woooo. new multi-chapter mike/brittany fic! woo! hahaha please enjoy, happy grasshoppers.
"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Schue. I don't want to go, but I have to," I tried to explain, walking toward the choir room door. Mr. Schuester's face was twisted in confusion. The rest of the club's eyes were fixed on me, mumbling angrily to each other. I left the glee club alone with one member short. Rachel looked royally pissed off, sticking up her nose at me and crossing her arms. Everyone was hurt by my regretful decision, but the one that looked the most hurt was my best friend, Brittany. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stood up from her orange chair, hopping down on to the tiled floor. She ran after me, setting a hand on my forearm. Attempting to blink back her tears, Brittany started to cry, getting a firm hold on my arm.
"Mike, please don't leave!" Brittany choked, her voice breaking on the words. Guilt pulsed through my body as I watched the broken tears pour down Brittany's face. My thoughts screamed at me to stay. My body surged toward Brittany, my brain begging me to stay with her. I felt like at that moment I should have come out with a, "Just kidding!" or something, just to cover up my foolish mistake. I wanted to hug everyone and apologize, just pretend I never betrayed them, right in front of their eyes. At that moment, I hated myself. Even if I turned around, no one would want me back. Brittany reluctantly let go of my arm, her face turning to stone. My eyebrows crushed together, wordlessly trying to apologize. Brittany's eyes narrowed for a second, walking back to her seat. She sat down, sobbing into her hands. Santana hugged Brittany close, rubbing her back apologetically. Santana shot me a scowl, mouthing curse words and flipping the middle finger.
"Hey," Mr. Schuester mumbled to Santana, forcing her to stop. She mashed her lips together as I left the room. As soon as I closed the door and got out of sight, I groaned in frustration, the sound echoing through the vacant hallway. I ran my fingers through my hair, digging into my scalp with my fingertips. My football jacket burned on my body, searing my skin. I wanted to take it off. I wanted to burn it, throw it away, anything to get it off of me. Football was the whole reason I had to quit glee club.
It all started a few days ago with Coach Tanaka screaming about glee interfering with football practice. He reminded me of a rabid dog, foaming at the mouth, jowls flopping all over the place. I wasn't really listening to anything he said, just pretending I was watching him intently. Matt whispered to the side of me something that really made me start listening.
"Dude, I don't know if I am going to stay in glee. It's not like I get any solos or anything," He mumbled, probably not meaning it. That's when it hit me. I was worth nothing to the glee club. I was worth my dancing skills and my swaying in the back. Who needed any of that? That day after Coach stopped yelling, I walked into his office, ready to talk about my future with football.
"I already know, you're staying with Schuester, just like everyone," Coach Tanaka told me, looking down at his desk, "It was worth a shot." He looked extremely upset, taking a giant bite out of a chicken wing that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Drops of grease fell on to the book of plays that was lying open on the disheveled desk.
"No, I'm staying. Glee club doesn't need me. I'm just a prop," I told him, trying to be serious. Coach Tanaka's face lit up. Dropping his chicken wing on the floor, he ran to me, giving me a huge bear hug. He smelled like tuna and canned cat food. I pushed my tongue to the roof of my mouth to keep from gagging. He shook me around, ecstatic by my decision.
"Finally, the first one that won't let me down!" Coach beamed, sitting back down in his desk chair, "If Finn goes with Schue, you might just have a chance at quarterback."
"Whoa, wait, how? I'm not...tough enough for quarterback," I explained, "I mean, I'm not all...muscley, like the rest of the guys on the team." Coach gave me a thoughtful glance, decoding my words. He nodded to me, agreeing.
"I am not saying you are weak, but you're probably right. We'll find something for you. Good job, Mike," Coach half-smiled at me. He picked up a pencil and started to work carefully on his playbook, wiping away the grease. I left the office, holding my head high. I felt good about what I did, still with a tiny pinch of guilt lingering in my stomach. I shook it off, excited about my fate. No more slushies, no more bullying. I was part of the top dogs at the school again. The next day, I ended up in the choir room, quitting glee.
