A/N: We've made it to Day 22! This revolves heavily around Quinn Fabray playing soccer, so sorry if you're not into that, but I had so much fun writing this, so I hope you'll give it a chance at least. I played soccer for about twelve years growing up, so I couldn't not write this. Enjoy!
Day 22: Competition
The sun is beating down fiercely on what is possibly the biggest game of Quinn's high school soccer career. It's her senior year, nearing the end of the spring girls' soccer season, and Quinn is about to play against Carmel High in the OHSAA state semifinals. If they win this game, they'll go to the finals for the third year in a row where they are basically guaranteed winners; the team they're set to play is the same team they beat in the finals the past two years.
Their team is known statewide, with nationally-renowned high school soccer coach, Coach Sylvester, and her grueling practice methods. In addition, they have been led to victory for the past two years with the leadership of Quinn Fabray, who became the Team Captain in just her sophomore year. (The upperclassmen had been pissed, but Coach Sylvester had not budged for one second.)
For Quinn, leadership came nearly effortlessly. As center midfielder, she naturally interacts with both the offense and defense, giving commands and acting as a communicator between the two. She had been shocked to be given the role so early on, but Coach Sue had the utmost confidence in her, and Quinn had found her feet fairly quickly.
Today, years and years of practice are coming to a head. Today, she'll play this game, on home turf, thankfully, and give it her all. She's gonna leave it all out on the field simply because she has no other option.
"Alright, everyone line up!" Quinn shouts to her team at the start of the warm-up clock. They all roll their eyes but fall in two lines at her command. Quinn steps to the front of one line, Santana leading the other line, and she leads a light jog halfway down the field and back. They continue their warm-ups in these two lines, Quinn and Santana leading the exercises and Brittany replacing Santana to help Quinn lead the stretches thereafter.
Not only are Brittany and Santana two of Quinn's best friends, but they are also two of the team's star players, along with Quinn. Santana is a fierce striker, responsible for scoring the majority of the team's points; Brittany is an all-around star player, able to play pretty much anywhere, but she is their main goalkeeper and occasional center back. The three of them, together, are a force to be reckoned with, dominating the center of the field and anyone who tries to cross their paths. Quinn may be the Captain, but Brittany and Santana are definitely her right hand women.
After warming up and stretching, they all partner up and do some quick passing drills before splitting up for shooting practice and defensive drills. Before she knows it, the referee is blowing the whistle and calling for the captains.
Quinn jogs over to the center of the field, watching the other team's captain slowly walk over. She sees the snarling look on her face, and Quinn already knows she's out for blood.
As she waits, she looks into the half-filled bleachers, immediately finding her little group of fans. It's mostly Glee kids, Tina, Mike, Sam, Kurt, there to support her, Santana, and Brittany. With them is Mercedes, Quinn's best friend and biggest emotional support, and Rachel, Quinn's girlfriend of almost a year.
She looks at them and gives them a wave, and they all cheer loudly for her. Mercedes and Rachel are the loudest, by far, and Quinn can't help but be flooded with an overwhelming feeling of love. It's been tough these past few years: coming to terms with her sexuality, losing her father in the process, leading a soccer team to consecutive victories while also keeping up her schoolwork and making time for her friends. Now, she's heading off to Yale next year, has a wonderful relationship with her mom, amazing friends, and the best girlfriend ever. All of her struggles have been more than worth it, and this final championship title would just be the icing on the cake.
She faces the Carmel team captain, Number Fourteen, she notes, and reaches out to shake her hand. Number Fourteen, a tall, muscular, dark-haired girl, grips her hand a little too tightly for comfort, but Quinn doesn't let her discomfort show. Instead, she lets her face settle into a mild sneer, pursing her lips as she releases her hand. The referee flips the coin,Fourteen calling it in the air, and she calls it correctly. She gives Quinn's team the kickoff, choosing her side of the field, which isn't surprising, and they shake hands again before they return to their sides of the field.
Before she knows it, the warm-up clock has just two minutes left, and she calls her team into a huddle. They all form a circle around her, Santana and Brittany on each side of her, and Quinn looks around at all of them. "This is it, guys," She states firmly. "I don't have another pep talk for today. I've gotta save that for when we make it to the finals. I just need you all to play your hearts out, to play with everything you've got. And when you run out, you need to dig deep and find some more because we don't have another option."
Santana clears her throat and shouts, "You heard her! Play your fucking hearts out today!"
She counts to three, they all shout Titans, and the buzzer goes off, alerting them to take their places on the field. Quinn runs out to her place, sees Santana directly in front of her, Brittany behind her in the goal, and feels a sense of comfort. She looks to the crowd one last time, seeing her friends and girlfriend cheering for her, and releases a deep breath.
