Characters/Pairings. MikeTina-centric with PuckRachel, FinnSantana, ArtieQuinn, and MattBrittany thrown in for good measure

Disclaimer: Glee © Fox/Ryan Murphy

Keeping Tradition

By sakuracherish814

"Tina!" her mom calls from the bottom of the staircase, "Your ride is here!"

She sticks the last pin in her hair and grabs her bag waiting on the bed, calling back, "Okay, I'm coming," as she leaves her room. She gives her mom a quick peck on her cheek as she passes, waving at where her dad was eating breakfast in the dining room, and was out the front door in seconds. In her driveway, a black car was double-parked and awaiting her.

"Hey, sorry I'm running late today, I overslept a little," she immediately apologizes as soon as she has the passenger door open.

Mike laughs lightly. "Don't sweat it—you were like a second late."

She settles herself in and shuts the door and, as soon as she has her seatbelt on, her stomach growls. She blushes.

He smirks at her and leans over the back seat, retrieving a paper bag. "Breakfast?"

"You're a life saver."

"Well, since you never seem to get breakfast yourself, I might as well make sure you don't starve," he tells her. "You do know starving yourself is a nasty habit, right?"

"I am not starving myself!" she exclaims. He looks at her, one eyebrow arched, and she breaks into a smile. "Jerk."

He laughs in response, but it leaves as quickly as it had come.

She looks over at him. "Are you okay Mike?"

"I—" he begins, but cuts himself off. She can tell he's deliberately trying not to look at her and this worries her. He looks down at his Letterman jacket and shakes his head. "Ah, never mind." And he leaves it at that as he pulls out of the driveway.

She feels the blood drain from her face and suddenly she's panicking. Oh no, Tina, what did you do this time?

As she looks down at the paper bag sitting on her lap, she sighs silently to herself because she's pretty sure she's lost her appetite.

When they get to school, whatever had happened with him this morning is completely gone, like it was just her imagination. They're laughing and talking as he parks the car and they head inside, but in the back of her mind, she is still wondering about what he was trying to tell her. Maybe she was worrying over nothing, she tells herself, and bids him farewell to go to her locker.

"Good morning, Tina," Rachel greets and, before Tina can respond, Rachel's eyebrows furrow into a concerned expression. "Is something wrong?"

(Tina had yet to fathom out how it was possible a girl like Rachel Berry just completely understood a person more than she probably should.)

"No, of course not," she lies.

Rachel doesn't buy it. "Tina," she begins in a voice that sounds very much like a mother gently scolding their child, "what's wrong?"

She relents. "I think Mike may be mad at me, I'm not sure."

"Mike Chang?" Rachel asks, completely bewildered. Tina gives her a Who else? look and Rachel blinks. "Really? Because Mike is pretty much infatuated with you."

There was a long pause.

Tina simply stares at her. And stares. And stares.

"Tina," Rachel says calmly but a little worriedly, "as good a training holding your breath is for your lungs, I need you to breath, you're as blue as your eye shadow."

She sucks in a breath, her voice is a few octaves higher as she asks, "What are you talking about?"

Rachel blinks. "What? About Mike?" she asks. "Tina, it's pretty obvious he has a thing for you, you can tell by the way he looks at you and is with you. You two have amazing chemistry, and even Finn pointed it out when Puck and I were double-dating with him and Santana the other day."

"You talk about us on your double-dates?"

Rachel rolls her eyes. "Not the point, Tina. You really couldn't tell Mike was in love with you?"

"Will you stop saying that?" Tina pleads. "He's just being nice. I mean, we were counselors at Asian Camp together, so I figured it was because we've gotten to know each other better."

"Look a little closer, Tina," Rachel tells her. "And you know, you shouldn't be afraid of it. It is okay if he loves you."

With that, she was gone.

"Good morning," Rachel beams.

Puck turns to her and smiles back and they share a fairly long kiss. "Morning, babe."

"Hey, can I ask you something?" she asks.

"Sure, shoot."

"Is there any reason why Mike would be mad at Tina?" She knows it's quite meddlesome, but the fact Mike had acted weird in any way towards Tina was weird in itself and it bugged her not knowing. "She thinks that he may be mad at her for something."