After I was done being vain and self-centered, I really thought about what I was leaving behind. No more singing and dancing, no matter how hidden I was. I know I was a background person, but I still wanted my creative outlet. I loved performing. My feet seemed to move effortlessly under me when I got into the zone, freeing myself through the only way I really knew how. I was very passionate about singing, but never got a chance to show it. Around the time when I was 14, I couldn't listen to music without biting my lip and digging my fingernails into the chair to keep myself from singing along. It wasn't any of these things that convinced me that I made a huge mistake. It was no more Brittany. Brittany would never want to be my friend when I betrayed everyone. The glee club, Mr. Schuester, nearly everyone I cared about. I was leaving all of this for what? Not having to drip with slushie and being able to hang around the gorillas on the football team? Was leaving everyone really worth it? All I knew was that it was too late to turn back.
"Smart choice, dude," Matt mumbled, patting my back. Matt was wearing his jacket proudly, his chin sticking up, "I quit, too. We should throw a party or something." Matt suggested, talking animatedly with his hands.
"I don't feel like celebrating, Matt," I told him, staring down at the dirty tile. Matt punched me lightly on the arm.
"Come on, dude! Stop being so uptight! We are out of that stupid club. They never wanted us there anyway!" Matt tried to convince me, attempting to make eye-contact with me.
"That's crap. You know you liked it there, no matter how much background swaying we did! Would you rather be hated for being a good person and doing what you love, or be loved for being a terrible person and doing something you find no enjoyment in?" I spat angrily, my frantic eyes darting around Matt's face. Matt's eyes were mocking me, crossing his arms indifferently.
"Okay, calm down, Rachel. I guess we aren't on the same page. I'm just saying, dude, there's no turning around. You're with us forever," Matt told me, raising an eyebrow. I sighed in defeat. No matter how badly I didn't want to admit it, he was right, "I think Karofsky's having a party tonight. You better be there, instead of wallowing about quitting glee club. No one forced you." Matt told me, walking away from me. He shrugged his shoulders and was gone. I groaned again, the sound bouncing off the empty hallway walls. I was so frustrated. All I really wanted at that point was Brittany. I wanted her excited stares, watching me carefully. I wanted her soft fingers to trace the lines on my hands during glee club because she didn't really understand anything that Mr. Schuester was saying in the first place. I wanted her giant hugs at the end of the day because she said she would miss me too much if she didn't. I wanted my best friend back. With that, I went home. There was no football practice that night, so I went back to my room to wallow. At least, for a little while before Karofsky's party.
Karofsky's house was the last place I wanted to be on a Friday night, but I didn't want to be killed, so I went. As soon as I got there, I could already see a forming pile of beer cans on the front porch. I shivered against the wind a few times before I entered the house. Clearing my throat, I opened the door. The smell of cheap beer and nasty appetizers hit me hard as I entered the house. The lights were dim, everyone jam-packed into one room. It looked awfully sleazy in there. Metal music screeched in my ears, everyone head banging to the unintelligible lyrics. My eyes swept over the room, noticing one thing at once. Brittany. She was sitting on the floor, cross-legged. She looked hurt and confused. Spotting me, Brittany hopped from her spot, running into my arms.
"Mike," She cried, throwing her arms around me. Her breathing was heavy and extended, relaxing in my arms.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her, scrunching my eyebrows together. Brittany thought for a second, touching her index finger to her chin.
"I came here to find you," Brittany said simply, half-smiling, "I want you to come back to glee." Brittany nodded, grabbing my hand.
"Brittany, we'll talk about that later. Why don't we get you home?" I asked her, staring into her eyes. Her eyes looked different, like they didn't belong to her, "Brittany, were you just drinking?" I interrogated, watching her pupils dart around my face.
"Maybe," Brittany told me, her voice sing-songy. Brittany froze for a second, her face going blank. Locking eyes with me, she pulled my head down, kissing me on the lips. Her lips moved uncomfortably, shoving her tongue in my mouth. She tasted like the room smelled, cheap beer and nachos. I had to say, for a few seconds, it was nice. I was pulled back up into a place where it was good to be. I could hear the football jocks whooping and hollering behind me. For a split second, I didn't know what they were yelling about. After my brain realized what she really wanted, I scraped her off of me.
"Brittany," I asserted, holding on to her shoulders, "I'm taking you home now." Brittany stomped and crossed her arms.
"Why? Don't you like me?" Brittany whined, her eyes glossed over. She stuck her lip out.
"Of course, I like you. That's why I'm not going to mess anything up," I told her. I wasn't sure if all of that was fully true yet. I knew I loved Brittany deep in my heart as a best friend, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to take it to that level, "Let's go." I grabbed on to Brittany's warm hand again, pulling her back out of the door.
For those of you that are reading "Promises", a new chapter should be up soon! Review, please! They make my existence!