The referee blows her whistle, and the game begins.
At the start of the second half, Quinn is feeling refreshed, still going strong. They are leading by one, having given up a single goal on a nearly indefensible corner kick after Santana scored two goals with assists by Quinn both times.
The real pain in her ass has been that damn Number Fourteen. From the top of the game, she has been on Quinn all of the time. She's been overtly aggressive, coming down the middle directly at Quinn, always the first to approach her when she gets the ball, and even slamming into Quinn a few times, nearly earning her a yellow card. Quinn has taken the hits and attacks with grace, not one to get too aggressive on the field, but she did have to talk Santana down from getting into it with her during halftime.
The second half starts with a bang, Number Fourteen receiving the pass and instantly darting down the field instead of passing back to her midfielders. Quinn watches her pass up the girl in front of her, and she steps up to take her on. Quinn cheats her one way, quickly moving back to steal the ball, and the girl kicks her directly in her ankle, sending her tumbling to the ground. She's instantly met by a defender who steals the ball away and sends it back to Brittany while Quinn gets up off of the ground.
There should have been a whistle, and she should've gotten a set piece, but the play keeps going, and Quinn's anger rises. She hears Santana shout obscenities at the referee and a roar of complaints from the crowd. Scanning the crowd, Quinn sees Rachel shouting out at the referee, and it brings a smile to her face. Her girlfriend doesn't know a ton about soccer, mostly just what she's learned from watching Quinn play and listening to her rant after games, but it warms her heart every time she looks up and sees her face in the crowd.
A few minutes later, Quinn has the ball and is making a break down the field, dodging players left and right, when, out of nowhere, comes Number Fourteen. The girl drops her shoulder and fully bodyslams her, knocking Quinn directly onto her back. The whistle blows as Quinn lays on the ground, her vision blurry and her head spinning. Santana rushes over and helps her sit up, and, out of the corner of her eye, she sees the ref flash a yellow card at Number Fourteen.
"Q? You good? How many fingers am I holding up?" Santana asks, flipping her middle finger up in the air. Quinn laughs, smacking her hand away before closing her eyes and letting her head settle for a few seconds. Slowly, she gets to her feet, hearing cheering from the crowd, Rachel's voice rising above all of the others. Nodding to the ref, Quinn gets the ball and sets it where she fell, watching her teammates scramble into place ahead of her. She eyes Number Fourteen, standing just mere feet in front of her, and kicks the ball, sending it flying over the girl's head.
About ten minutes later, Fourteen gets a breakaway. She's sprinting down the field, passing up Quinn's teammates one by one, and Quinn is chasing after her with everything she has. She enters the penalty box, hot on Fourteen's trail, when Brittany steps out to stop the girl in her tracks.
But Fourteen doesn't budge. She plows right through Brittany, sending the ball into the back of the net, and landing a solid knee right to Brittany's face, knocking her hard onto the ground. Quinn gasps when Brittany doesn't move after a few seconds, running up to her.
"Hey, B," Quinn says gently, watching her eyes flutter open. Her face is pale, eyes dull, and Quinn knows she hit the ground hard, too hard to keep playing in this game. "Come on, let's get you up and off the field, alright?"
Brittany nods slightly, and Quinn helps her to her feet and leads her off the field to their bench. Someone immediately funnels water into her mouth while another player calls the athletic trainer over, and Quinn turns to her coach.
"Put me in as keeper." She says.
Sue's eyes grow wide. "Q, are you insane?"
Quinn just shakes her head, already taking the gloves off of Brittany's hands and sliding them onto her own. "We can't pull Jamie out of defense right now, not when we just lost our lead." She eyes the scoreboard to confirm, and, yep, they are officially tied two to two.
Sue pauses for a moment, looking at her intently, before sighing and making a few markings on her clipboard. "Alright, Q. Alright."
Quinn takes the keeper jersey from Brittany, sliding it over her head, and gives her a little fist-bump before she runs back out onto the field, taking her new place in the goal. She's never played in goal during a game, only during practices, but, as she said, they can't afford to lose their best defender right now, who also happens to be their secondary goalkeeper. She sees Adrienne run onto the field, taking her spot at center mid, and gives her a thumb's up before giving the referee a thumb's up to signal that she's ready to go.
The game continues with Quinn in goal, and she knows her team is working extra hard to keep the ball out of the goal box as much as they possibly can. She ends up taking a couple of goal kicks, making a few easy saves, but the real highlight is when Fourteen takes a long shot from the side of the field, and Quinn jumps high, as high as she possibly can, and barely catches the ball in the air, crashing to the ground with it securely in her hands. Immediately following that save, Quinn gets the ball up to Santana, who quickly drives it into the back of the net, putting them back in the lead.
