightly harder.

On a whim, Kurt turned the handle on the door and it opened, so they entered quietly.

It was dark on the inside.

The drapes were closed and there wasn't a trace of light anywhere.

Both stood for a few moments, allowing their eyes to adjust to the darkness in the room. Kurt started calling softly for their friend.

"Mercy-me? Honey are you in here?" Both grabbed the other's hand, both extremely worried now.

"Mercedes?"

"Mercy-me? Honey…please answer."

They moved towards her bed, arm in arm and the first thing they saw, was an opened pill bottle and pills scattered all over the bedside table and floor.

Tina's heart missed a beat and Kurt's plummeted to the bottom of his stomach, seeing no movement in the bed.

They dropped hands and started pulling the covers back, calling out for their friend. Mike appeared at the door, hearing their frantic calls and rushed to help them.

Under the covers and in the middle of the bed, they found their friend fast asleep.

"Mike! Open the curtains, for us," Kurt hurriedly said. Mike did as told and opened the curtains, flooding light into the room.

An audible gasp sounded from him, when he spotted the empty bottle and pills.

Immediately, he was beside the bed, helping the others to wake their sleeping friend.

Mercedes awoke to the sound of her name being called and hands shaking her.

She sat up groggily, trying to get her bearings, and saw the worried faces of her dearest friends.

"Mercy-me…honey are you alright?" Kurt started.

"How do you feel?" Mike asked.

"Did you take anything?" Tina asked.

"Should we call a doctor?" Kurt asked. She held up an unsteady hand and said,

"I'm fine guys. How come you guys are over here so early?" she asked.

The three friends released the breaths they were holding, and breathed sighs of relief.

Kurt and Tina climbed onto the bed, on either side of her and each took a hand. Tina gestured to the empty bottle and scattered pills, and said,

"It's not that early. We've been calling you for a while now…and when we didn't hear you, we decided to come over and see if you were okay…"

"We knocked and there was no answer, so I let us in with the spare key…and came to your room..." Kurt added.

"Once inside, we could barely make out anything…and we saw the bottle…we started to panic," Tina quietly said.

"I'm so sorry guys…Tee, Kurtie…Mike…I didn't mean to worry you. I promise I didn't take anything...I wanted to, though. I'm so ashamed of myself."

Kurt flinched, as if he'd been stung.

Tina shook her head and tears began to run down her cheeks.

Mike lowered his head and shook it in disbelief, then lowered himself to the floor, with tears stinging the backs of his eyes.

They all knew Mercedes was feeling down, but they never thought they'd hear her admit, to entertaining such notions.

"I'm so glad you didn't go through with it, Mercy-me," Kurt stated, and Tina added,

"I need you…we need you. We're family…a complete circle." Mike drew closer to the bed and said,

"No matter how hard, or how awful life gets, we're here for you…always."

Kurt and Tina were sobbing at this point. Amidst his sobs, Kurt said,

"We love you, honey. And I want you to do something for me…" Mercedes looked at him with questioning eyes.

"I want you to gather some things together…important stuff and come with us...I'm not leaving you here alone."

Mercedes started to protest, but Kurt was adamant and so was Tina. With tears flowing steadily down their cheeks, they hugged their best friend and cried.

Mike looked on, swiping the first tear, as it dropped from his eyes.

Besides his mother, these were the two women he loved most, and Kurt was equally loved, as he too, held a special place in Mike's heart. This was his family, outside of the real one, he was born into and his heart went out to them.

The three of them lived like sisters…Kurt included, for years, before he came into their circle, so he knew what each meant to the other.

He found himself leaning towards them and joining the group hug.

After a while, they parted.

Kurt and Tina moved around and started helping Mercedes, to put together the things she needed for her stay-over.

Satisfied that she had everything she would need, Mercedes came to stand among her friends and poured her heart out.

"I'm really sorry you guys had to come over and find me and my place in this condition...I've been doing fine…as you guys know…thinking positive…making positive choices…but sometimes I feel so lonely…and so empty…and then I look at myself…and I start to believe everything...he's said to me.

I've been trying my hardest to put him out of my thoughts…to forget him…but it gets so hard sometimes. I still don't understand why he acted the way he did, because I know...he loved me once…and I'm ashamed to admit this…but I still have some feelings for him, even though he treated me the way he did.

I'm a mess…I need help. I need to get my life back on track and start living again. Help me…please."

As she whispered the last line of her gut-wrenching speech, fresh tears flowed and once again, they huddled together and cried their hearts out, except for Mike, who had an angry look on his face and thoughts of making the person responsible for such unhappiness, pay.

What do you think? Was it worth your time? I sincerely hope so. Just today, a guy next door to where I worked was taken to the health authorities, seemingly a victim of this hellish virus. But this is still my Father's world and this too, shall pass. Keep safe and much love to you.