I know, I'm sorry for the late update but for the past, (what has it been?) three weeks, I have been busy with school projects, writer's block (I swear that hiatus killed my brain), work, and my dog hurt herself and had to get surgery. Then when I was finally done with the chapter, my internet went out. Now that my apologies are out of the way, enjoy.
Tuesdays are a funny day; not as hated as Monday but not quite as tolerated as Wednesday. Mike could honestly say that Tuesdays were his favorite day only due to the fact that his favorite TV show came on that day. Walking into school that morning, Mike was happy; his team made it to the championship game, Tina was no longer angry at him, and the glee club was no longer at an emotional boiling point. Speaking of which, Mike looks over to see a smiling Tina making her over and kiss him in greeting.
"Hey how are you?" Tina asks smiling.
"Fine but Coach has been riding us hard in practice and our schedule is crazy. But I was thinking that maybe we could do something next weekend?" Mike asks shyly.
"Mike Chang are you asking me out on a date?" Tina teased.
"Yes. I was thinking about Friday or Saturday after the championship game." Mike clarified.
"It's perfect, I can't wait." Tina replies as they make their way to class.
Mike eagerly makes his way to the cafeteria; since he didn't skip breakfast this morning he's not starving. This only served to boost his already good mood. He and Brittany even had a mini dance off in the hallway before an angry Sue Sylvester chased them away. Mike chuckled at the memory and quickly got his food before sitting at his usual table. It wasn't very long before he was joined by Santana; she didn't have any food nor did she sit down.
"You're not eating today?" Mike asked as he put down his fork.
"No, I got some missed assignments to make up. I wanted to ask…" Santana trailed off and started to fiddle with her hands.
"Yes?" Mike prodded gently.
Santana took a deep breath, "My doctor's appointment is today, for my testing. I… I don't want to go alone, so if you didn't mind, could you come with me?"
"Sure." Mike replied and Santana sighed in relief. Mike didn't blame her for being afraid. He couldn't imagine how nerve racking this must be for Santana, let alone attempting to go by herself. Wait, why wasn't one of her parents going with her? Mike internally sighed; he wasn't about to open that can of worms. Mike waves 'goodbye' to Santana as she rushes out of the cafeteria and he was left alone. Mike was nearly done with his food when he was joined by Mercedes.
"So no Santana today?"
"She had to make up some class work." Mike replied evenly.
"What were you two talking about just now?" Mercedes asked and Mike had to keep from rolling his eyes at how nosey she was being.
"It's private."
"So you guys have private business now?" Mercedes prods.
"Yup, sure do." Mike replies evenly.
"Look be distant all you want but I've been hearing some things around school and if there's anything going on-"
"There's nothing going on between Santana and I." Mike defends angrily; he was tired of this. Wait, people were talking about them?
"'You're just friends' bla bla. Look I got sources that have spotted the two of you around town together and have given me info about that bus ride from the game."
"What about it?" Mike asked confused.
"Apparently the two of you were all snuggled up and looking very much like a couple." Mercedes explained.
Mike thought back, "You mean when we fell asleep on the ride home? Oh come on Mercedes, you can't tell me that you haven't fallen asleep on Kurt's shoulder before."
Mike could see Mercedes deflate at the mention of Kurt and it hit him; she missed Kurt just as much as he used to miss Matt before they grew apart. He decided to cut her some slack.
"I know you miss Kurt and since he left you're being extra protective of Tina but Mercedes, I'm just Santana's friend. Don't take that away from her it's not like she has many in the first place."
"Okay, if you say nothing's going on then nothing is. Just know, Santana and me, we got this thing; she leaves me alone and I leave her alone. But if she hurts my girl Tina Imma beat her ass, yours too." Mercedes warns before leaving the table. Mike sighs; so much for his good mood.
The ride over to the hospital was a quiet one. Santana was so nervous Mike was afraid she'd bolt from the car if he stopped for too long. It also didn't help that she was making him nervous too.
"Do we have to listen to the radio?" Santana asked after the fifth commercial break.
"I don't have any CDs, do you?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, you don't mind?"
"No go ahead." Mike replied. Maybe if Santana got to listen to her own music it would calm her down. Mike looked over in disbelief when he saw her pull out about five CDs.
"I rode with Brittany this morning. This time I remembered to bring my CDs with me." Santana explained as Mike stopped at a stoplight.
"Oh." He looked over the titles: Oh Land, Fauna, Back to Black, Funhouse, and Sigh No More. Mike didn't know that she listened to Mumford and Sons. He decided to put Fauna in because it had an interesting cover. The mellow tunes of the first song filled the car and Mike could see Santana relax as the music washed over her.
