Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 40th cycle. Now cycle 41!

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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 41 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days, and double days (new to cycle 41)!

This is a DOUBLE day [see above]. Two chapters in one!

"The Non-Valentine Valentine Auction"

1 & 2: Date Pickers & Toe Tappers
New Directions, faculty, and original characters
Featured:
Mike/Tina, Finn/Rachel, Puck/Quinn, Sam/Mercedes, Kurt/Blaine, Santana/Brittany, Will/Emma

Date Pickers

The decorations had been unceremoniously stuck in storage four months earlier. Now June had rolled in and the gymnasium at McKinley High was taking a look more common halfway into February, with one very 'simple' reason.

Principal Figgins had the idea himself, for them to hold an auction on Valentine's Day, where students were to bid on their classmates of the McKinley Titans and Cheerios and win a dinner with them… He was quite proud. It would all work out, Coaches Beiste and Sylvester would look after the boys and girls, Breadstix had offered a good deal on the dinners, everything was perfect, and then… a hitch.

Evidently, the 'auctionees' had complained about the auction, claiming it would mess with their plans on that day. He had tried to reason with them, but all this had gotten him were more oppositions, to the point he'd finally had to fold. He couldn't just get rid of everything, so he'd put in a last ditch effort and suggested they simply move the auction to the last week of classes… They'd agreed. Four months later, here they were, and hearing the buzz going around the school about the auction had made him positively cheerful. And then there was Sue…

While Beiste had her team all ready to go, Sue was being told, along with her boys, this left the number of girls too low. She had to find a way to get at least three or four more. There was no way she would hold auditions and bring newbies into this, and she had to think really hard as to which of her cast-offs might be worthy of a second chance. She also had quitters.

Quinn had flat out said no. Santana had immediately turned this into a negotiation of terms, which were to apply for both herself and Brittany. Sue had promised, though in the back of her mind she was already planning an exit strategy. Either way she had her girls, and she could ignore the sudden hesitation once they'd found out the purpose of their reinstatements.

Finally the day had arrived and the gym had packed up. Some had come to bid, others it was clear had only come to see the 'show.' There was bound to be a mismatched pair and a bidding war or two… It could become interesting.

Backstage, the players and cheerleaders were ready to go, waiting to get sent off. Before they could go on, they were called to attention by their coaches. "Now I don't know how my assistant is telling you to behave tonight…"

"Not your assistant, Sue," Beiste shook her head. Sue just carried on.

"But, either way, it might be wise to listen. I'm sure it's going to be hard to control yourself with a number of people trying to buy you, just remember most of them are freaks, and if you're not careful you could end up in their basement, tied to a chair, and there is such a thing as bad bondage, believe me." There was an awkward and prolonged silence.

"And, have fun," Beiste clapped her hands together, trying to sound encouraging. Slowly the hum of conversation resumed. Beiste threw Sue a glare and moved along. She didn't pay attention.

"I will see none of that on stage or you're out, ladies!" she pointed to a cluster of Cheerios demonstrating their possible poses.

"I never should have said yes to this…" Santana frowned as she and Brittany stood to the side.

"You get a free meal at Breadstix," Brittany tried to cheer her up, which only half worked as Santana looked back to her.

"Rachel told me to try not to look too appealing so other girls wouldn't outbid her…" Finn told the other guys as they waited to go on.

"Tina's not letting anyone get the wrong idea, she said," Mike smirked.

"Wonder who I'll get…" Puck smirked.

"Isn't that 'who gets you'?" Artie asked. Puck just kept smirking. "Who do you want to get you?" Artie turned to Sam. He kept quiet.

"I should have brought more," Rachel shook her head as she walked into the gym with Tina, Mercedes, and Quinn.

"I don't even know if I'll bid on anyone," Mercedes shrugged

"I'm not losing Mike here," Tina shook her head.

"Well at least you have a plan," Quinn smiled.

"So you remember the plan, right?" Kurt asked Blaine as they arrived.

"How could I forget it?" he promised.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, gather around, who's ready for an auction?" Beiste's voice boomed over the speakers and the room got loud, with voices and music.

"Settle down!" Sue's voice followed. "Now, welcome to the very delayed and now even more bizarre Valentine's Day auction… in June. In a moment your Titans and Cheerios will come out on stage, the bidding will start at five dollars, which is more than some of them should get…"

"The winning bid will receive one free meal for two at Breadstix to be enjoyed tonight. All proceeds go toward the new library," Beiste took over. "Now let's get this started with one of your very own Titans, Mr. Mike Chang!" Beiste presented, and the girls clamored while he came dashing out. Tina had her game face on. The bidding began, five dollars. There seemed to be two girls vying for him, raising to ten, fifteen, twenty…

"Fifty!" Tina cut to the chase and when the two girls looked back to her she gave a winning smile as though to say 'go ahead, try and outbid me.' They folded, and Beiste called 'sold!' On stage, Mike gave Tina a box with a grin, grabbing the envelope with the tickets on the way down as Tina gave the money. A few more went by, a Titan here, a Cheerio there…

"Finn's next," Rachel patted at Mercedes' arm, getting ready.

