Title: Spring Cleaning
Rating: PG/K+
Fandom: Glee
Words: 2084
Characters: Mercedes, Quinn, Puck, Mercedes' mom, Mercedes' dad, mentions of others.
Summary: Quinn decides to clean up her life, Mercedes thinks maybe her measures are a little too extreme.
Notes: For the purposes of this episode I'm pretending Funk is before Theatricality, because it's the only way for this story to work. Plus it was the production order as well.
Other Stories: This exists in the same continuity as Pancakes Without Bacon and A Person's A Person, No Matter How Small. They're perfectly readable on their own, but it might help a little if you've read them all.

Mercedes watches Quinn toss a book entitled How To Raise A Baby On Five Dollars a Day fall into white plastic from the doorway. "What are you doing?" She's been helping Quinn clean out Chevy's room all day. He isn't exactly the cleanest person on the planet, and in his rush to get packed and settled in college her mother let him leave his room in shambles. She was concerned that Quinn might use one of the cleaning products that could be toxic to the baby, so she reluctantly volunteered to help out.

"I'm throwing out anything that reminds me of Puck or Finn," A baby blanket is chucked into the trash, followed by a few movie stubs and an empty wine cooler bottle. "Funk made me realize how angry I am, and I'm so sick of having to be reminded of what I lost," Her face hardens for a second, and then she turns back to the piles on her bed. "Or what totally and completely screwed up my life."

Mercedes watches her uneasily as she tosses a dried-up pink carnation into the trash. "Maybe I should do that too," She smiles slightly. "Get rid of all the stuff that reminds me of Puck." This is the first time she's ever had a boy to cleanse her mind of. How fun!

Quinn tosses her blond hair over her shoulder and wipes her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand, "Yeah?" Mercedes nods enthusiastically. "Did Puck give you a lot of stuff?"

She considers this, chewing at her nails nervously, "Um…a caramel macchiato." Quinn nods slowly and considers the pool of memories in front of her. Suddenly Mercedes notices her fingering the cross around her neck and reaching for the clasp. "What are you doing?" She practically cries. She's not really religious or anything, but she's pretty sure throwing a cross in the trash screws you over somehow.

She takes it off and Mercedes sees the word 'Quinn' etched across the stem. It's actually really pretty. "Puck gave it to me for Mother's Day," She mutters almost inaudibly and Mercedes wonders why she ever believed that Quinn wouldn't care if she dated Puck. Or why she ever thought he could be interested in her for anything more than the status quo. "I don't…if Ella picked it out I don't want to throw it away." She watches her friend's green eyes go sad. Suddenly she remembers how close Quinn was to Puck's little sister, they were almost like sisters in their own right. And how defensive Ella had been of their little family when Mercedes had come over for dinner a few weeks ago. For the first time it occurs to her that no matter how many dirty looks Puck's mom gave her or how much he himself annoyed her, that Quinn might actually have had a reason to make her hesitant to leave.

"Keep it then," She mumbles, "It's not just from Puck."

Quinn shakes her head and the little silver icon falls into the destruction.

"Someday you're going to wish you hadn't done that." She says skeptically.

"I have a chance to make a fresh start," She whispers, still staring where the necklace disappeared. "I'm not going to mess it up." They just sit there for a while, looking at the trash bags, and Mercedes takes Quinn's hand. "Thank you," Quinn says quietly and Mercedes knows she isn't meant to answer.

It's 11:30 by the time Quinn finally finishes deconstructing Chevy's room to her approval. Mercedes tries to go to sleep after they're done, but she can't help but feel entirely too restless to sleep. She thinks of the past few weeks and what a dream it would have been a year ago, to be a Cheerio and the girlfriend of the football star. And what a let down it was when it actually happened. She wonders if it felt this way for Quinn when it was all over, almost a relief not to have to do weigh-ins and try to hoist other girls up. Somehow she doubts it.

Quinn was the perfect Cheerio, and while no-one really likes weigh-ins, she no doubt loved all the stunts and acrobatics of practice. It could probably be exhilarating if you were the girl on the top, instead of just looking up at her. And she was so good at dating football players too. She'd had the quarterback and his best friend behind his back.

Mercedes gets up and tries to be quiet as she makes her way to the garage, looking for the bags of Quinn's old stuff heaped there. She finds the one she saw her toss the necklace into and opens it. She digs through it for half-an-hour, until she finally sees it, the clasp latched onto the baby blanket Finn gave her.

She goes back to her room, tucking it carefully in her beside table. As soon as her head hit's the pillow, she's out like a light.

"Stand still!" Mercedes giggles as her mother and Quinn circle her with fabric and needles. "I swear to god, Meme," Her mother sighs, tugging the material around her waist tight. "I'm going to end up taking blood if you don't stop fidgeting."

Mercedes laughs again, "I'm sorry, but I'm a little ticklish." Her mother sticks a few more pins into the fabric.

"Lucky for you I'm almost done, squirmy," She huffs, and then smiles at Quinn. "It's been the same way all her life. Can't sit still for anything. The hairdressers fled when they saw her coming, little terror that she was."

"Mom!" She whines, but she sees a grin flicker across Quinn's lips and it's almost worth it. "Are you done yet?"

Mrs. Jones gives her a look, "Just another second." She marks something along the bottom quickly. "There, now if it's a little tight after I stitch it, I'll let it out a little. It's hard to mark it right when you're so impatient." Mercedes jumps off the stool she was standing on and runs to flee to her bedroom.