If there's one thing that Mike doesn't like it's hospitals; which is ironic given that both his parents work at one. Mike and Santana are currently sitting in the waiting room as they wait for her name to be called.
"I can't believe I'm actually going through with this." Santana says nervously.
Mike looks over and gives her an encouraging smile, "You'll do fine. Just look at this as a chance to finally get answers."
"Yeah that's true. Can you believe that my mom still doesn't believe that I could have a learning disability?" Santana scoffed.
"Why?" Mike asked.
"She thinks that I'm just making an excuse for my laziness. Maybe she doesn't want a defective daughter." Santana replies.
"Don't say that, you are not defective." Mike said sternly. He refused to let Mrs. Lopez continue to make Santana feel worthless. They sat in silence for a few minutes before the office door opened and the doctor looked out.
"Santana Lopez." She called out. Santana looked up and Mike could see her starting to panic.
Mike reached over and grabbed her hand, "You'll be fine."
Santana nodded, "Are you going to be fine waiting for me?"
"Yeah, I'll just head down and see my mom. Text me when you're done." Mike replied. Santana stood up and gave Mike a quick look back before heading into the office. As soon as the door closes Mike gathers his things and heads towards the elevators. It doesn't take long for him to make it towards his mom's office and knock on the open door.
Mrs. Chang looks up and smiles, "Hey what are you doing here?"
"Santana is upstairs getting tested and I'm here for moral support." Mike explained.
"That's today? Her parents didn't bring her?" Mrs. Chang asked.
"Her mom's in denial and I think her dad is working." Mike stated.
"Oh how sad. Well, I guess you're going to be here for a while, do you have any homework?" Mrs. Chang asks.
"Yeah." Mike replies reaching for his bag. The office became silent as they both got to work. Mike was just finishing his last assignment when he received a text from Santana.
"She's done?" Mrs. Chang asks.
"Yeah, she just got done." Mike replied packing his book bag.
"I'm coming with you, just let me send your father a message then we can go." Mrs. Chang said as she picked up her phone. Afterwards Mike and his mother made their way upstairs to meet Santana.
"Hi Mrs. Chang." Santana greets politely.
"Hello Santana how are you?"
"I'm fine."
They continue on in pleasant conversation as they make their way to the car. Mike listened as his mother explained her job to Santana and what she does in human resources. Santana, for her part, looked interested; a vast difference to Tina, who didn't have the courtesy to pay attention or look like she cared.
The next day Mike had a feeling something big was going to happen today. As the day went by Mike was nearly crawling with anticipation; he could barely concentrate.
"Hello? Where are you?" Santana asked.
"Sorry."
"As I was saying, what in the world do you do when you visit your parents at work?" Santana repeated.
"Talk, do homework, sometimes I give the nurses as bit of eye candy while they work." Mike said nonchalantly.
"Wait what?"
"Yeah you know, knock something down so I can bend over. Sometimes I stretch and show a hint of my abs. Not too much just a bit to help their imaginations." Mike explained. Santana stared at him in shock for a moment before she burst out in laughter.
"Who would've thought you like cougars." Santana giggled.
"No, it's not like that. I mean it's mainly for the candy stripers but the nurses look too." Mike said.
"Wait you're the Asian Greek god that they keep talking about?" Santana asked in disbelief.
"You're a candy striper? Wait….. Asian Greek god?" Mike smiled.
"Yeah yeah. You're ego is so big right now this table is starting to feel crowded." Santana teased and Mike laughed.
Later that day, Mike and Santana are making their way down the hall towards the choir room.
"Honestly I don't know what's wrong with the woman. I mean we do this elaborate routine and she's still not happy." Santana said.
"You really have bmx riders and fire? That sounds pretty cool." Mike replies.
"Yeah well she's still not happy." Mike was about to reply when Santana suddenly went down and he had to grab her before she hit the ground.
"What the fuck!" Santana yelled as she gripped onto Mike tightly.
"Are you okay?" Mike asked once she was on her feet.
"Yeah, wait is that slushie? Shit! My shoes, Coach Sylvester is going to kill me." Santana said as she inspected her shoes. Mike looked down and saw the biggest pile of slushie he's ever seen; someone got hit bad.
"It's not that bad, just a bit of water and your shoe will be fine."
"I'll see you in glee, I'm going to go clean this off." Santana said as she walked towards the bathroom.
Mike was in the choir room dancing around with Tina. He did briefly wonder what was taking Mr. Shue so long to arrive.
"No, like this." Tina says pulling off a sequence off steps, effectively pulling Mike from his musings. He started to dance along correctly when he noticed Tina stop and look towards the door in shock.
"Oh my god Artie!" Tina gasps, catching the attention of the entire club.
