Mike notices the empty seat beside Tina when he walks into glee club that day and decides to sit next to her. He offers her a tight-lipped smile before taking a seat. He bounces his leg and purses his lips. He feels a strong need to start a conversation with her but is at a loss for words to say. Besides, with the way his mouth has suddenly gone dry, he suspects his voice would betray him if he even tried.
Instead, Mike leans back in his seat and fidgets with his hands as he replays the conversation he had with Matt a few weeks ago. Does he have feelings for Tina? It would certainly explain the odd way his body reacts whenever she's around.
He shakes his head in an attempt to clear these thoughts from his mind. He's still, sort of, with Brittany. And it's very clear that Tina has feelings for Artie. It would just be easier to ignore whatever he was feeling, they'll go away eventually. He's probably just adjusting to having her around in his life again.
He releases a breath of relief when Mr. Schue walks into the room to begin this week's lesson but, much to his dismay, their conversation quickly becomes about Artie, which does very little to distract Mike from his current dilemma. As their teacher suggests ways to raise money for a wheel-chair accessible bus, Mike holds back a groan as he sits in the back of the choir room, watching Tina as she watches Artie and tries to ignore the pang he feels in his heart.
After a lengthy and tiresome football practice, Mike is walking down the halls of McKinley High when he sees Artie coming in from the opposite direction. He opens his mouth to offer a friendly greeting to his fellow glee club member but Artie just rolls past him without even making eye contact.
Mike pauses for a second and scrunches his eyebrows, looking back in the direction the boy just went. Something was clearly wrong, but he dismisses it with a shrug and continues walking.
When he turns the corner, Artie's strange behaviour slowly starts making sense to Mike. In the middle of the hallway, he sees Tina sitting in her glee-assigned wheelchair with her head in her hands, crying. He crouches down in front of her and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, what happened?"
Tina slowly raises her head to look at the person in front of her, praying it wasn't some random student who would ultimately make fun of her. When she is met with Mike's caring eyes, she releases the breath she was holding and stands up to bury her head in his chest. Mike immediately wraps his arms around her and rubs her arm, allowing her to cry and let her emotions out.
Suddenly, Mike heard the rest of the football team making their way out of practice from around the corner. Assuming she wouldn't want to be seen crying in front of them, he guides her into the closest empty room — the dance studio.
As Mike shuts the door behind him, Tina slides her back down against the wall to sit on the floor. She brings her knees to her chest and cries into them, "Artie hates me," she says in between sobs.
Mike takes a seat beside her and rubs her back, "Why would Artie hate you?"
She raises her head to wipe the tears from her eyes, "I told him it was fake. My stutter. And now he hates me."
Mike pulls her shaky body into his arms as tears stream back down her face. "Artie doesn't hate you. Sure, he might be upset right now, but I'm sure he'll move past it eventually." Tina just buries herself into his chest in response.
Neither of them is aware of how long they sit there on the floor of the dance studio, Mike consoling Tina in his arms, one hand cradling her head while the other rubs up and down her arm. Mike suddenly gets an idea and gently taps Tina's arm to get her to look up at him. He uses his hand to wipe her tears away before standing up and extending his hand towards her, helping her stand up as well. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Mike, no offence but I kinda just want to hide in my bed and cry for the rest of the night," she tells him as he guides her into the passenger seat of his car.
"Just trust me, I know just the thing to cheer you up," he says before climbing into the driver's seat.
Mike starts driving and Tina eyes him suspiciously, "Where are you taking me?"
"Shhh, you'll see!"
"I have a curfew, you know."
"You're not gonna be late for your curfew… and if you are, then, I'll take the blame — your mom and I are like this." Mike lifts his right hand to show his crossed fingers. Tina rolls her eyes but remains silent for the rest of the ride, deciding it was probably best to just let Mike follow through with his plans.
When Mike finally pulls up outside their destination, Tina smiles for the first time since he ran into her that afternoon. He had taken her to the local bubble tea shop. "You took me to get Boba?"
"I've never heard of any problem that Boba can't fix," he says with a grin, "Come on, it's my treat."
After ordering their drinks, they take a seat at an empty table. Mike watches Tina carefully as she takes a sip of her milk tea and sighs contentedly. "Okay, you were right… This is kinda making me feel better."
Mike beams at her. "See, I told you! I know just the thing to cheer you up."
