A/N: I heard some comments on my angsty oneshot (Somewhere With You) about how it was depressing because it just ENDED. Well, here's my little redemption gift. You knew a fic like this was coming!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Glee Cast members.

Mercedes Jones let out a long sigh as she fell back on a big brown recliner. She flipped her long brown hair back so that her neck could appreciate the cool breeze that blew in from the window for the first time that day.

Move-in day was never easy. Never.

She surveyed the room and saw that most of her boxes were unpacked and put away. The rest she could deal with later. She put up her curtains, made her bed, and put her blouses and most of her dresses in the closet. But she forgot about her shoes. Three whole boxes. Oh Lord, help her... That will have to wait a little longer.

Her eyes flitted to the other corner of the room. She smirked and rolled her eyes. A mountain of stuff had magically appeared within the last few hours.

Just then its creator stumbled in. Literally.

The girl's choppy bob of platinum blonde hair tossed violently as she tried to regain her balance and keep the box in her arms from falling out of her grasp.

Mercedes snorted, "You need a little help here, Noelle?"

Noelle's back straightened quickly as she tried to brush off her awkward entrance. "No, no... I'm fine." She pushed her thick rimmed glasses up her nose bridge.

"Are you sure?" Mercedes nodded her head at the large mound in the corner.

Noelle looked at her handy work and turned to Mercedes to give her a nervous smile. "Oh... this thing. It'll be gone before you know it. Don't worry." She started grabbing at the lid of another box and dragged it to her own room.

Mercedes laughed. Noelle hadn't changed a bit. She was still a quirky cute little mess. Judging from her eclectic, almost hipster style, you would never guess that she and Mercedes would become fast friends... best friends in fact. Well, next to Kurt and Quinn, that is.

She met Noelle her freshman year at Byrnes University. Mercedes loved the campus life there, she made a lot of great friends. But she knew there was something wrong about the direction she was going as far as her college career. It was something about the program there. It wasn't what she wanted.

Noelle, also a music major with a vocal performance concentration, also felt the same way and she immediately transferred to Richter University her sophomore year. Mercedes was very hesitant to let go of her big scholarship but after another year at Byrnes, she realized that she definitely needed to make the switch. Her plans were not paved out for her yet but she was positive that her future was in music. She needed a place that would cultivate that passion. She was in control of her life, so she had to make the big decisions. She had to take big risks, otherwise how could she say she really fought for her future happiness?

So to Richter she went and she knew that she had someone who would welcome her with open arms as her roommate.

After dragging a few more boxes into her room, Noelle sprawled herself on the couch next to her.

"So," She nudged her friend in the knee with a red faux suede boot. "How do you like Richter so far?"

Mercedes finished her text to Kurt saying that she was settled in before answering, "Well seeing as I've only been on campus as a student here for less than a day, I can't say much, but I'm honestly getting some good vibes from this place already."

Noelle sat up excitedly, "Yes! I know your intuition is always right! It's amazing here, you'll love it! The music program here is exactly what we were looking for!"

"Right, right, you already had me sold a long time ago. Enough of that, 'Elle." Mercedes waved her friend's publicity stunt away.

"I know... I'm just so excited that you're here, Mercy!" She got up, walked behind the recliner and hugged Mercedes.

Mercedes patted the arms across her chest. "I'm excited that you're here for me. So, I think we're ready for a break from all of this... mess." She looked at that corner again.

Noelle sighed, "You're completely right... Let's go around campus. We can kill some time before we need to meet up with the rest of the Gold Tones this evening."

Mercedes lifted an eyebrow, "Oh so I'm meeting them already, huh?"

"Of course," Noelle smiled brightly. "You have to meet your new family! There's a little tradition of meeting up at the end of move-in day. I guess we get a little eager about seeing each other again. It involves a lot of kareoke and ice-cream... and maybe a little booze." She winked.

"Sounds like my kind of party!" Mercedes grinned.

"Well in the meantime," Noelle presented an arm for her friend. "Let me take you on a grand tour of El Richter."

"Lead the way." Mercedes stood and took her arm.

After an hour our so, they were walking by the science building. "I don't know what the school feeds those squirrels, they're freaky little creatures." Noelle shook her head as a couple of squirrels fought in the tree, they sounded like they were almost barking.

"Well as long as they stay out of my way, I'll be good." Mercedes chuckled.

"I don't know if they'll always be out of your way. I swear Professor Revels, from the English department in Olin Hall is like those squirrels in human form. No lie." Noelle nodded vigorously.

Mercedes laughed loudly, leaning on her friend's arm for support. Once she was able to breathe, she wiped away a tear. "I love you, 'Elle. Have I told you that yet?"

"Millions of times, diva-bear. But I love hearing it!" Noelle pulled her in for a side hug. She looked at her leather braid watch. "Oh, it's not much longer til we have to go meet the others. Let's start heading that way."

After having visited Noelle on this campus a few times, there was one thing that she could say for sure about the school. The campus was gorgeous. It was large but it had the quaint feel of a smaller campus. A lots of trees and a few fountains and statues were scattered around. The buildings were connected by a series of pathways paved with brick, cobblestone, or concrete. Noelle already complained and demonstrated her tendency of tripping over unruly bricks or stones.

Mercedes smiled wistfully as they walked. She already could imagine sitting at one of the benches on a Sunday afternoon, reading a book, and humming her favorite gospel tune.

She was pulled out of her reverie as her friend tugged on her arm.

"We're going to cut through this field. It's the faster way to get to the music hall."

Mercedes tilted her head. "You can drink in the music hall?"

Noelle smirked and put a finger over her mouth. Mercedes simply laughed.

As they started to walk across the field, she noticed some girls already laying out on blankets, guys were tossing a football, and another group was chasing after a Frisbee. Noelle steered around the girls and through the guys, not really caring about whether they would be hit by a flying object.

After chatting a bit more about the show choir's antics, getting out a few laughs, Noelle changed the subject. "Oh! Before we get there, I wanted to tell you what we're thinking about as far as our potential set list for our first perform-"

"Mercedes?"

Mercedes stopped to turn around, wondering who else but her friend linked to her arm would know her name. Noelle was tugged to a stop.

A group of people stood in her general vicinity but her eyes immediately fell on the owner of the voice.

Green eyes.

A familiar face.

Tall but not intimidating stature.

Her mind fought to make the connection. In a split second, the name fell out of her mouth first.

"Sam..."