"It was awful." Artie says slightly dazed as Brittany rushes to his side in worry; the poor boy looked as if he jumped into a pool of slushie.
"That's it screw rehearsal, this ends here and now." Finn says angrily as he jumps up, along with Puck and Sam, and makes towards the door.
"We're going to go all thunder dome on these guys." Puck says excitedly before the group is stopped by the very people they were going to see. The football jocks walk into the choir room, lead by a chubby blonde boy known as Strando.
"So this is what the ladies lounge looks like on the inside." Strando says snidely.
Sam steps forward, "This is the choir room now put up your fists 'cuz you and I are going to do some dancing."
"No I got this Sam." Finn says putting his arm out to stop Sam from advancing further.
Dave Karofsky walks towards the front of the group, "Coach Beiste told us to come here. Where is she?"
"Watch it." Coach Beiste is heard from the back of the group followed by Mr. Shue. "Everyone have a seat."
"You too guys. Alright New Directions, let's give a warm welcome to our newest additions to the glee club." Mr. Shue says calmly.
"What!" Everyone yells out before the room dissolves into chaos. Mike couldn't believe his ears right now; clearly this was all a nightmare. Santana's elbow to his chest as she angrily lunged forward, proved otherwise.
"Hell to the naw Mr. Shue are you serious?" Mercedes yells out over the clutter of angry voices.
"Calm down." Mr. Shue tries to say but is quickly drowned out.
"Hey are you serious, these are the guys that made Kurt transfer." Finn says angrily which only serves to add to everyone's anger.
"There is no way I'm sharing the room with a known homophobe." Rachel says angrily.
"I don't disagree with you guys." Mr. Shue starts and everyone calms down to listen to him. "But I talked to Coach Beiste about it and she and I both agree that the kind of bullying that David does is born out of ignorance. Having him here, difficult as it may be for us, is an opportunity to show him and the rest of the guys that being in glee club is kinda cool. Find some common ground." Mike almost snorts; easy for him to say.
"All of you are going to be in this glee club for one week, no exceptions." Coach Beiste adds, much to the Mike's displeasure.
Karofsky scoffs, "She's bluffing, next week is the championship game; without us she has no team."
"With you I have no team!" She yells. "You guys have to find a way to come together or we're going to get our asses kicked from here to Tuesday gets a saddle full of buckwheat." Mike stares at her in confusion; he should be used to her odd saying by now but they still throw her for a loop.
"If I have to stay I'm not singing no show tunes that is the music of my oppressors." Azimio says breaking the silence. Mike wonders if that means he won't sing any songs by white people. Never mind, the guy just doesn't make any sense.
"Do you even have any idea what we do in here?" Finn asks.
"No, none of them do, we have to show them. Rachel, Puck haven't you been working on something? Why don't you give it a whirl." Mr. Shue says ever optimistic.
Rachel sighs, "Fine, as offended as I am by their presence here, I won't let anything get in the way of a performance.
Mike silently chuckles; same old Rachel Berry. She and Puck head towards the front of the group and perform the song 'Need You Now' and Mike spies a couple of the jocks jamming to the song. The pair finished their song and is met with silence. After a moment the silence is finally broken by Azimio.
"The girl with a Mohawk had a very nice voice." Puck nodded his head and took off his guitar. What happened next, Mike could only describe it as all hell breaking loose as Puck came at Azimio with a raised guitar. This caused everyone else to jump up and the room dissolved into chaos.
Walking down the hallway with Santana, Mike couldn't help but think that glee was a disaster. He kind of gets what Coach Beiste and Mr. Shue are trying for but this was ridiculous. Why in the world would they think that inviting their bullies to join glee would ever be a good idea?
"This is bullshit! Why in the ever loving fuck did Mr. Shue think this was a good idea? Now we have to sit in the same room with Dave Karofsky, he's the asshole who threatened Kurt and made him leave!" Santana ranted.
"Preaching to the choir right now but at least you gave him a piece of your mind." Mike replied.
"Yeah, I wasn't going to let him get away with doing that without hearing my very explicit opinion on the subject." Santana stated with a smirk. Mike laughed as they headed towards the car.
The next day they decide to try again. Mike isn't ecstatic about the idea but from the looks of things; he's the most optimistic. As Mike looked around the choir room he noticed that the two groups even sat opposed to each other; jocks vs. gleeks.
"Alright guys listen up." Coach Beiste said as she and Mr. Shue walked into the room; effectively ending all chatter.
"Coach Beiste and I talked and we thought we'd have New Directions perform the half time show during the championship game this year." Mr. Shue started and was greeted with murmurs of excitement from ND and groans from the jocks.
