AN: Welcome to my first full length fic on Mercedes! I got a lot of positive feedback on my series of drabbles, and I decided to try a full length fic. After a lot of thought, I decided on a Mercedes/Finn future fic, and I really hope you guys like it.

Pairings: Mercedes/Finn, Will/Holly, Santana/Brittany and Sam/Quinn to start. The rest will be determined in the following chapters.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Glee is not mine, I'm not making any money.

Can't Let Go

Chapter 1

The general consensus at McKinley High School was that Rachel Berry was going to be the one famous person out of the class of 2012. Sure she was obnoxious as all hell, but the girl had talent, no denying that. So, the majority of the graduating class was stunned when it was a completely different 'Glee geek' that was on the covers of magazines, going on talk shows, and winning awards about ten years after graduation.

Mercedes Jones had it going on, and she knew it. But, unlike some Grammy winning divas, she never forgot where she came from. So when Mr. Schuester announced his retirement, Mercedes made time in her busy schedule to head to Lima for a surprise retirement party his wife Holly was planning.

"Miss Jones, do I have your RSVP for the party?"

"Yes ma'am! I get into town the day before."

"Do you need a place to stay?"

"Nope, I'm going to stay with Brittany and Santana."

"Great!"

"So, who else is coming?"

"The whole gang will be there."

Mercedes quirked an eyebrow. "How on Earth did you manage to get everyone together? Scratch that, how did you find everyone?"

Holly gave a suspicious giggle. "If I tell you, I'd have to kill you."

Mercedes could not stop her laugh. "Okay, keep your secrets. I'll see you next week!"

"Okay, take care!"

Mercedes leaned back on the bed, contemplating. {I haven't seen him in years...I wonder what he's like now? He's probably married to Rachel or something by now. I should have told him...}

**Flashback**

Mercedes was a semi-permanent fixture at the Hudson-Hummel house, so it was natural that she and Finn got to know each other better. One evening found the two of them watching a movie together while Kurt stepped out to give a friend from Dalton some wardrobe advice for a date.

"Mercedes?"

"Yeah?" Her heart sped up as Finn turned his big brown eyes on her and smiled.

"I'm really glad I got to know you. You're like the little sister I never had."

Mercedes forced a smile on her face. "That's really sweet Finn." Inside, her heart felt like it had fallen to her feet. Later on that night, once she got home, she sobbed for hours, broken hearted.

**End Flashback**

After that confession, Mercedes brutally tamped down her feelings for Finn, allowing him to put her in the role of confidante and little sister. She had lost touch with both him and Kurt after graduation. If she could be honest with herself, she only kept in touch with Brittany, and by extension Santana, because they really had nothing to do with Kurt or Finn either. It hurt too much to think of him, or to be around people who would casually bring him up.

{What kind of coward are you? You're a multimillion dollar recording artist, and you're nervous to see one little boy from high school? Pull it together Diva!}

With a long-suffering sigh, Mercedes got out of bed to begin going through her available clothes. Her phone rang, and she picked it up without looking at it.

"Hello?"

"Mercy?"

A warm smile spread over Mercedes's face. "Hey Brit-brat."

"Did you talk to Holly?"

"Yes I did. I'll be there on Thursday. Are you sure you don't mind picking me up from the airport? I could rent a car or something."

"No, it's no trouble at all! We're really looking forward to seeing you, Mercy."

"Tell her to bring shoes!" Santana yelled in the background.

Mercedes laughed. "Your wife has a major shoe fetish."

Brittany giggled. "I know. I love her anyway. So, what time does your flight come in?"

Mercedes gave Brittany the necessary flight information and hung up. She glanced at herself in the mirror. Ten years away from Lima's small minded perception of beauty had done her well. Her first day at Clark Atlanta University, she had merely walked down the street and literally stopped traffic. Her smile had graced many a magazine, and famous men publicly declared their attraction to her, so why in hell was she nervous about going back to Lima?

Her phone rang again. "Hello?"

"Hey boo! Are you ready to step back into Hick Central next week?"

"Andre, hush, it's not that bad."

Mercedes's stylist made a scoffing noise. "You told me they thought pretty was only short, tiny and blonde. Sounds like Hick Central to me!" He softened his voice. "Are you sure you don't want me to go? I'm worried your hair might suffer."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Honey, I did my hair on my own for how many years before I met you? But if it makes you feel better, you can braid it for me, so I don't have to mess with it."

"When?"

"Tomorrow's good. I've got the whole day free."

"Okay. I'll give you some micros, and we'll make them curly so you've got volume."

"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow."

The rest of the week passed in a blur, and Mercedes was soon seated on a plane awaiting the flight from Las Angeles to Dayton. Thankfully, the flight was so late at night that it was all but deserted, and the only person who asked for her autograph was a very discreet flight attendant. Upon arrival at Dayton, Mercedes got off the plane, and sashayed through the terminal, keeping a sharp eye out for Brittany.

"Mercy, over here!" Mercedes barely had time to steady herself as Brittany crashed into her and swept her into a huge hug. "Oh, I missed you!"