Tina places her hand on top of Mike's wrist. Mike stares down at the sudden contact then slowly drags his eyes back up to her face. "Thank you for bringing me here. I mean, I don't know what's gonna happen with Artie or how I'm gonna ever make it up to him but I really appreciate you being here to help me through it."
The corners of his mouth turned up as he places his other hand on top of hers, gently stroking it with his thumb. "Anytime."
They sit comfortably in silence for a while, sipping their drinks when a thought pops into Mike's head. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" Mike starts, "Why do you never stutter with me?"
Tina slowly takes a sip, considering his question before responding, "Because you know it's not real."
Mike scrunches his face in surprise, "I didn't know it wasn't real. How could I? I mean, we weren't really talking for a while."
"You might not have known for sure, but deep down you did. And if you didn't, you would've figured it out immediately. I never could lie to you."
Mike nods, processing her words before shrugging. "Well, if it helps, I get why you did it."
She smiles at him. "That's because, even though we aren't that close anymore, you still know me better than most people."
Mike's face softens as a thought crosses his mind. "I'm really sorry I wasn't there when we were kids. I know it must've been tough not having me around."
Tina is taken aback by the unexpected apology and her heart warms at the sincerity in his eyes. "It's not your fault. I needed to learn how to stop being so dependent on you."
"Yeah, but I should have been around. I should have defended you."
"I wouldn't have let you do that. Do you know how much hell they would've put you through?"
"It really sucked not being your friend anymore," he confesses.
"Well, we're friends again now. Right?" She raises her drink in front of him and quirks an eyebrow.
Mike laughs softly before lifting his own drink and clinking it with hers. "Right."
Matt was out sick for the day – how that spider crawled into his Mike would never understand. So, instead of finding an empty seat, Mike decides to sit on the ledge next to Tina when he walks into glee club. He engages in conversation with her, Mercedes, Kurt, and Artie before Mr. Schue enters and announces this week's lesson – ballads.
As the members of the glee club draw their ballad partners' names one by one, Mike looks over beside him and watches in confusion at Tina and Artie who are constantly giggling with each other as if nothing dramatic happened between them.
When it is Tina's turn to pick her partner's name from the hat, Mike stares at her, silently hoping she will draw his name.
"Other Asian."
Mike smiles widely at his luck and chuckles at the nickname she insists on calling him but his face falls immediately when he remembers something.
Fuck. I don't know how to sing.
At the end of their glee rehearsal after being partnered together, Mike and Tina agree to rehearse their ballad at his place sometime later in the week. After school, Mike drives them to his house, his heart racing at the thought of Tina visiting his home again after all these years.
"Wow, I haven't been here in a while." Tina stares up at Mike's large home as he pulls up in the driveway. Mike's father is a lawyer while his mother is a doctor which affords them one of the nicest houses in Lima. "Why does it feel like it's gotten bigger?"
Mike chuckles as he unlocks the front door, letting Tina inside. "It hasn't changed since you've last been here."
Hearing Mike's arrival, his mother comes out of the kitchen to greet him as the two teenagers take off their shoes at the entrance. "Hi Michael, how was— Tina!"
Tina brushes her hair behind her ear and gives Julia a timid smile. "Hi, Dr. Chang."
"Oh, it's so nice to see you here again! It's been so long!" she pulls Tina into a tight hug. Then, she excitedly pulls away with a gasp and looks between Tina and Mike. "Wait, hold on. Are the two of you in a relationship?"
"Mom!" Mike and Tina turn to each other with wide eyes, both blushing. "No, we're not, we're just working on an assignment for glee club. I'm still seeing Brittany."
Tina nods in confirmation causing Julia's face to fall in disappointment. "Oh, I'm sorry, my mistake." Julia takes Tina's hands into hers and looks her in the eye. "Still, you are welcome here anytime, Tina. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to head out for my shift at the hospital, but Michael, your father should be home soon."
They say goodbye to Mike's mom before Mike gestures with his head towards the staircase. "Come on, let's go work in my room." As they make their way up the stairs to his bedroom, Mike turns to her. "I'm sorry about my mom – she just missed you."
Tina giggles and waves her hand in dismissal. "That's cool. I've missed her too."
When they enter his bedroom, Tina's eyes are immediately drawn to the photos hanging above Mike's desk. In between a photo of him with his parents and one of him with Matt, Santana, and Brittany is a photo of the two of them from their very first year at Asian camp, arms wrapped around each other, huge grins plastered on their faces. "Oh my God, I can't believe you still have this up."