"I thought it would be fun to do a mash up of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's 'Heads Will Roll' and the King of Pop's hit song 'Thriller'." Mr. Shue finished and ND leapt up with excitement.
"Wait you want us to play and perform in our own halftime show?" Karofsky asks.
Santana chuckled, "Awww poor baby. Is it too hard for you? Maybe-"
"Santana!" Mr. Shue interrupted warningly. Santana crossed her arms and glared but stayed silent.
"That's why they developed a handy skill called a 'Quick Change'." Rachel added sarcastically and Mr. Shue turns a warning look towards her too.
"Screw this I don't have to do it." Karofsky said angrily.
"Then you're off the team." Coach Beiste replies coldly. Mike noticed that Karofsky and the others deflated; any fight leaving them after her cold words.
"With that settled, as of right now you're all officially in zombie camp." Mr. Shue says happily.
Mike had to admit, zombie camp was really fun. It was like dancing but he could do all this weird stuff and it still looked believable. He even had some fun with Santana as the both of them chased Brittany around the stage and pretended to eat her. During their break the group decided to sit down and decide who will do what for the performance; well the gleeks did anyways. The jocks sat around and looked confused.
"So first order of business, who is singing?" Rachel started.
"It's Michael, I have to sing. My voice suits him best out of all the guys." Artie jumped in.
"Hold on hot wheels, who said anything about you being the only one to sing Michael's part? Secondly shouldn't we be trying to get the music before we divide up the parts?" Santana states mater of factly.
Rachel looks over to Finn, "I figured Finn would get the music, he's done so for all our mashups."
Santana stared directly at Finn with an expression that Mike couldn't exactly read, "He can't do that this time. Isn't that right Finn?"
"Right. Santana you can arrange the music this time." Finn says nervously and Santana smirks; what was going on between the two of them?
"Okay…. anyways Santana's getting the music, Artie is tentatively singing 'Thriller' and I'll be showcasing my superior vocal talents as the female lead." Rachel stated, causing everyone to roll their eyes.
"Oh hell no. You're voice doesn't even suit the song. Plus have you even heard it?" Mercedes argued.
"What's going on?" Brandon whispered to Mike quietly.
"They're deciding on who's going to sing." Mike replies.
"But don't you all sing together?" He asked.
"Yeah but we also have lead vocalists. That's what they're fighting over; who's voice is going to be featured on the song." Mike explains.
"Maybe Lopez should sing, I liked her runs on that Britney Spears song you guys did." Brandon suggests quietly and it gives Mike an idea.
"Hey Rachel?" Mike says interrupting the current argument.
"Yes Mike."
"As team captain, won't you be too busy making sure our newest members will be able to give a good performance to be able to properly play lead?" Mike asked innocently; he could see Santana silently chuckling behind Rachel's back.
"You're absolutely right. I can't believe that escaped my mind." Rachel jumped up and stared determinedly at the jocks.
"Would our newest members kindly follow me, your vocal lessons begin now." Rachel states with a smile. Mike could see that they wanted to argue but Coach Beiste silently stood behind Rachel with her arms folded and they obeyed.
"Now that she's out of the way I propose that I sing lead." Santana says.
"And why should you get to sing" Mercedes asks.
"Well who else can pull it off? Quinn's voice is too soft, your voice is too powerful, and Brittany…." Santana trailed off looking at Brittany expectantly.
"I'm doing make up, Quinn you can help." Brittany states calmly and Quinn nods.
"Right and Tina what are you doing?" Santana asked.
"Well I'm doing the costumes, unless someone else has connections with the fashion department?" Tina asked and everyone shook their head in the negative.
"So me and Artie are singing. Now that that is settled, how about that choreography."Santana replied.
"So tell me again why we're driving to some guy's house?" Mike asked as he drove to an unknown location.
"His name is Neal and he's the one who does the mash ups, for a price." Santana replies as they pull up in front of the house.
"Wait so Finn doesn't actually get the music?" Mike asked.
"No, he comes to me and I go to Neal." Santana explains and Mike nods. But what did she mean by 'for a price'? They got out of the car and knocked on the door. After a few moments of no answer, Santana pulls out her cell phone.
"Neal open up the fucking door! I know you're in there and it's cold outside." Santana says before hanging up.
"I thought we were working on being nicer." Mike stated calmly.
"Rome wasn't built in a day." Santana replied just as calm. They don't have to wait very long before the door opens to reveal a half asleep Neal. Mike recognized him as the school's marching band leader.
"You two know each other?" Mike asked and Santana nods.
"I was asleep you know." Neal says as he yawns, glaring at Santana.
"You can sleep later, let us in it's cold." Santana replies as she shivers. Neal moves and allows them to enter the house.