For the remainder of the time, her teammates continue playing strong, taking their time with passes, forcing the other team to attack more and tire themselves out, which, in the ninety-two degree heat, happens fairly quickly. Before Quinn knows it, the referee blows her whistle once, twice, three times, and the game is over. They won.
It's after the game that Quinn gets to finally see Rachel, and she spots her approaching Carmel High's bench. She's storming over there, and Quinn immediately starts jogging to catch up with her.
"Rach!" Quinn calls out, but Rachel doesn't stop.
She arrives at their bench and stands directly behind Number Fourteen, stretching up on her toes to tap her on the shoulder. The girl turns around, dropping her gaze to Rachel, and the sight is both hilarious and worrying. Her girlfriend, barely 5'3, standing directly in front of the nearly 5'10 girl, ready to attack.
Quinn barely arrives in time to hear Rachel say, "Just who do you think you are?"
Fourteen scoffs. "Excuse me?"
"You nearly killed my girlfriend out there!" Rachel raises her voice, stomping her foot a little bit. "You came after her the entire game, and you nearly knocked the wind out of her when you slammed her to the ground! You clearly had a vendetta against her, for no good reason, and then you ran over Brittany and nearly gave her a concussion!"
Quinn slowly approaches Rachel from behind, and the girl notices her, her eyes zeroing in on her. Rachel spins around and, seeing Quinn, grabs her hand and pulls her to stand next to her, Quinn stumbling at the unexpected move.
"You see this girl?" Rachel asks. "This is my girlfriend, who you nearly trampled to death out there! And I am demanding that you apologize to her. Right now."
"Apologize? Really?" Number Fourteen laughs
Quinn squeezes Rachel's hand, trying to pull her away. "Baby, come on, let's just go. It's fine."
Rachel stomps her foot again. "Quinn, it is absolutely not fine!" She insists, voice growing higher in pitch. "Brittany got taken out of the game because of her unnecessary aggression, and you took several falls that could have really hurt you!"
"But I'm here, see?" Quinn needlessly reminds her. "I'm here, and I'm good. I'm okay."
Rachel looks between Quinn and Fourteen, and she nods sheepishly, cheeks turning slightly red. "Alright, fine." She concedes, turning to face the tall girl. "Maybe you should rethink your aggression next time. Try channeling your feelings into song instead! You obviously have a lot you need to express. Oh, and try winning the game next time, too."
Rachel spins on her heel and takes off, dragging Quinn with her, and Quinn is all but helpless to follow her girlfriend. They get to a semi-secluded corner of the stadium, and Rachel stops and looks her directly in the eyes.
"Quinn Fabray."
"Rachel Berry."
Rachel huffs. "You cannot just go in and play goalie like that! Do you have any idea how scared I was for you? Especially after I saw that rude, giant girl just plow right through Brittany?"
Rachel's eyes are wide, her chest heaving, and Quinn takes both of her hands and holds them in front of her. "I had to, Rach. We didn't have any better options."
"You didn't have any better options than directly putting yourself in harm's way of the girl who was after you for the entire game?" Rachel nearly shouts.
Quinn sighs, squeezing her hands tightly. "Baby, I'm fine. Brittany will be fine. This is how this works, you know that. Besides, it let us win, and did you see that save I made against Fourteen anyway?"
Rachel nods, eyes dropping to the ground. "I'm sorry. I just got very scared, especially after seeing her send you falling to the ground so many times."
Quinn releases one of her hands to lift her chin, and she smiles when she sees the number seventeen, Quinn's jersey number, painted onto her cheek. She's wearing a red shirt with the number seventeen as well, and Quinn knows she had a poster with her name and number on it as well. Her sheer dedication to supporting Quinn despite knowing so little about the sport makes Quinn so happy every single time.
"Baby, I'm good. We kicked ass, and now we're gonna go and win our third state title." Quinn declares proudly.
Rachel squeals with delight. "Yes, you are! And I am so proud of you, baby."
Rachel jumps up and wraps her arms around Quinn's neck, and Quinn laughs into her as she places her arms around Rachel's waist and squeezes her tightly. Rather quickly, Rachel pulls back with a grimace on her face.
"You're all sweaty and gross." She complains with a small grin.
Quinn scoffs, rolling her eyes. "That's never stopped you before."
"I guess you're right." Rachel concedes, leaning up to kiss her.
Quinn loves soccer, and she loves Rachel, and having them together is something she never thought she could have, but is everything she never knew she needed.