L.A.

6

"Hey, Mercedes." Puck smiled as he greeted her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Puck." Mercedes smiled back, grabbing his arms as they parted. "It's good to see you. Especially in one piece."

"What do you mean?" Puck wondered as he and Mercedes took their seats.

"Didn't you say you couldn't put your furniture together when you got here?" Mercedes asked.

Puck nodded slowly.

"I'm glad you're figuring things out." Mercedes clarified. "And I hope you're settling in and enjoying L.A."

"A little too much." Puck smirked. "But what about you? Staying super busy and canceling plans, Little Miss Star Singer."

"Well, not yet." Mercedes grinned. "Right now, it's still just backup vocals, but I'm having fun."

"I'm sure you'll be a Grammy-winning solo artist in no time." Puck added.

"Yeah, I hope so." Mercedes muttered. "What about you? How's the pool-cleaning business going?"

"It's booming." Puck noted. "It's way better here than in Lima."

"Good." Mercedes said, picking up her menu.

"I haven't told anyone this, but I'm also working on writing original music." Puck confessed. "And a screenplay."

"Original music?" Mercedes repeated. "Puck, that's amazing."

"Yeah, I just thought if Finn and Rachel could do it in high school, why can't I?" Puck responded. "Besides, I can play a bunch of instruments and it's kinda fun."

"Well, I'd love to hear some of your stuff some time." Mercedes decided. "Maybe in Lima?"

"Maybe." Puck shrugged. "Speaking of Lima, did you hear from anyone that's going?"

"I know Kurt and Rachel are going." Mercedes answered.

"Yeah, Mike and Santana, too." Puck replied.

"Have you heard from Finn?" Mercedes wondered.

"A little." Puck nodded, pausing for a minute. "Did you hear from Quinn?"

"She's going, too." Mercedes told Puck as she put her menu down. "She told me how things ended between you two. I'm really sorry, Puck."

"It's cool." Puck promised. "She was right, as always. It's good for her to go off on her own and not be dragged down by things from her past."

Mercedes bit her lip and nodded slowly. "She's been meaning to text you, but-"

"I'm good." Puck interrupted. "Really."

"Okay."

-

"Alright, now that we're through security, let's go find our gate and grab some food while we wait to board." Puck decided. "Do you get early boarding?"

Finn furrowed his eyebrow.

"Military." Puck muttered.

"Very funny." Finn rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna call Mercedes and see if she's here." Puck said, putting his phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I'm here. Are you at the gate?" Puck asked.

"Yeah, I saved you a seat." Mercedes replied. "See you soon."

"See you."

Puck pocketed his phone and led the way to the gate, where he quickly spotted Mercedes.

"Hey."

"Hey." Mercedes said, getting up to greet Puck. Her eyes widened at the sight of Finn. "When you said you had a surprise for me, I didn't realize it was Finn! Come here."

Finn smirked as Mercedes let go of Puck and hugged him.

"Welcome home." Mercedes smiled. "Or back."

"Thanks." Finn responded. "It's good to see you."

"When did you get here?" Mercedes questioned Finn. "What are you doing here? Does Kurt know?"

"I'll explain everything to everyone once when we're in Lima, okay?" Finn promised.

"Yeah, we're all grabbing dinner tonight, I think." Puck added.

"Yeah, and Thanksgiving's tomorrow."