"So what can I do for you?" Neal asks once their seated around the kitchen table. Mike catches him eyeing Santana's chest and clears his throat. Neal looks at him in annoyance; Mike got major creeper vibes from this guy, he didn't like it.
"We need a mash up; 'Thriller' and 'Heads Will Roll'. I already emailed you the songs." Santana said.
"Another one? You guys do a lot of these mash ups, what do I get out of it?" Neal asked licking his lips. He eyes Santana up and down and Mike sees her shift uncomfortably. Mike sat up straighter in his chair and glared at Neal; he got the hint and backed off. Why did Santana know this guy? Seriously, if he didn't stop Mike might have to have a 'talk' with Neal. He now knows what Santana meant by her 'for a price' statement from earlier.
"Look this isn't just some glee club thing. This is for the half time entertainment during the championship game. College recruiters are going to be there and if your band plays maybe you could get some recognition." Santana states and that seems to get Neal's attention.
"You're right this could be very beneficial to me. You'll have it by Monday. I could have it to you by Saturday if we could talk upstairs." Neal says and takes a quick glance at Mike and adds, "Privately."
Mike has officially lost his patience with this guy and before he knows it an animalistic growl leaves his mouth and he stands up so fast his chair falls back. He rushes forward towards a frightened Neal and grabs him by the shirt and lifts him out of his chair. Mike slams him into the refrigerator behind them.
"Mike stop!" Santana says behind him. Mike doesn't really care; this guy really needs to be taught a lesson.
"Look, I'm sorry." Neal cowers.
"No you're not, I'd given you plenty of chances to back off and you didn't. Now I'm only going to say this once; have that song done first thing Monday morning or so help me I will make you regret being the disgusting piece of human being that you are." Mike says angrily before unceremoniously dropping Neal to the ground. Mike turns away and starts to head towards the door and Santana follows. They sit in silence for a few minutes as Mike drives towards Santana's house.
"Thanks for sticking up for me. That guys still somewhat creeps me out." Santana said breaking the silence.
"You're welcome but I don't want you going to his house alone anymore. Where the fuck does he get off treating you like some sort of whore?" Mike says angrily.
"I'm used to it." Santana replies.
"But you shouldn't be." Mike counters and Santana falls silent.
Mike walks into Santana's room and crashes on her bed; he couldn't believe how soft it was. Mike started to relax; the drive had given him a chance to calm down after his confrontation with Neal.
"Move lazy ass, it's my bed." Santana says from the doorway.
"But I'm your guest." Mike whines as he moves to sit up.
Santana chuckles, "Fine but I'll remember that the next time I'm at your house."
Mike sighs and stretches his muscles and eyes Santana's pillows. "Don't even think about it."
"What are you doing this weekend?" Mike asks, trying to change the subject.
"Volunteering at the hospital, then I have cheerio practice because Regionals are coming up." Santana says; Mike can tell that something is bothering her.
"Hey what's wrong?"
"There's so much shit, I can't…" Santana trails off and sits next to him on the bed. "Coach wants to shoot Brittany out of a fucking canon."
"What?" Mike said shocked; did he hear that correctly?
Santana nodded, "And if that wasn't bad enough, she wants us to quit glee and only be cheerios. She even moved up our competition date so that we couldn't possibly do both. Then this thing with my mom…" Santana says before trailing off and rapidly blink back tears. Her mom? What in the world was going on?
"What's going on with your mom?" Mike asks softly and Santana stays silent for so long he starts to believe she won't answer.
"She's cheating on my dad." Santana blurts out and starts to cry.
Mike stares at her, "What?"
"She's cheating on him. What's worse is that I walked in on them one night." Santana manages to say through her tears. Mike thinks back to that night two weeks ago when Santana mysteriously called him in tears; his heart breaks.
"Is that when you called me?" Mike asked and Santana nodded.
"I didn't know what else to do." She replied sadly and Mike, at a loss on what to say, just held her.
Friday was a gloomy day; not just because of his mood, it was actually gloomy outside today. Mike had spent an hour trying to calm Santana down yesterday. If she wasn't crying over various scenarios of Brittany's death, she was crying over how her parent's marriage would be destroyed if her father ever found out about her mother's infidelity. It hurt to see Santana like that and he hates Mrs. Lopez a little more for making Santana feel like that. Walking down the hall Mike sees Santana staring sadly at her locker.
"Hi." Mike greets tentatively.
"Hi." Santana replies; she hasn't stopped staring at her lock and Mike is slightly hesitant on how to react. It doesn't take long for Santana to sigh in defeat and turn around. Now that Mike can fully see her face, he notices how puffy her eyes are.