"Changster?" Puck asks. "No. The guy's in love with her and it's kind of sad."

Rachel scoffs and hits him. "Don't be rude to Mike, he's a very sweet and shy person, and they have amazing chemistry," she scolds.

"I didn't mean it like that, babe," he reassures, "but he's so into her that it drives him crazy all the time."

"That's so sweet," she says.

"You know," he continues as a thought occurs to him, "he might have been about to ask her to—" Then he pauses himself. "Never mind."

"What is it?"

"Just let it go, Rach."

She rolls her eyes. "I hate it when you do that."

"Love you, too, babe."

"If you want my opinion, Tina, it's probably him trying to ask you to be his girlfriend."

Tina stares at the girl beside her. Santana Lopez has said (and done) some pretty outrageous things, and despite the fact Rachel had told her the same thing with the same confidence this morning, the thought of Mike asking her out still shocked her.

"What?" Santana asks.

"He's not," she begins. "He wouldn't," she tries again before letting out a sigh. "It just doesn't make any sense why Mike would want to—"

"Tina, honey," Santana interrupts, "Do you like Mike?"

"O-Of course. We're friends."

Santana gives her a patronizing look. "Do you like Mike?" she repeats.

The blood rushes to Tina's cheeks. "I-I—yeah, I do."

"And why's that?"

"Because—" She looks down at the worksheet in front of her and sighs. "Because he's funny and a great dancer, and he really listens to me. He really knows me."

"Then why is it so hard to think that he could feel the same way?"

"It just seems…unreal," she admits. "I've never had anyone look at me twice like that other than Artie."

"You don't still have feelings for Artie, do you?"

"No, of course not," Tina says. "He's in love with Quinn and I'm happy for him. We're friends and I think that's all we were meant to be. But I'm just saying Artie was the only guy I ever dated and he's…he's Artie, not Mike. So it doesn't make any sense…"

"It's not supposed to," Santana reminds.

She sighs.

"Tina, you have to be okay with the idea of him liking you in order for it to work."

"Huh?"

"You can't see that Mike is crazy about you because you think he's too good for you, right?" Santana asks. "That you don't deserve a guy like him?" Tina stays quiet. "Well it's not like that. If you've ever heard the guy talk, everything is about you and sometimes I want to strangle him because of it, the lovesick idiot. He practically worships you."

"…That's…not possible," she mumbles.

Santana sighs and shakes her head. "You know, it is okay for Mike to be in love with you."

And she looks at her because Rachel had said the same thing, and she was wondering whether or not she should start believing them.

"I'll see you at lunch," Santana tells her as she spots Finn waiting for her down the hallway.

Tina smiles as she watches as Santana leave. As reaches Finn, she places a hand on his cheek and stretches on her toes, and he leans forward until their lips meeting in the middle. Then he whispers something into her ear and she gives him a strange look before nodding.

She casts a look over her shoulder, meeting Tina's eyes, and winks.

"She's crazy," Tina mutters to herself.

"Are you talking to yourself?" a familiar voice questions, and she whips her head around to find Matt and Brittany walking up to her, their hands laced between them.

She laughs. "Hey Matt, hey Brit—ready for Spanish?"

Brittany nods and they begin walking.

"Tina, just out of curiosity," Matt begins, "but has Mike asked you anything yet?"

Tina swears her heart skips a beat. "W-Why do you ask?"

A knowing smile forms on his face and he just shakes his head. "Oh, just forget about it, then."

"Matt," she sighs, slightly frustrated, "what is it?"

"I've been sworn to secrecy not to tell, so sorry," he apologizes and, before Tina could protest, he asks Brittany, "I'll give you my jersey at glee."

Brittany's cheeks color a little as they enter class, and she nods her head rather excitedly. "Of course."

"Why is she wearing your jersey?" Tina asks.

Matt opens his mouth, about to answer, but the bell rings and Mr. Schuester claps his hands together, beginning their lesson and leaving Tina slightly irritated.

It happens during lunch.