Mercedes smiled and hugged back. "I missed you too babe."

Brittany pulled away to give Mercedes a thorough look. "You look hot," she said bluntly.

Mercedes laughed. "Why thank you, so do you."

"Do you have luggage?"

"Yeah, a few pieces."

After collecting Mercedes's set of luggage, Brittany led her to her car, and they squeezed everything into the trunk. "Are you hungry or anything?"

"Not really, no. Just a little jet lagged."

"Okay. We fixed up the spare bedroom for you. You'll like it."

"Have you heard from anyone else?"

"Um...Santana mentioned that Puck was in town. He was going to stop by this evening, if you aren't too tired."

Mercedes grinned at the mention of Glee's former bad boy. "I'd love to see him. What does he do now?"

"He's a DJ and club promoter in Columbus. We went to one of his clubs. He's really good."

"Anyone else?"

"Mike is coming in from Dallas later today, Artie will be in from Boston. I told them both to give us a call and we could see about lunch or dinner or something. Tina, Rachel and Kurt are driving from New York together, they should probably get here tonight." Brittany bit her lip as she thought. "Oh yeah, Lauren and Finn are both coming in from Phoenix. I think Puck is picking them up."

"They both live in Phoenix?"

"Yeah, you didn't know? Lauren's a pro wrestler now, and Finn is her manager."

"Pro wrestler? Like WWE?"

Brittany nodded. "She's the current heavyweight champion."

"Women's heavyweight champion?"

Brittany shook her head. "No, men's."

Mercedes whistled under her breath. "Wow."

"Yeah, she's pretty bad ass."

"She's always been bad ass."

Brittany grinned. "True."

"What about Sam and Quinn?"

"Quinn and Sam still live here. They might come over when Puck does."

"So, are they together?"

"They got married last year."

Mercedes's jaw dropped for a second before she caught herself. "So, how are you and Santana fitting into Sue and Schue's old shoes?" Mercedes giggled at the unintended tongue twister.

"Santana loves barking orders at New Directions. She's kind of scary, but the kids love her. The Cheerios are close to another Nationals win, which I'm very proud of."

"That's great."

"And how about you? How's the music business?"

"It's great. I'm going on tour next year. I'll send you guys tickets for my Columbus show. You'll love it."

"Sounds great."

The rest of the ride was completed in companionable silence. When they pulled up, Santana dashed out to wrap Mercedes in a hug. "Hey Wheezy!"

"Hey J. Ho."

Santana ducked her head to check out Mercedes's stilettos. "Very cute. I approve."

"Good, because I bought you a pair in chocolate."

Santana grinned and the three girls gathered up Mercedes's luggage and got it inside and upstairs to the guest bedroom. "Puck called, wants to know if he can come over tonight. I told him it depended on how tired you were."

Mercedes shrugged. "I'll take a quick nap, and then be okay. Didn't you say something about seeing Mike and Artie for lunch?"

Brittany nodded. "You get some sleep, I'll handle the schedule."

Mercedes grinned at the two women, and disappeared into the bedroom.

Later on that night, as Mercedes crawled into bed, she reflected on how great it had felt to see everyone. Puck had all but crushed her ribs in his hug. He had matured immensely since high school, and was an all around nice guy now. Mike and Artie hadn't changed, both were still as sweet as ever, and Artie's wry comments had Mercedes cracking up all throughout their lunch. Mike, too, seemed to have grown an observant brand of humor over the years, and it was all Mercedes could do to avoid ruining her makeup from tears of hilarity.

Brittany knocked on the door and slid inside, Santana close behind. "So, tomorrow, Holly said we should be there by five. She's taking him to a movie, so she left Sam the house key," Santana explained, plopping next to Mercedes on the bed.

"I'm so excited to see everyone!" Brittany said, bouncing on the bed.

Mercedes smiled at Brittany affectionately. "Me too. Mr. Schue, excuse me, Will, is really going to be surprised."

Santana gnawed on her lip. "Wheezy, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"How come you didn't keep in touch with everyone after high school? From what I hear, we're the only people you kept in steady contact with. I mean, I can understand some people, but even Kurt got the ax. You guys were like soul mates or something."

Mercedes's smile faded. "It just happened. I can't explain it."

Santana rolled her eyes. "I can tell when someone's lying. I'm a teacher. What was the real reason?"

Mercedes gave a bitter chuckle. "I'm in love with Finn. After high school, you two were the only ones who didn't really keep in contact with him. I didn't want to hear how he was doing, or have constant reminders of him. I wanted to forget."

"You're in love with Finn?" Santana asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Mercedes cleared her throat. "I meant was."

Brittany and Santana exchanged a knowing look. "Well...will you be okay tomorrow?"

Mercedes waved her hand. "It's all in the past now. I'll be fine." She bit her lip to stave off a yawn.

Santana fluidly got off the bed. "Okay. Get some sleep Wheezy. See ya in the morning."

Brittany smiled. "Good night Mercedes."

"Night guys."

AN: That's the first chapter! What did you think?