"It's a nice photo," he reasons, his cheeks flushing.
Tina agrees before moving to take a seat on his bed. She looks around the room and marvels at how a place she must have been in a million times before can now feel so strange and unfamiliar.
Her perusal is interrupted by the sight of Mike pacing around the room. He takes a deep breath before admitting, "Okay, so I'm a little worried."
"About Finn and Quinn? Me too."
"No, I mean – yes I am worried about Finn and Quinn… but also about this assignment."
"You are? I don't think it needs to be as intense as whatever Rachel and Mr. Schue did. That was so weird."
"Right? What the hell was going on there?" They both laugh at the memory of that performance before Mike sighs. "But it's not the intensity I'm afraid of… I just, I can't really sing, Tee."
"Is that all?" His eyebrows draw together and he sits down next to her on the bed. "Well isn't singing a large part of the assignment?"
"Yeah, but you shouldn't be worried about that. I'll help you out. Artie and I do vocal practise together all the time." He winces at the mention of Artie's name and notices the way it changes her demeanour as well.
"How are things going with that, by the way? You two seemed friendly at glee club the other day," he inquires.
She frowns. "I don't know. I guess we've just been each other's only friends for a while, we don't really know who else to turn to."
"Maybe, it's just time to find new friends," he suggests.
Tina leers at him. "That's easy to say when you're a jock and one of the most popular kids in school. Artie and I really only have each other."
"Well, you have me," he offers.
"I do?"
Mike's eyes bore into hers. "Yeah, you will always have me."
Her mouth curves into a soft smile, drawing his eyes to her lips and he can't help but wonder how she tastes. He feels himself leaning in towards her when the sound of his father's car locking outside startles him back to reality. Realizing the close proximity of their faces, his breath hitches and he immediately jumps away from her, just in time for his father to walk into his bedroom.
"Hello, you two. Julia called me on her way to work to let me know the good news that Tina is at our house once again and I had to come see for myself," Michael Chang Sr. says with excitement.
Tina looks at Mike and with a cheeky grin, she comments, "Your parents sure know how to make a girl feel special."
Still recovering from what almost happened, all Mike can do in response is offer her a half-smile. "What subject is this assignment for? I wasn't aware you were even taking sophomore classes, Tina," he asks, impressed.
"No, well, yes I am taking some sophomore classes but Mike and I are actually working on something for glee club," she corrects.
"Oh... Glee club," he echoes with distaste.
"Well, I'll let you two get to work. It's lovely to see you again, Tina."
"You too, Mr. Chang," she replies politely.
As Mike Sr. swiftly exits the room, Tina turns to Mike, giving him a questioning look. Mike sighs in response. "He's not a fan of glee club," he explains, a hint of sadness lacing his voice.
Tina nods in understanding and reaches for his hand, squeezing it sympathetically. He directs her a soft smile in appreciation. After a beat, she lets go of his hand and pats her thighs before saying, "Well, we should probably get started on this assignment."
They spend the next half hour drafting song ideas for ballads they could perform, all of which terrified Mike due to his inability to sing on key but Tina has a way about her that eases his nerves. Her eyes sparkle with every song suggestion and it warms his heart. The way she is extremely passionate about music and performing is infectious and it makes him believe that nailing this ballad is perfectly achievable. And getting to spend all this alone time with her isn't so bad either.
The problem, however, is their practice time keeps getting interrupted every few minutes because of Artie's incessant texts to Tina. Since Artie was paired up with Quinn, the two were struggling to get any work completed as all her focus is understandably on her pregnancy.
"I'm sorry, we keep getting interrupted. Quinn won't stop stressing about the baby and it's making Artie stress out too." Tina apologizes when the sound of Artie's text tone cuts through and interrupts her train of thought.
"No, it's cool, I get it. She's going through a lot," Mike says before exasperatedly lying back on his bed as she texts Artie back. As he stares at his ceiling, waiting for Tina to refocus her attention on their assignment, a thought crosses his mind and he shoots his head up. "Hey, how about this… what if we all dedicate a ballad to Finn and Quinn to support them with baby-gate?"
"That's a really good idea." She shines a bright smile his way, making him feel weak in the knees. "I mean, it's not like any of us are really getting any work done with all this drama. I'll see what everyone else thinks."
The following day, Tina is sitting in the school's loud and crowded cafeteria with Kurt and Mercedes during lunch. "Sooo, how was it working with Miiiiiike?" Mercedes asks, leaning in towards Tina and wagging her eyebrows.