"I can't concentrate today. I mean I like being on the squad but Coach has been so unbearable lately I don't mind quitting but Brittany…..I can't leave her." Santana says quietly.
"It'll be okay, Brittany likes glee. I'm sure she'll choose to stay." Mike replies trying to be optimistic. He reaches over and quickly opens her locker.
Santana looks at him in surprise, "How did you know?"
"Brittany." Mike says simply and Santana nods.
"Thank you." The bell rings and they go their separate ways.
The rest of the day was uneventful and Mike had a hard time even remembering what happened; he does remember a few paper ball fights but the classes were so boring he blanked out. Glee was taken up by another zombie camp practice. Mike could actually see some people improving, so this idea wasn't completely bust.
"I can't believe I don't even get to sing." Rachel complained to Mike and Artie for the eighth time in five minutes.
"Alright, shit! You can harmonize with me during the song if it will get you to shut the hell up!" Artie snapped, catching the attention of everyone else. Mike had barely managed to hold in a laugh.
"Thank you." Rachel smiled. "Santana what's taking so long on the music? We're losing out on valuable practice time; this is why Finn should have gotten the music."
"First off dwarf, this isn't like getting a song off of itunes and downloading it. Two completely different songs have to be put together to make one song, so it's going to take some time. Secondly, Finnocence over there would've just came to me to get the music like he usually does since I'm the one with the connections." Santana replies, much to the embarrassment of Finn. Mike glowers at the vague mention of Neal.
"The fastest I can get it is on Monday so unless you can do better sit down and shut the hell up." Santana finishes and practice continues as usual. On his way out of the auditorium Mike is stopped by Finn and, surprisingly, Dave Karofsky.
"Hey Mike we were thinking of performing a song; just us guys." Finn stated.
"To boost morale. You in?" Dave adds.
Mike shrugs, "Sure, I'll help out."
Monday morning Mike pulls into Santana's driveway and watches as she happily skips to the car. Mike can't help but laugh at her antics, it's a nice change of pace to see her this happy.
"Look at what was emailed to me this last night." Santana said excitedly as she held up an unmarked CD.
"What is it?" Mike asks as Santana plays the CD.
As the song starts Mike's eyes widen, "Is this?"
"Yup that's the song. Completed and ready for us to practice." Santana says happily.
"This sounds amazing." Mike replies getting excited.
Mike walks down the hallway towards the choir room tiredly. Doing glee, football practice, practicing with the guys on their song, and dealing with in fighting between the gleeks and the jocks is starting to wear him down. Mike was slightly nervous how things would turn out when they had to actually sing. Mike walks into the choir room to see Santana standing in front of everyone next to a CD player.
"What's going on?" Mike asks her quietly.
"I'm just waiting for everyone to arrive so I can play the song." Santana replies.
"So you're staying?" Mike whispers.
Santana sighs, "I don't know. Sue's trying really hard to convince Brittany to stay. I think she knows that if she stays I stay."
Mr. Shue and Coach Beiste walk into the room and start the meeting. After they listen to the song everyone gets down to business so they can put on a good show.
The next day Mike is making his way towards the cafeteria when he sees Brittany angrily putting things into her locker. Mike was thrown off guard; he's never seen Brittany get angry.
"Brittany? Are you okay?" Mike asks cautiously.
Brittany sighed before facing him, "No, we're going to have to quit glee."
"What? Why?" Mike asked.
"Coach Sylvester knows about Santana and I. I knew those after practice hook ups in the locker room would come back to haunt us." Brittany sighs.
"So she's threatening to out you guys? Mike asks concerned.
"I don't know. I mean I don't care if people know about me being bisexual but Santana would be devastated. I don't want to risk it." Brittany replies sadly. Mike felt bad for her; he could tell Brittany didn't want to quit glee.
"It's okay, I get it. You want to protect Santana but Brittany, be careful. Don't let that crazy woman shoot you out of a canon. Mike says.
Brittany nods, "I'm really sorry Mike."
"Don't be. I guess we'll just find another way to hang out with each other." He replies causing Brittany to smile.
"It figures they would do something like this. Threaten their precious popularity and they drop us like a hot potato." Rachel rants. Mike can't help but sigh at Rachel's hypocrisy; how many times did she quit or storm out when she didn't get her way?
"Quinn and Santana I expect it from but Brittany? That' a low blow." Tina adds and Mike frowns.
"Please, we all know it was Santana who put her up to it. I just don't understand why Brittany can't see how manipulative she is." Artie said angrily with many others agreeing. Mike decides that now it the time to step in and set them straight.
"Actually Santana left the decision up to Brittany and if anyone is being manipulative, it's Sue Sylvester." Mike interrupted.
Artie huffed, "Yeah but-"
"Don't condemn them for their choices when you don't even know why they made them." Mike argued.
