Sorry for the mini hiatus. Grad school is kicking my ass this semester! But I'm always thinking of (and even occasionally dreaming about) these two lovely coaches :D


Chapter 3

Santana was in that state of nervous / excited by the night of her first volleyball match. She knew her team was more than ready to take on the Crusaders; they were a team that the Lions easily beat last season and all their best girls had graduated. Santana kept telling herself she was nervous because it was her first home match as head coach and she wanted to impress everyone.

Really, there was only one person she was worried about impressing.

Santana was sitting in her office when she heard a knock on the door. She looked up as a blonde head popped inside, "Hope I'm not bothering you. Just wanted to say good luck." Brittany smiled and gave Santana a double thumbs up. "I'll be there with the team, since 'Pride Rocks' and all that…" She was about to close the door, "Oh and we made t-shirts too. Cross country really knows how to rock arts and crafts." She winked and shut the door.

Santana's stomach fluttered and she had to go do something before she went crazy.


Santana went down to the physical trainer to make sure anyone on her team who needed their ankles taped or their hamstrings stretched were down there before the game. Sure enough, her captain had it under control.

"Hey San, ready for another awesome season?" The physical trainer, Matt, was stretching out her libero and star player, Mercedes Jones.

"Yes I am!" She high fived him. "See you in the gym, Matt. Mercedes, I want you to round up the team in the locker room at 5:30. Warm ups start at 6. Let's get fired up!"

"Coach, it's our first match of the season. I'd say fired up is an understatement!" Mercedes was buzzing with excitement and it was contagious.

Santana left the training room smiling from ear to ear.


Santana made her way to the locker room and waited for the girls to get changed before giving her pre-game speech.

"Ladies, we've worked hard for tonight. Let's show everyone we're not here to come in second place this year. This is our season." The girls whooped and cheered. "Mercedes, you want to say something?"

As the team captain, she led the pre-game stuff. "Let's get this, Lions. I want communication and no balls drop tonight. Ain't nobody got time for that and I will call your shit out and have Coach Lopez sit your ass. We will own those Crusaders! Lions on 3. 1, 2, 3, LIONS!"


The gym was pretty empty when Santana made her way in there. It was around 6 and her team had an hour to warm up before the match. The student workers for the athletics department were hanging up posters and unfolding chairs in the stands.

Little by little, people came filtering in. Sue made her way over to Santana. "How's it going, coach?"

"Everything is great, Sue. The girls are ready. They're excited. Should be a good match."

"I know I'm more excited to see this match than I was to see Olivia Newton John in the 'Let's Get Physical' video. All that spandex..." Sue trailed off and made her way across the gym to sit in her usual seat near the main box.

Santana kept looking toward the door. She knew who she was waiting for. She kept trying to keep her attention on other people moving around the gym, but it didn't calm her nerves.

Not before long, Quinn came through the door with Rachel, Brittany and some guy hanging on Brittany's arm. There were too many people coming into the gym, so Santana couldn't see him clearly, but her heart dropped.

Had she been reading the signs wrong? Did Brittany have a boyfriend?

Quinn pointed out her usual spot in the stands and Britt and Rachel went up there, Britt finding her cross country team nearby, while Quinn made her way over. Santana tried to remain focused on Quinn and not pay any attention to what was happening over her shoulder on the bleachers.

"Good luck, San." She fist bumped her and San nodded toward the stands.

"What's that dwarf doing here?" Santana motioned to Rachel sitting in the stands and she side eyed Quinn, who just smiled.

"She's my 'Pride Rocks' team. I'm just trying to be nice and get to know her. She's not all that bad." Quinn shoved San in the shoulder and smiled. San recognized that smile from Quinn. It was dangerous.

"Sure, Q. Just make sure she stops talking during the game. I don't need her distracting my girls."

"Yeah, you got it, San." Quinn touched her arm and went back to the bleachers. When Santana looked up Brittany was smiling at her and gave her a small wave. There was no boy next to her now. Santana waved back.

Someone next to Santana drew her attention away from Brittany. It was Kurt, the athletic announcer. Kurt had aslo graduated with Santana, Sugar and Quinn. They didn't always see eye to eye. Santana thought he was way too sensitive to be the sports teams' announcer, but Santana saw Kurt every home game she played and coached and now considered him a friend. "Good luck, Lopez. Kill those Crusaders!" He made a little cheerleading motion by putting his hand and leg in the air and went to sit up at the microphone.

As soon as he walked passed Sue, she got up. "Porcelain, wait. I'm coming with you to sit in the box." Sue followed him up the bleachers.

