InsaneJournal

Who: Lizzie & Mercedes
When: Saturday December 5, after Sectionals at A-1 Diner
What: An awkward conversation about the drama, then an understanding.
Rating: SFW

What a day. Although Lizzie was glad that New Directions had done so well at sectionals, she had to say she was glad when she got back to Lima. For about two seconds. No sooner had she settled in to watch some TV than she'd gotten a text from her dad asking her to come in and put some time in busing tables. Well - at least it would get her mind off everything that had happened, she'd thought. And now that the diner was nearing closing time, she had to say she was much more relaxed. Physical work like that always cleared her mind. She took off her apron and sat down at the counter for a piece of pie to top off her shift.

Mercedes entered the diner, she had been there a few times and they made the best pies. The day had been one of the most stressful days of her life. She had to deal with Sectionals on top of all the shit that had gone on that day. She was much more relaxed now that Sectionals were over and that she was no longer on the bus filled with unresolved tension. With Kurt leaving, she had thought it might be a good idea to check up on Mr. Hummel, and what better way to do that than sharing a pie?

As she sat at the counter, Lizzie heard the bell on the door ring, indicating that someone had entered. She spun around on her stool to see who it was - and of course. Of course when she was trying to relax at the end of a long, difficult day, she had to run into someone from McKinley. Of all the people to see, Mercedes wasn't the worst - but she was Kurt's best friend. And although Lizzie didn't generally have a shit list, so to speak, Kurt was on hers right now. "Hi, can I help you?" she said automatically, hopping down off her stool.

"Oh hi Lizzie" Mercedes said, giving the girl a tired smile, she was perfectly aware that the girl in front of her was not happy with Kurt right now, but Mercedes was going to ignore that little detail. Her and Mike have already decided to stay the hell out of this entire thing. "Um, just an apple pie please." She wanted to make this as easy as possible, get in, get out, and she hoped they wouldn't wander into Kurt/Sam/Matt drama territory.

It wasn't Mercedes' fault that Kurt had said the things he had. Lizzie knew that. But she still couldn't exactly overlook the fact that this was Mercedes and that she was almost certainly taking Kurt's side in all this. So she couldn't exactly be as perky as she usually was. "Sure," she said, nodding as she went over to the other side of the counter. "Congratulations, by the way, you guys did great today."

Mercedes nodded stiffly, well this conversation was awkward...She could tell that neither of them wanted to address the elephant in the room, but that didn't make things easier. "Thanks." She said, "I'm kind of surprised we did so well actually..."

"Why are you surprised?" Lizzie asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked in the baker's racks for an apple pie. "You guys do nothing but practice, there's no reason you shouldn't have done as well as you did." She gave a tight smile as she located the pie on the rack and pulled it out. She didn't know how much longer she could go on not asking Mercedes how she felt about this. "If you want it warm, I think my dad might be cooling some now."

Mercedes shrugged, "Just a departure from our usual competition performances I guess." Yeah totally, it had nothing to do with all the stress and the drama going on. Nothing to do with Kurt leaving, Matt's broken hand, the entire Santana and Rachel thing...nothing at all. "Warm would be great thanks." She said pulling out the money from her purse.

It was obvious that Mercedes was unhappy, but Lizzie knew what the answer would be if she asked what was wrong. So instead she put the pie into a box, and as she was tying the string around it, she looked up. "Look, I know it's not any of my business and that you're Kurt's best friend and everything, but - this sucks for everyone, you know that, right?" That was Lizzie's way of trying to figure out if Mercedes had taken a firm side.

Mercedes looked up and sighed, relaxing her shoulders, she hadn't even realized how tense she was. "Yeah I know," It was unlike Mercedes to be this...inanimate when it came to gossip and drama, but she was honestly tired of all this, "It's just, I don't know what to do. Kurt's my best friend but Matt wasn't out of line or anything and...I don't know, I really don't"

"I'm sorry, Mercedes." It was the first genuine thing that Lizzie had said during the encounter, and she offered the other girl a smile. It was just as uncommon to see a dejected, unenthusiastic Mercedes as it was to see Lizzie in that state, and she understood how awful the other girl must be feeling right now. "It sucks all around, and I know it's not easy for you and nobody's really in the right here... but I'm pretty mad at Kurt right now." She tied the string into a neat bow. "I mean - best friend or not, he said some awful things."