Tina cringes at her. "Ew, why are you saying it like that?"
"Because! Have you seen him? He's hot as hell!" She exclaims.
"And you got to spend all that alone time with him," Kurt adds.
"Not really, I mean, Artie kept texting me the whole time because Quinn was so distracted and stressed out because of the whole baby thing."
Mercedes scrunches her eyebrows in confusion. "I thought Artie was still upset with you?"
"Yeah, he is, so I'm just taking whatever I can get."
"Even with Mike just sitting there looking hot?" Kurt asks.
Tina scoffs. "Please, Mike and I have known each other since we were kids... We were really close friends but then we grew apart."
"And now you've been brought back together," Mercedes points out.
"By fate!" Kurt exclaims with a clap of his hands.
"Oh, come on, you're not actually taking what Mr. Schue said seriously? I'm sure even he regrets saying it because he got paired up with Rachel and now she's obsessed with him." The three shudder at the thought.
"So, you're saying nothing interesting happened between you two?" Mercedes probes.
"I mean, you must have felt some type of way being alone with him, in his house, after all those years."
"Yeah, it was a little weird being back at first, but his mom was so excited to see me, it was sweet. Then, we tried to work on our ballad before he came up with the idea to do one big group number," Tina recalls. "Although, there was this oddly intimate moment that happened."
Kurt and Mercedes lean in, intrigued. "Intimate how?"
"Just some really intense staring and then his dad came home."
Her two friends share a knowing look. "Girl."
"But I'm sure it was nothing!" Tina dismisses, "Besides, Mike's dating Brittany."
"I don't know... I don't think it's serious or anything," Kurt remarks.
"Yeah, I mean, I heard he slept with Brittany once but that was it. Other than that, they just hang out together with Matt and Santana," Mercedes adds.
Tina shakes her head. "Okay, whether Mike and Brittany are serious or not, I still have feelings for Artie and I just want him to forgive me for faking my stutter so that we can finally move past it."
Mercedes and Kurt both roll their eyes in response. "Okay, fine, we get it. You're into Artie, not Mike."
"So, I heard you got partnered up with Tina for this week's assignment… how's that going?" Matt asks Mike over the phone after school that same day.
Mike is laying down on his bed, staring at his ceiling and sighs. "I think you were right. I do have a crush on her again."
"Ha! I knew it!" Matt exclaims. "Did something happen between you two?"
"Um, I think, I almost kissed her," Mike admits.
"DUDE WHAT?"
Mike winces at his friend's volume, holding his phone momentarily away from his ear. "Oh my God, I know your hearing has probably been affected since you've got a spider all up in there, but do you have to be so loud?"
"Okay, first of all, they got the spider out. Second of all, you almost kissed her?"
"Yeah, one second I'm just looking at her and then I swear, my mind left my body for a moment because the next thing I know, I'm leaning into her and our faces are so close together but then my dad came home before anything could happen."
"Damn, that's some bad timing."
"And now I can't stop thinking about her. She's just so kind, and extremely talented, and she's so unbelievably pretty, and my mom is obsessed with her—" Mike rambles.
"Sounds like you have it bad, dude," Matt comments with a chuckle.
Mike groans and runs his palm across his face. "The only problem is she won't stop talking about Artie."
"Yeah, man, that sounds rough. What are you gonna do?"
"Well, the first thing I gotta do for sure is call it off with Brittany, it's only right."
And so, Mike walks into school the next morning with one mission in mind. He nervously approaches Brittany in front of her locker. The last thing he wants to do is hurt her. "Hey, Britt, can we talk?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"I'm not really sure what it is we have going on but whatever it is I don't think we should be doing it anymore."
Brittany frowns. "You don't wanna hook up with me anymore?"
"No, I'm sorry." Mike looks down at his feet before confessing, "I think I have feelings for someone else."
"Oh, who?"
"… Tina."
Brittany gasps in response, scandalized, and whispers, "Isn't she your sister?"
Mike blinks rapidly at her. "What? No, I'm an only child."
"Your cousin then?"
"No, Britt. Tina and I are not related at all."
Brittany furrows her eyebrows. "Then why do you have the same last name?"
"She was adopted when she was a baby by a Jewish-Chinese family so that's why her last name is Cohen-Chang. And Chang is a very common Chinese last name, so trust me, there is no relation there at all," he explains.
"Ohhh, okay, good because having a crush on your sister would be so weird."