"Wait!" Her mother calls after her. "We still have to make Quinn's costume!"

Mercedes stares at Quinn, who's suddenly staring out the window, "Quinn's not dressing up, Mom."

"Not dressing up?" Mrs. Jones furrows her eyebrows. "But it's Lady Gaga week!" Both girls laugh, since she clearly has no idea what she's talking about. "Well," Her face flushes a little. "Kurt and Rachel made it sound like a big deal, how come you're not doing it?"

Quinn lays a protective hand on her belly before she can stop herself, "Oh no, child. That baby will be gone in two months and I will not let you do something you'll regret just because you think you look fat." Quinn's face goes red.

"MOM!" Mercedes gives her a look. "Leave her alone," She hisses.

Her mother isn't listening though, she's riffling through the various references that Mercedes pulled offline as examples, "This one is…interesting." She stares at the Kermit the Frog outfit for a minute and then keeps flipping. "Oh, this one would be perfect!" Quinn glances over at the silver costume in the picture. It would hide her bump pretty well.

"You can really do that?" She asks hesitantly. There's a complicated series of silver hoops on the outside of the dress. "It looks hard."

Mrs. Jones and Mercedes grin at each other, "She never saw Auntie Marie's wedding dress."

"True," Mrs. Jones nods, smiling knowingly. "I have a lot of pink material left over from…well, something Kurt wanted a while back. Is it okay if we make it pink?"

Quinn nods, still staring at the picture, "Pink would be fine." Mercedes grins and engulfs her friend in a bear hug.

"We're going to be monsters together!" She squeals and Quinn laughs genuinely in the first time in what feels like forever.

They're sitting in the choir room, waiting for Mr. Schue to let them start in on Just Dance when Puck walks in, looking pissed. And he's staring right at Quinn. "I have something I'd like to say to Quinn," She stares at her pink-clad friend. It's hard to see her eyes through those ridiculous eyelashes, but she bet they look pretty stunned.

Beth, I hear you calling,
But I can't come right now.
Me and the boys are playing,
And we just can't find the sound…

Just a few more hours,
And I'll be right home to you.
I think I hear them calling,
Oh Beth what can I do,
Beth what can I do?

By the end of the song, Quinn is in tears. And when she sees Puck walk up to her, clearly uneasy, she thinks of the necklace in her drawer. "I know that you're giving her up, but before you do, I'd like you to name her Beth." Puck pauses, looking at her with so much vulnerability that it physically hurts everyone in the room. "And, if you'll let me, I'd really like to be there when she's born…I'd really like to meet her." Quinn nods, and Mercedes waits, trying to gauge what her reaction will be when she gets her vocal abilities back. She'll never know though. A bell rings somewhere, causing everyone to scatter.

She walks to the door slowly, glancing back at Quinn and Puck, who are frozen in the middle of the room. She ducks out sadly, this is a moment she's not allowed to be a part of.

They're sitting at the dinner table eating spaghetti while her parents bombard them with questions about Gaga week. "So Kurt dressed like this too?" Mr. Jones asks, eyeing the girls uneasily. "God, I'm surprised Burt hasn't blown a coronary."

Mercedes shakes her head, twirling some noodles around her fork. "Not since he found Kurt's tiara chest," She grins and her dad shakes his head, muttering something under his breath.

"Well, at least he didn't dress up like Rachel," Quinn giggles, and Mercedes nearly doubles over into her food.

Mercedes' parents exchange looks. "I thought you were friends with Rachel now," She looks at them sternly. "Didn't you go spy on those Vocal Adrenaline kids together?"

Quinn nods, pouring more pasta onto her plate, "Yeah, but I think she'd make fun of us if we came to school dressed in Beanie Babies too." Mercedes chokes on her food and Mrs. Jones shakes her head.

"It would be nice if you girls showed a little sympathy for her situation sometimes." Mercedes knows this wasn't meant as an insult to Quinn, but her face falls none-the-less. The rest of the meal is eaten in relative silence, her mother seems to realize she offended Quinn and makes multiple attempts to rectify the situation. She's shut down by then though, there's no opening her back up when you say something ambiguous like that to her. At least not in the same night, she'll probably come around in the next few days.

Her parents clear the table, and vacate the room, and she sits watching Quinn staring vacantly at her food as she twirls it. "They didn't mean-"

"I know," Quinn mutters, still not looking up. "I just feel guilty is all. Rachel's been really nice to me lately." She looks like she might add something to it for a minute, but her mouth closes again.

"Well, this might make you feel better," Mercedes fingers the inside of her pocket and pulls it out. It dangles over the table, the chain forming a circle as she slowly lowers it onto the cherry wood.

Quinn stares at in awe, as if this might be her imagination instead of reality. "Where did you…?" She picks it up and runs her fingers over it. "I threw this out," She mutters, her voice strangled.

"Yeah," She smiles across the table. "I could tell you didn't want to though." Quinn is still staring at shock. "Well, put it on." Before she can, Mercedes leans across the table, taking the necklace from her and stringing it around her neck. "Look at that, you're beautiful Quinn."

A sob escapes her lips and tears run down her cheeks, "Thank you." She nods, because she can't quite make a sound.

They sit there, across from each other, until her mother starts hollering about how they're missing American Idol and she'll be sorry if that Lee boy she likes gets eliminated. They clear they're plates and go to watch.