"Easy, easy," Mercedes pried her off.

"Sorry…" she breathed, straightening up as he took the stage. "He doesn't even have to try," she shook her head with a smile. Bidding started, and as she figured, it was… lively. She kept her cool, meeting each raise of the bid, though if no one backed down quick she'd run out of money and…

"One hundred!" a voice cut in and Rachel gasped, looking in her wallet.

"Going once!"

"Tina, give me money," she begged.

"I'm all out, I'm sorry."

"Going twice!"

"But before, you…"

"I was bluffing," Tina shrugged.

"Quinn, Mercedes…" Rachel turned to them…

"Sold!" Beiste declared and Rachel closed her eyes for a moment.

"Who was it? Maybe I can buy them off…" she looked around in time to see her go toward the stage. "Oh no…"

"Try winning her over…" Tina shook her head as Lauren Zizes grabbed the tickets victoriously. Finn followed, searching the crowd for Rachel.

"Well I'm not giving up," she shook her head.

"Artie's next…" Tina informed the others. They weren't sure what would happen, and then the bidding started, slowly climbing until one girl had won with forty dollars. "Who's that?"

"Oh, it's that girl, with the tots…" Kurt winced.

"Her name's Penny," Mercedes told him.

Up next came Puck and, to the best of the coaches' warnings, once he got on stage and girls got cheering, there was little to do to hold him down. Quinn had not particularly gone in there intent on bidding, but then he'd gotten up there and she felt like some breadsticks would be good right about now. She was still counting the money she had though when a coup occurred and Cheerio Jenny entered the bidding war. She herself had been handed her tickets, as bought by Jacob Ben Israel, but now she looked to trade up. The tickets for Puck were hers in a flash.

She had taken out her money, and this was for a good cause, so she could still bid, even if it wasn't Puck as she'd intended, maybe hoped… She supposed it would all depend on who came next…

When Sam came on the stage, another wave of bidding began. While Mercedes had suddenly grown very quiet, Quinn hesitated. Things hadn't ended the best with them, a few months back. Maybe this was her chance to make it right, somehow. So she raised her hand, entering the bid, warding off her 'opponents' one by one until she was the last one standing and the tickets were hers. When Sam saw it was her, he had the same look she had… 'Let's see how it goes.'

Backstage, Brittany was next, Santana to go right after. Before she went, she looked back to Santana, who was looking ahead but not fooling her. "Have fun, okay?" Brittany begged.

"You, too," Santana smiled at her, getting one back as the blonde was called to the stage.

"Okay, just watch them, see where they take it, although these guys are usually cheap…" Kurt instructed.

"I got this," Blaine insisted. As predicted, some did fall back after twenty, though others persisted. Much like Tina earlier though, Blaine cut in and wiped them out. "See?" he looked back to Kurt.

"Good, go," he nudged him to get the tickets. "My turn." When Santana took to the stage, the scenario was more or less the same, and Kurt waited, watched until he could blindside them all. There were some looks as he was declared the winner, but he strolled right up and claimed his tickets and his date.

"Kurt, you know, I'm touched, but I don't see how…" Santana started before he pulled her along and directed himself where he'd seen Blaine go to stand with Brittany. "You got her bid?" Santana frowned, surprised.

"Well, it goes like this," Kurt nodded, handing his tickets to her before looking to Blaine. "Got ours?" Blaine held up the envelope with a smirk. "Good night, ladies," he bowed his head, exiting with Blaine. Santana watched them go, then turned to a smiling Brittany.

"Did you know?" she asked, but Brittany shook her head. "Alright then… what are we waiting for?"

Toe Tappers

With the auction ended, the couples with dates headed off toward the mall, while the others dispersed. Mike and Tina had long cleared out of there though, wanting to get the best table. They were the first to arrive. "Which one do you want?" he asked, smirking. She considered, then…

"There," she pointed, and they went to sit. "How much do we get to spend?"

"There's a special menu," he picked it up and handed it to her. "You weren't kidding about no one getting in the way," he smiled and she laughed.

"Like I'd let anyone else take you… I'm not the jealous type… most days… But you're my non-Valentine Valentine, not theirs," she declared and he nodded.

