Author note: the finals are here! The next few chapters are little shorter, but I think this works better for the story.
The final starts
The stands were filled, really full, he had never seen so many people on the stands. That nervous feeling came back as he ran through the warm-up exercises. He saw the ex-football players, Karofsky talked to Finn. Mike couldn't hear him but he did see Finn's face light up. Mike followed his gaze and saw the four girls. All dressed in the full uniform. Tina looked amazing, her long black hair tamed down into two braids. As he walked towards them he felt the adrenaline pumping in his body, he felt elated, knowing they would actually play this game, but that other feeling increased tenfold. One more anxious glance to Tina, her confident smile and he pushed the feeling down, letting himself get swept up by the shouting of the other guys. He saw Puck grasp Rachel's helmet, the same anxious glance in Puck's eyes and Rachel's excited reaction. Mike knew they wouldn't win, not with only five people actually playing, but because of those four girls he would try his hardest, as always.
After the first huddle Mike showed Tina where she had to sit, next to her he checked that Artie's chair was placed properly. He managed to whisper to Artie: "Please try and keep her down." Artie simply nodded. He then turned to his own place on the field and waited for the whistle signalling the start of the game.
They worked as hard as ever, trying everything they could think of, but nothing worked. They were going to lose this game with the largest numbers ever. Mike could see everybody was getting frustrated, even Tina. Every time they walked back to starting positions Tina would say something along the lines of: "I want to play, do something, I feel like I'm n ot helping enough. I can do more." Mike desperately didn't want her to play for real, and thanked his lucky stars Tina had remained down. But that feeling, down in his gut, got stronger every time they gathered in a huddle.
Finn gathered his team again, silently thanking, whoever was out there, that his half was almost over. He watched as the girls got up and walked to him. He saw Mercedes stumbling, she was taking this the hardest. Tina seemed still fresh, Lauren wouldn't mind taking another guy down and Rachel, well Rachel was Rachel with her number one and golden star.
The guys were doing just fine, though the frustration on their faces was like looking in a mirror. This was supposed to be their game, they had improved so much, with the others they could have taken these guys. He wanted to bet they would be able to even the score in the second half, but well nobody would ever know for sure. Finn shook his head, there was no use in thinking like that, they needed to do what they could with these circumstances. He turned to the circle of friends, looking at everybody. "How's everybody doing?" maybe it was lame, but he didn't care, he needed everybody to be okay, they were his friends, ready to do what need be done not caring for the social consequences. Mercedes' response was what he had estimated. Tina however surprised him: "Is everybody tired of lying down all the time? I want to play." Fill felt Mike's response even though he wasn't near him. He looked at Mike and saw the abject horror in his eyes. Finn felt sympathetic, right now he was glad he had no girlfriend, especially if that girlfriend would be on the field. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves." He nodded to Mike , hoping it was enough encouragement. Mike just closed his eyes.
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