"Yeah, I agree."
Brittany closes her locker and begins walking with Mike down the hallway. "You know, I actually think you would be really good for Tina because I'm pretty sure she has feelings for that robot in glee club—"
"Robot?"
"Yeah, I think he's called Artie? Anyways, robots don't have emotions so she definitely needs to move on from him." She loops her arm into his and smiles brightly at him. "And there's no one better she can move on with than you, Mikey."
Not having the energy to correct her, Mike simply smiles at her, grateful that this hasn't caused a strain on their friendship. "Thanks, Britt. I really do hope she moves on from that robot."
"What do you think?" Mike asks while doing a little spin in front of Tina before the New Directions perform for the Haverbrook School for the Deaf.
She glances at Mike with his long wig askew on his head and bursts out into laughter. "Oh, God. Here, let me fix it." She takes his arm, guiding him to sit on the chair closest to them. "I can't have my dance partner looking like a mess."
As she helps him adjust his wig, Mike stares up at her, studying her features. He is mesmerized by the concentration on her face as she narrows her eyes and purses her lips. After she runs her fingers through the strands of his wig one final time, she examines him carefully, ensuring she didn't miss any flyaways or tangles, and smiles, admiring her work. He subconsciously mirrors her smile and lifts an eyebrow, "Better?"
Tina nods. "Much."
"Thank you. I do not understand how you can deal with this much hair every day."
"You get used to it," she says while flipping her hair, rendering him speechless for a moment as he imagines how it would feel to run his fingers through it.
After their big and unexpected win at sectionals, the New Directions celebrate by having a small party in Matt's basement. Mike is sitting on the couch, drink in hand, and watching his fellow glee club members. Despite all their joy and excitement, tension floats through the air from all the revelations and unsettled grievances.
His observations are interrupted when Brittany takes a seat beside him. She leans in and whispers, "Hey, good idea choreographing the dance so that you and Tina were partners, by the way."
"I, uh, I didn't do that on purpose," he stammers.
"Yeah, sure you didn't." She winks at him before nodding her head towards Tina who is currently standing across the room, chatting with Mercedes. "You should go talk to her."
Mike considers her words before taking a deep breath, chugging his drink and passing the newly empty cup to Brittany. "I think I will," he says before standing up, determination all over his face. As he marches toward Tina, Brittany gives him a supportive thumbs-up before getting up to find Santana.
Just as Mike is approaching, Mercedes excuses herself to get something to drink, leaving the two of them to chat alone. "Hey, Mike!"
"Can you believe that we managed to pull that off?" He exclaims.
"Well, we couldn't have done it without your choreography," she proclaims. "You really are a great dancer, you know?"
A flush creeps upon Mike's face. "So are you. I mean, you are crazy talented. At dancing and singing. You're the total package."
"You think so?" Tina brushes her hair behind her ear and looks down.
Mike softly raises her chin with his fingers to look her directly in her eyes. "I know so. And you really shouldn't be afraid to show it."
He has decided. He's gonna do it.
Mike is finally going to ask Tina out.
Matt has been nagging him over the past couple of weeks to "finally grow some ball and ask her out" because apparently, he is "so sick of how moony he gets whenever she's around." And while he wouldn't have used those same aggressive words, he agrees with his best friend.
The only thing that has delayed him from finally doing so is her unknown relationship status with Artie. It seems they have reconciled since their date but did that mean they were dating? What if he was already too late?
But today in glee club, they were paired up once again for their performance of "Hello, Goodbye" by the Beatles. And completely out of choreography, she waves at him. A quick, little wave that makes his heart skip a beat and all doubt leave his mind.
He's going to ask her out.
So, he makes his way towards her after glee rehearsal that day, his palms sweaty and his heart thumping erratically. "Hey, Tee, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure, what's up?"
Mike closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. Okay, Mike, it's now or never. Just ask her out.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, he is interrupted. "Hey, Tee, are we still going to the Lima Bean today?" Artie calls from across the stage.
Mike watches as the smile on Tina's face grows when she looks back at Artie, every feature glowing, and his chest tightens. "Yeah, I'll be there in a sec," she responds before refocusing her attention on Mike. "Sorry, what did you want to say?"
"Oh, um," Mike sighs deeply, wishing he could ignore the way she lights up at the other boy. "I just wanted to say you were great today."
"Thanks, Mike. So were you." She gives him a warm smile before turning to join Artie, leaving Mike alone in the auditorium.