"No, Sue. Last time you almost got me in trouble because of your insults. You can't be near the microphone…" Santana shook her head and laughed at the two of them fighting. Her attention immediately focused on the gym door. Her team, led by Sugar, came marching through the double doors. Santana had her game face on. During a volleyball match, there was nothing that could distract her. Not even crystal blue eyes intently staring at her from across the gym.


The music blasted over the loud speakers and the girls came out to start their pre-game warm ups. Santana and Sugar led them through their drills and then kept an eye on the other team.

"Wow, they're awful this year", Sugar whispered to Santana while they were watching the Crusaders warm up.

Santana nodded, "They lost their setter and both of their middles. But they have a new freshman player; check out number 1."

As soon as Santana said it, number 1 was set a ball and spiked it down to her teammates on the other side of the net. All the defensive players missed it by a long shot.

"Still, it's gonna be a bloodbath!" Sugar smiled, excitedly at Santana and turned her attention back to her team. "Jill, move your feet. No balls drop in front of you!"


Ironically, Rachel and Kurt sang the national anthem together. Santana rolled her eyes at Quinn, who just shrugged. That explained how Quinn got Rachel to come to the game. It was hard to not look at Brittany in the stands, especially when she always seemed to have her eyes on Santana, but San tried to remain undistracted as Rachel ended the Star Spangled Banner with a ridiculously long, high note. Even Kurt stopped and stared at her. The crowd applauded and they both bowed dramatically. Rachel went back to her seat.

Kurt read out the names from the roster of the opposing team with his usual excitement. But when he got to the Lion's starting lineup, his excitement rose tenfold. "Senior, number 29, your 5'10" setter, Clara Donahue." The crowd applauded. "And last, but absolutely not least, number 17, junior, your captain and starting libero, Mercedess Jonessss." The crowd went wild and got to their feet to cheer on Mercedes. She went all conference last year and would most definitely do the same this year. She also held the conference record for most digs in a match; no one even came close to beating it last year.

The match started with Mercedes serving. Mercedes' first serve was so wicked, sailing in the air across the net, that she hit some Crusader right in the face. The lions did their "ace" cheer and Mercedes got the ball back. It was 7-0 before the Crusaders called a time out. Mercedes served a few more times before the Crusaders spiked a ball down at the Lions and they lost a point.

"Ashley, that's your ball. Call it and move Brianna out of the way" Santana coached from the sidelines. It was a little more nerve wrecking being the head coach and calling all the plays as opposed to being the assistant coach, but Beiste had taught her well and Santana felt confident. Plus, Sugar was a super helpful assistant coach, pacing the sidelines and instructing the girls.

When it was their turn to serve again, Sugar signaled to the next player, Abby, what position she wanted her to aim at. Abby hit her target and the girl hit the ball at a weird angel, making it shank to her left and fly off the court.

The crowd went crazy. "Same place", San yelled to Abby.

The girl on the other side of the net reset herself and looked determined. Her teammates all yelled to her to be ready in case it came to her again. Abby served it to the same place, making the girl flail around, the ball veering off to her right. The Lions stand went wild. Abby continued with a few more serves before the Crusaders again called a time out.

"You look great, just keep it up!" Santana high fived the girls.

"Yeah, Abby solid serving out there!" Sugar patted her on the back. The girls took a swig of water and got back on the court.

A few more serves went back and forth, but it wasn't a very exciting game. The Lions killed the Crusaders, ending with a triumphant 25-13. The teams switched sides and grabbed their water bottles.

The Crusaders seemed pretty defeated. Their head coach could be heard screaming at them from their huddle. The assistant coach looked sympathetically at the girls, but didn't say anything, probably for fear of turning their coach's wrath on him.

The girls took a water break and switched sides for the next match.

"Ladies, that was an awesome first set! Let's do that again. Work on your passes and run some of the new plays. They're not a very strong team, so don't be afraid to experiment and see what works. Hands in."

The second and third games went pretty much the same as the first and the Lions came out victorious, with scores of 25-9 and 25-11, ending the Crusaders in three games. That was even with Santana playing some of her second lineup.

Everyone in the stands went wild after the game ended. Santana and Sugar hugged, "Good game, coach." They said to each other simultaneously, which only made them laugh and hug again as they got in line to shake hands with the other team.

The Crusader coach met Santana at the end of the line. "Good game, coach. I see your team is ready to take the conference this year."

"Thank you, sir. I hated to lose it last year and I'm definitely going for number one." She shook his hand firm.

"You're team looks great! I wish you the best of luck; see you later in the season."