"That's enough about that." Mr. Shue said, ending the argument. "Guys, you had something you wanted to perform?" Mike and the others take their positions on stage and get ready to perform their song.
Mike's feeling pretty good about their performance; he feels like he's finally apart of a team. They were amazing up on that stage and even with his limited vocal abilities, Mike sang his hardest. They're walking down the hall, as a team, together, in full zombie make-up without a care in the world; Mike never thought he would see the day. All of this was short-lived however, as the hockey team took it upon themselves to 'right the social order' and slushie them.
It hurts; he feels like he just got smacked with a wall of ice. Then the burning set in and Mike isn't sure what feels worse; the initial shock and pain or the persistent burning in his eyes. He blindly makes his way to the nearest bathroom to rinse his eyes out.
"Good lord they actually slushied you?" Santana asked in concern as they made their way home.
"Yeah, it was bad. Even worse, the guys quit both football and glee. The girls did offer to help but they don't know anything about football and the game's this Friday. I don't know what Coach is going to do." Mike explained sadly.
"I'm sure you and the others will work something out." Santana replied.
"What about you? How is being in the cheerios full time?" Mike asked.
Santana sighs, "It's horrible, Sue's hell bent on her crazy plan and Finn's trying to convince Quinn and Brittany to come back."
Mike raises an eyebrow, "Not you?"
"I guess he doesn't give a shit whether or not I come back. That or he figures I'll follow Brittany, which is true." Santana shrugs.
It's Friday, game day, and Mike sits nervously in the locker room. Finn's ran off to try one last time to get Quinn, Santana, and Brittany. Puck's gone off to get the team back together and the girls are gearing up to play. Mike doesn't like it, he doesn't like it one bit. He tries not to think about the two hundred pound monsters that will be barreling towards his girlfriend; he fails.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Mike mumbles and Sam turns towards him.
"It's not that bad, just hold it together." Sam replies.
"How would you feel if you knew some two hundred pound guy out for blood was going to be running full throttle at Quinn?" Mike snaps and he sees Sam's face ashen at the thought.
"Shit." Sam gasps out.
"Exactly." Mike replies, taking a deep breath so as to not hyperventilate.
They go through with the game and for the most part it works. Finn is back and managed to convince the girls to quit cheerios which makes him happy; now he just hopes Puck comes through. So far the girls have managed to not get hurt and Lauren's been holding her own, not that Mike expected differently.
The next play was set up and instead of falling to the ground like she was supposed to, Tina caught the ball and started to run. Mike's heart leapt into his throat as he watch helplessly as the opposing player tackled her to the ground. Mike felt as if he was punched in the gut and he could've sworn that his heart stopped. Everything was quiet and Mike ran faster than he's ever done to reach her.
"Tina are you okay?" Mike asks full of concern, careful not to shake her in case she's really hurt.
"Yeah I'm okay." Tina says softly, clearly shaken. Mike pulls her up and that ends the first half.
"You're so taking me out tomorrow." Tina says causing Mike to chuckle.
They win the championship game, much to everyone's surprise and it's the greatest feeling on earth to hold that championship trophy and call it their own. Mike's just happy he got to share that moment with all the people he cares about.
Mike can't believe how eventful the last two weeks have been but none of that matters now because he has his date with Tina to think about. As he waits for her in front of her house Mike can't help but get a little giddy. When she appeared Mike was struck dumb at how beautiful Tina looked; he felt like the luckiest guy on earth.
"Wow, you look beautiful." Mike says as Tina gets in the car.
"Thanks." Tina giggles and it doesn't take long for them to make it to the bowling alley and get a lane.
"So what made you decide on bowling?" Tina asked as she lined up her shot. She threw the ball and only managed to knock down three pins.
"I always have fun when my uncles and I go bowling, so I thought it would be a fun way to spend time with you." Mike replies.
"Oh. I'm not going to lie, when you said date I imagined a dinner at a restaurant but I love this." Tina says as he picks up his bowling ball.
Mike smiles, "That's afterwards."
"Sneaky."
They go a few more turns and Mike is happy that the game is almost over (with him winning by five points) because Tina is getting bored. He glances back and catches her playing on her phone.
"What are you looking at?" Mike asks as he lines up his shot.
"People have been putting up photos of the game on facebook. I'm a little behind because I'm mostly on twitter. You've been tagged in a lot of them." Tina giggles out. Mike throws his ball, managing to get a strike and winning the game, when he notices how silent Tina is. He turns around to see her staring angrily at her phone.
"What the fuck is this?" She asks angrily and Mike winces. This is the angriest he's ever seen her.