They are all at their usual spot on the bleachers, just hanging out, talking and laughing and singing whatever songs come to mind. They're not sure if they're really allowed to be there, but they like it there because it's spacious and empty and they feel tucked safely away from the torture of high school.

They had all been laughing about another outrageous shopping spree experience from Kurt (he nearly mauled a girl for a new scarf) when she felt Mike looking at her. Her face was already flushed because she'd been laughing so hard, yet she feels a little more blood rushing to her cheeks as she stares back at him, and it feels more intense than a playful gesture.

"What?" she asks him softly because the staring is making the butterflies flutter violently in her stomach.

(She's pretty sure the rest of them are watching now.)

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

She sits up a little straighter. "Y-Yeah, sure, of course," she murmurs, biting her lower lip. She tries to ignore Rachel and Santana's words replaying in her head.

It's okay for him to love you.

"I, uh," he began, gulping a little. She swears that she sees his cheeks color a little. "I was wondering if you'd do me a favor."

"…What kind of favor?"

"We have a game this Friday, and I was wondering if you would wear my jersey to school?"

"Huh?" she blurts out, because it was not exactly what she'd expected him to ask her, and she couldn't quite fathom out what it was supposed to mean.

But it obviously means something to the others.

Rachel and Brittany squeal simultaneously, and Quinn and Santana and Mercedes have these wide smiles on their faces as they're whispering to each other. The guys all seem to have the same expression—one of pure pride, like Mike had finally had the guts to do something big.

"Is—Is something going on?"

Mike smiles at her, but it's Mercedes who leans over and whispers into her ear, "It used to be a McKinley High tradition that the players' girlfriends wear their jersey the day of a game."

"Oh."

And suddenly everything makes sense.

"Tina," he says softly, pulling out a red fabric from his bag she recognizes as his football jersey, "do you think you could do me the amazing honor of being my girlfriend?"

Her heart is beating so fast that she doesn't quite hear exactly what she says.

But, judging by the way everyone erupts into cheers and the way she's suddenly in Mike's arms, it was most likely along the lines of, "Yes!"

"Don't worry," he whispers into her ear, "I washed it."

She knows she's supposed to laugh, but when he runs his fingers through her hair and places a kiss on her temple, she's too breathless to have said anything. So she just stares back up at him, a smile growing as she leans up and gently kisses his lips.

They lost. (What else is new?)

But, as the rest of their team is heading for the lockers, something else catches his eyes. The force of her hug nearly knocks them both to the ground, and she giggles as his strong arms have to hoist her up to keep the both of them from hitting the grass. "You looked great out there," she tells him, a pink blush coloring her cheeks as she bites her lower lip. "Sorry you guys lost."

"It's your fault, you know." He laughs when he sees her shoot him a look. "It's hard to concentrate on the game when I'd rather be with you up there."

The pink blush turns a few shades darker, but she breathes out a laugh and stretches on her toes to kiss his lips. "Oops."

Around them, their friends are buzzing with the same vibrant energy it was as if they'd actually won the game. Puck and Rachel are not-so-chastely kissing, Quinn is perched on Artie's lap as they and Mercedes are commenting on Kurt in his jersey, Finn has his arms wrapped around Santana from behind as they were laughing about something, and Matt and Brittany were dancing to the music that wasn't playing.

He turns back to find Tina making a face at him. More specifically, at his jersey.

"What?"

"I'm going to need some heavy-duty laundry detergent to get it to look red again," she reports, surveying the damage of the mud and grass. "Or a vat of toxic waste."

He chuckles. "You don't have to go through the trouble."

But she places a hand on his cheek and stretches up to kiss him again. "Of course I do, if you plan on your girlfriend wearing it for your next game."

A/n. Yeah. Absolutely no idea where this came from, especially considering I'm not entirely sure if Mike's even on the football team this season. It doesn't seem that way.

Just written for fun because the small bits of the MikeTina in "Audition," especially them dancing together at the end, made all the bad things Rachel did go away! I'm so glad that they brought them together this season! I'm definitely excited to see where it goes.

So you read it. Love it? Hate it? Please review it!