Mercedes nodded, "I know, but it's kinda hard calling Kurt on his shit when he left today. It's like, I don't want us to fight or nothin' right before he leaves. He might not want to come back." And she didn't want to call Matt on his shit either because she would be seeing Matt everyday and she won't have her constant companion by her side anymore. "Bringing you into this wasn't cool though." She said looking up at the girl. That was something she had to acknowledge, it was inappropriate, especially since she had nothing to do with the current situation. At least, as far as she was concerned.

Lizzie's throat tightened slightly at that and she felt a tad guilty. Because really, Kurt had had a reason to say what he'd said. Even though she and Matt weren't together... Lizzie kind of wished they could be. "That means a lot," Lizzie said with a nod, pushing the pie box across the counter. "And - yeah, I can understand why you don't want to call him on it today. But like - just because he's stressed about moving doesn't mean it's okay for him to like, be a bitch to everyone. I'm just saying." She shook her head. "Sorry, I'll stop now."

Mercedes shook her head and smiled a little, "No it's okay." she said, really, it's not her everyone should be worried about. It wasn't like she was actively participating in that conversation. "Kurt...Kurt hasn't been okay in a while, so it's like, I feel like I have to be careful around him now, so it's like I can't call him out on his shit anymore because I don't know what the hell is going on with him."

It was difficult - no, impossible - for Lizzie to feel any true compassion for Kurt right now after the stuff he'd said to her and her friends, and how he was trying to make it seem like he was completely blameless in everything. But she was at least able to see that none of this was Mercedes' fault, and that it was useless to make Mercedes feel worse than she obviously already did. "Well, hopefully him getting some distance from Lima will help everyone, including him," she said with a small smile.

"That's the plan" Mercedes said, another tight grin plastered on her face. She was missing her best friend already, she even tried calling him, but his phone was off and she couldn't bring herself to leave him a voicemail. "Things are just really really screwed up right now, and he can't even try to fix it anymore." She mumbled, it was all bad timing, maybe if he was allowed to stay, they could all have it out and work it out, but with him leaving...it just left bad blood for everyone.

"Hey," Lizzie said, genuine concern in her voice as she moved around to the other side of the counter, where her untouched slice of blueberry pie still sat. She took a seat on a stool. "Look, he might be being - a little difficult right now" - understatement of the year as far as Lizzie was concerned - "but you can't do anything about it. If he decides to fix things, that's on him, not you." She laid a hand on the other girl's arm. "I'm sorry about all this, Mercedes."

Mercedes swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and sighed. It really sucked that everyone was hating on her friend that she wouldn't be able to see till god knows when. "I know, I'm sorry too." She gave a watery smile to the blonde girl.

She picked up the box and handed it to Mercedes. "On the house," she said with a wry half-smile, pushing the money Mercedes had set down on the counter back toward her. "And you don't have to be sorry. You didn't do anything."

Mercedes shook her head, "Oh no, I couldn't do that." She said, trying to give the money back to the girl.

"Hey - come back and buy another pie sometime if it'll make you feel better," Lizzie said firmly, pushing the money into Mercedes' hand, "but today, I think we could all use a little bit of kindness."

Mercedes smiled genuinely, "Definitely coming back for another pie, but for right now, how about a hug?"

She grinned and opened up her arms to give Mercedes a hug. "Sounds like the perfect payment for today," she said, squeezing the other girl a little (but not so much that she'd squish the pie).

Mercedes reciprocated the hug happily. This was exactly what she needed, a good old warm happy hug. "Thanks again for the pie Lizzie, I'll see yah at school?"

"Definitely!" Lizzie said, giving the other girl a grin. Just being able to have a civil conversation with someone else about all this had helped a great deal. "See you tomorrow."

Mercedes gave one final wave before she exited the diner, pie in hand. She definitely felt a lot lighter and a lot more relaxed than she had all day. Things were still pretty screwed up, and school is going to be awkward as hell, but the day had begun looking up. That's all she could really ask for.