"Thank you, you too."

Santana turned back to her team where they all gathered around and hugged her and each other, celebrating their victory.

"I'm proud of you girls, great match. That's what your hard work will do. Enjoy your night and see you back here for practice tomorrow. Hands in. Mercedes."

"LIONS ON 3. 1, 2, 3. LIONS".

Even some people from the crowd joined in on that one.


The fans started to pour out of the gym, some people coming over to congratulate the team, Sugar and Santana. She shook more hands than she could keep track of.

Sue made sure to make her way over. "I'm proud of you, Lopez." She smiled at her. Suddenly Santana was lifted from behind as someone yelled, "But I'm more proud of you."

Santana was placed back on the ground and spun around. "Coach Beiste, you were here?!" Santana hugged her dear friend and previous coach. "Why didn't you come over and sit on the bench?"

"I didn't want you to see me until after the game. You didn't need any added pressure." She smiled at Santana. "The team looks awesome. I know you'll do it this year." She tapped Santana's chin affectionately and turned to the team, hugging the ones she knew from last year and being introduced to the new ones.

Quinn made her way over and slapped Santana on the arm. "You probably made each one of those Crusader girls cry tonight, Snix, I hope you're happy." She hugged her "Congrats!" and did the same to Sugar.

Rachel was next in line to talk to Santana. "I understand very little about the game of volleyball, but having Quinn here to explain some things to me was helpful. Being that I've been asked to sing the national anthem at all your home games, I'll be seeing you around at a few more matches. Good job." She awkwardly patted Santana's shoulder and followed Quinn, who was talking with Sugar.

That left Brittany to come over to Santana. "Great game, coach." Brittany launched herself at Santana, hugging her tightly and laughing, almost knocking Santana off balance. Santana didn't know they were on a hugging level yet, but she was happy to know that they were.

"I don't know that much about volleyball, but I know more than Rachel and her constant yapping made me pay super close attention. I'll be a pro in no time." She winked at Santana, who blushed, but tried to hide it behind her hand.

"And what do you think about our shirts?" The front said 'Pride Rocks' with a lion holding a volleyball and wearing sneakers. She turned around dramatically so Santana could see the back of her shirt. It had a volleyball in the middle and a shoe with wings and the letters VB and XC on it. The shirts were black and the paint was the school colors of red, white and some gray.

Santana was actually impressed. "Wow, cross country can actually do arts and crafts."

"Don't mock my team. I enjoy being artsy. If you want, we can get some shirts made for your girls too." Brittany motioned her head forward and Santana turned around. It looked like Unique was introducing herself and the cross country team to Mercedes and the volleyball team.

"Oh and thanks for sending some girls my way." Brittany brought Santana's attention back to her. "Of the five you cut, three of them came to me and joined the team. That gives me six girls! And I was able to cut Unique. She agreed to help me time the girls and keep track of things as a student worker, but I told her she won't be running ever again. We're both happier with this arrangement."

"That's great. I'm happy it worked out for you."

Kurt came down from the stands and over to Santana and Brittany. "It's nice to see you two have met." He made a hand motion between Brittany and Santana. Santana shook her head at him, confused. She went to college with Kurt; as funny as it was, he had always been involved with the athletic department. Kurt had been announcing at volleyball matches and field hockey games for as long as she could remember. But Santana was confused as to how Kurt and Brittany knew each other.

Santana turned the comment back at him. "So how do you two know each other?" Santana laughed and motioned to them.

Brittany laughed and grabbed Kurt's arm. Kurt looked serious. "Well, Santana, Brittany and I go to the same yoga studio. And we usually go for coffee and grocery shop together…"

"Stop teasing her, Kurt." Brittany cut him off and looked back to Santana, "We're roommates! And when Kurt told me Sue was going to cut the cross country team, I wanted to help. I have him to thank for getting me this job." She smiled at Kurt. Rachel was finally done talking to Sugar, so Brittany hopped over to congratulate her.

Santana was thinking to herself how she had to give Kurt the biggest 'thank you' one day for getting Brittany this coaching job here. She was slightly daydreaming and didn't even notice Kurt moving closer to her.

He made sure Britt wasn't paying attention before whispering to Santana, "She seems to have taken quite a liking to you, San." Kurt rolled his eyes, mocking Santana's stunned look. "Don't screw it up." Kurt left Santana's side, grabbed Brittany's arm and led her toward the door. Britt turned around and waved 'bye' to Santana before leaving the gym.

Santana never imagined she'd be envious of Kurt, but in that moment she couldn't help but think that he had to be the luckiest gay man alive.