"What-"
"Don't play dumb! Friends do not sit like this!" Tina almost shouts, angrily thrusting her phone into Mike's hands. He looks down and studies the photo in question. It's a picture of him and Santana on the bus ride home from the game before last. Apparently someone took a picture of them after they fell asleep and with the way Santana was cuddling his arm, well, Mike didn't realize that his hand was between her legs. It was made worse by the fact that Santana's face was buried in the crook of his neck and his face was turned towards her, as he rested his head on hers, with his eyes closed. If Mike didn't know for a fact that they were asleep he would've thought that they got caught in a moment of passion. No wonder Tina was upset.
"Tina I can explain-"
"No! I don't want to hear it!" Tina yells, catching the attention of the group in the lane next to them. "Take me home."
"But-" Mike tries but Tina grabs her things and heads for the door. The ride to Tina's house was silent and tense.
"Tina I can explain." Mike said breaking the silence.
"Explain what? Why you two were snuggled up together? Why people are commenting on you guys being such a cute couple? Or maybe you'd like to explain how your hand ended up in between her legs?" Tina ranted.
"I know it looks bad but we were asleep! How can you get angry about where my hand was when I wasn't even conscious?" Mike asked finally getting angry.
"And your hand just magically gained a mind of its own and decided to search in between her legs? You had to have put it there when you were awake. Can't you see that Santana is just trying to get in between us?" Tina yells.
"She's not! We're just friends why do I have to keep repeating this fact?" Mike yells back.
"You didn't deny putting your hand between her legs. So I guess you figured you could get some after game booty on the bus before you came over to my house! She's nothing but boyfriend stealing whore!
"We haven't slept together! Don't talk about her like that you don't even know her!" Mike yelled as he pulled in front of her house and put the car in park.
Tina chuckles bitterly, "There you go defending her again; you're always standing up for her. If everyone thinks the two of you are fucking then chances are the both of you are. Everyone knows Santana doesn't know the meaning of keeping her legs closed. I hope you have fun fucking you 'friend' because we're through!" Tina yells angrily before exiting the car and slamming the door. Mike watches as Tina enters her house before her words fully hit him; she just broke up with him. He feels his heart shatter into a thousand pieces and Mike blinks back tears as he makes his way home.
By the time Mike makes his way home he's completely numb. He looks at his phone and realizes that he has notices. Mike silently boots up his computer and checks facebook. The first thing he notices is that Tina has changed her relationship status to 'single'. It makes the entire night more real and Mike's chest tightens. He decides that if Tina has already announced their breakup he should change his status too. His hands shake as he changes his status from 'in relationship' to 'single' and when it's done; Mike puts his head down on his desk. His chest hurts and he feels as if he can't breathe. Not two minutes after he changes his status does his phone ring. Without looking over Mike grabs his phone and answers.
"Hello?" Mike says hoarsely and he clears his throat.
"Mike I just saw. What the hell happened?" Santana asked her voice full of concern. Mike wants to be angry and blame her for all his relationship troubles but he can't; Santana didn't do anything wrong. He can't punish her for being his friend when he was the one who sought out her friendship in the first place.
"Tina-" Mike started but his voice cracks and he clears his throat. "She broke up with me."
Mike hears Santana gasp and someone speak in the background and her mumbled reply, "Mike-"
"I'm sorry Santana but I don't really feel like talking right now." Mike interrupts before hanging up.
Mike lies in his bed, with his back towards the door and stares at nothing. His mother has tried multiple times to comfort him but Mike didn't respond; he just kept replaying the night over in his head. Mike doesn't know how long he's laid there (long enough for his computer to hibernate) before he hears someone enter the room; it's probably just his mother trying to comfort him again. Mike continues to lay still but become confused as he listens to his visitor move around the room. When he feels the bed dip Mike finally turns around and finds himself face to face with Santana.
Mike looks at the concern written on her face and frowns in confusion, "Santana?"
"Shhh, come here." Santana says softly as she pulls him into a hug. Mike lays there, halfway on top of Santana with his face buried in the crook of her neck, as she rubs his back in comfort.
"I'm here." Santana whispers, her voice loud in the silent room, and Mike finally breaks down and cries.
Why yes, I am evil. Also, some maybe confused as to why this episode chapter came before the Christmas one. Well, Glee messed up and high school football season is finished sometime around late November early December depending on whether they make it to the Championship (according to google). Now, I had always planned to break Tike up, I just debated with myself from the beginning as to when to do it but I was half asleep one night and thought this would be the perfect way to end the chapter. We also get a glimpse into how guys really treat Santana and Mike's protective nature for those he cares about. I'm working on the next chapter now and will try to get it up soon so that I can be back on track. Off to fix more plot holes, until next time.