"Good to know. And for the record, I would have snatched you up in a heartbeat if the situation was reversed.

"Don't doubt it for a second."

"Are you anxious for Regionals?" he asked as they got their drinks. She frowned.

"We just lost Nationals."

"No, it's February, Regionals in a few weeks, remember?" he shook his head and she smirked.

"Right, of course, I forgot," she excused herself before sitting up. "I hope we win," she nodded.

"If we win, we get to go to New York," he spoke with 'wonderment,' making her laugh.

"Have you ever been?"

"To New York? Never, no. You?"

"Once, but I was five, so I don't really remember anything except 'big and bright.'"

"Bet it stayed with you," he smiled; they'd had this conversation on the plane to New York.

"In fact, it did," she admired his 'guess.'

"Of course if we do win then Kurt and the Warblers will lose. I don't think there'd be a tie this time," he pointed out.

"You never know, he could transfer back…" she supposed, and again there was an exaggerated sort of response, pretending not to know what they had already lived.

"Can't believe you didn't bring a jacket, it's still winter, you'll freeze," he shook his head and she nodded along.

"I guess I was just excited to get here with you and I forgot it," she spoke with a sigh. "Good thing I have you to keep me warm," she took his hand and he squeezed hers. Just then they saw more of the couples start to arrive.

"Some of them do not look happy," Mike commented.

"Well they can't all have good girlfriends like you do," she shrugged and he smiled. "What's Rachel doing here, did she bid on someone else?" But then they saw she was with Mercedes, going and sitting at a table outside the section reserved for the McKinley auction dates. "Weird…"

"Speaking of weird," Mike nodded another way and Tina turned, seeing Artie move to a table with Penny. Judging by his face they could imagine the car ride had already been awkward.

Once their food had arrived the gawking was abandoned and they looked back to one another. "Well, if we do win Regionals, then I can't wait to go to New York with you," she smiled.

"The others will be there, too," he smiled back.

"Detail," she shrugged, waved it off. "But you'll be there, and I'll be there… and New York will be there," her whole face brightened… He loved seeing her like that.

"And maybe at some point while we're there, we'll go out on the balcony at night, see the city lights, and I'll tell you we'll go back again later, just us. And we will."

"Hasn't happened yet," she smiled.

"But I meant it," he promised, dropping the charade now.

"I know you will."

"So, if this is Valentine's Day, what do we do to make it special? You did 'buy' me, so I'm at your disposal," he reminded.

"That's true," she pondered the options.

"Not that every day with you isn't special," he added. "Weren't you the one who said, that every day was Valentine's Day? Of course there were a few more… tears," he indicated her face and she blushed, semi-embarrassed as she remembered her song meltdown a few months back. "So maybe we're already doing something 'special,'" he explained.

"What if you were the one who sang to me this time?" she suggested.

"Where, here?" he asked, looking around.

"As romantic as that might be, I wouldn't force that on you," she smiled. "Here, anywhere, you, Mike Chang, owe me a song," she decided.

"As you wish," he offered his hand and they shook on it. "Now I have a question."

"Yes, you can have some of my salad," she guessed.

"Well, thank you," he moved to take it. "But I was just going to ask if you wanted to come over tonight, after this is done, we could watch a movie…"

"Cuddle up for Valentine's Day," she nodded, smiling.

"So is that a yes?"

"Yes," she confirmed, and now she was the one with 'question face.' Without a word, he passed her some of his chicken. "Thanks," she smiled, carefully getting up to lean and kiss him over the table.

She considered herself so lucky at this time. From what she'd seen, not many of them had actually managed to get the dates they wanted. In some cases they were at least with friends, so it wouldn't be that bad, but there were plenty of them out there who were possibly counting down the minutes until they were free.

Meanwhile, here she was, with the boy she'd wanted, the boy she loved, and it wasn't hard to imagine themselves to be in February, with the breeze of winter still hanging on, instead of June, with summer on their heels. If she blocked out the rest of the world, concentrated on him, then it was February 14th. Her feelings for him were just the same on any day, not just this one, but it did do something to heighten it all, if she looked at it that way. It was a day to reflect and see how happy she was, had been, would be… oh…

"Tina, are you okay?" Mike asked, smiling.

"Crap, I'm doing it again," she laughed, reaching for her napkin to wipe at her tears. "Quick, say something funny," she begged, hand flailing.

"Coach Sylvester and Coach Beiste are having a breadstick fight?" he tried, and she looked around.

"What?" they weren't there. When she turned around though, he had a breadstick balanced on his upper lip like a mustache. She burst out laughing and he made the stick tip forward, snapping it in half and eating it. "Thank you…" she managed once she caught her breath.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)