Not sure if I like this chapter all that much - except for maybe half way through. I'm much more excited about chapter 10, which will be posted in a few days! I'm almost done writing it.

Everyone enjoy this one!

GLEE

School began again, which suited Kurt just fine. That meant hey wasn't grounded anymore, and could spend time with Blaine again.

Finn was excited about some sort of champion game for football. Ever since Coach Beiste took over the football team at the beginning of the year, they had been doing very well. Well, at least the Cheerios did a lot more celebratory cheers at the games. Kurt didn't know the first thing about football (even after growing up with his father), but since he was on the Cheerios, attended all the games.

The only down side with returning to school was having to deal with the football jocks. All the football players that weren't in Glee club were feeling much too cocky, at least in Kurt's eyes. They walked around the school like they owned it, throwing more slushies than ever before. They had almost cooled down on the bullying every since Karofsky left, but that seemed long forgotten now.

Artie himself rolled into Glee club, drenched in cheery slushie. It looked like they had dumped a bucket on his head and Kurt flinched at the sight. Slushies hurt. They were cold and froze your face.

Before the boys of Glee could do anything, the entire football teamed appeared in the choir room, followed closely by Mr. Shuester and Coach Beiste. They dropped the bomb that the football team would be apart of Glee club for the next week.

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Rachel, glaring over at jocks.

"They make our lives hell - all the time!" said Finn, equally angry.

"I am not joining homo explosion!" fired back Azimio, who used to be Karofsky's best friend.

"Good, we don't want you here," snapped Kurt, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Watch it, Princess Gay!"

"Step off, Azimio!" said Finn with a scowl.

Coach broke up the bickering, momentarily. She said that if the football players didn't stay in Glee, they wouldn't get to play in the championship game on Friday.

To make matters worse, Kurt caught wind that Coach Sylvester was thinking about getting their Regionals performance moved up to Friday so Coach Beiste wouldn't have a half time show. They were, for some reason, in a dispute over something. Kurt really didn't care, honestly, but that would mean missing the football game. He didn't really care, but he knew that living with Finn would be unbearable if he and Quinn didn't support him. Plus, he had stood up to Azimio earlier…

Kurt told Quinn that he heard her on the phone with the National Cheerleading Association and trying to arrange this. Together, they walked into her office and confronted her.

"Coach, we would like to know that if you move our Regionals performance to Friday, at the same time as the football, we will formally be quitting the Cheerios," said Kurt without a preamble.

"How did you know about that, Porcelain?" snapped Coach Sylvester.

"I have my ways," said Kurt.

Coach Sylvester glared at them over the top of the desk. Kurt knew that she wouldn't move the date if he and Quinn quit. She might not like Quinn, at all, really, but Quinn was the best girl on the team. And she loved Kurt, for some reason, and knew that they wouldn't win if they weren't on the team together.

"I admire your underhandedness," she said finally. "I won't change it, but I'm still not letting the Cheerios perform at the game. I don't like the way Beiste treats me." Coach Sylvester leaned back in her chair, staring at them for a long moment. "Be gone."

Kurt and Quinn quickly stood and hurried out of the room. They won this round - sort of. At least they could still go to the game and stand in the bleachers with Burt and Carole.

The next few days they had to deal with the football players in Glee, and also create their own halftime show, since the Cheerios weren't allowed to participate (the ones in Glee were allowed, however).

They would be doing a mash-up of Thriller and Heads Will Roll. When Kurt was on the phone that night with Blaine, telling him about it, he was doubtful.

"How could anyone mash up Thriller with anything?" he asked.

"I admit, I wasn't big on it at first, but it's good," said Kurt. "We should really good - and Artie was like, born to sing Michael Jackson."

"Well, I'll be the judge of that," said Blaine with a laugh. "I am invited, right?"

"Of course," said Kurt. "But you'll have to sit with Burt and Carole when I perform. Probably most of the first half or quarter or whatever you all it."

"Burt? He scares me," said Blaine, in such a small tone that Kurt laughed. "He totally hates me! I know it!"

"It might have something to do with the fact that you kissed his daughter at a party when you were drunk," said Kurt, still laughing.

"But I'm gay! He knows he has nothing to worry about," said Blaine.

"Well you thought you were gay once before," said Kurt with an eye roll and light tone. "And don't take it too personally. I think he's just very protective of Quinn now, what with everything last year. He doesn't want her hurt again."

Kurt had told Blaine how besides all the stuff with his family last year, Quinn had been pregnant and given up the child. It really stressed the family out.

"I can understand that," he sighed.

"Good. Which means you'll have no problems sitting with Burt," said Kurt brightly.

"You're lucky I'm such a good friend," muttered Blaine.

Of course, the drama of the week didn't stop there. Of course not. Nothing was ever simple in Glee club.

The football players quit after a harsh slushie attack from the hockey players of all people. They didn't even care that they couldn't play in the game. They just quit.

Which meant that they game was in danger of not happening at all. They only had six guys, and Artie was in a wheelchair. Technically, they couldn't even play. Even if they could, it wasn't like they could win that way.

"It's a mess," sighed Kurt, sitting next to Blaine as he put the plate of biscotti between them.

"You can say that again," said Quinn with a tired sigh. She, Rachel and Mercedes sat across from him and Blaine. The three girls had invited themselves on his and Blaine's usual coffee visit to the Lima Bean. Kurt tried not to be annoyed.

"What happened exactly?" asked Blaine, dipping his biscotti into his coffee and taking a bite. He seemed really interested in all the drama that went on in Glee club. When Kurt asked, Blaine said that the most drama that went on in the Warblers was if they should wear red or blue piping on their jackets. This was actually interesting.

"They all quit, which means they can't play in the game and now the football team doesn't have enough players to even play in the game," sighed Rachel. "Coach Beiste is trying to host try outs for new players, but it's not working. I think they would take anyone at this point." She took a sip of her chai tea.

"So you only have, what, 6 guys?" asked Blaine. "All the ones in Glee, basically."

"Yes," sighed Quinn. "And they also have to perform during the half time show. They'll be so tired…"

"Well you know you only need like, 6 more guys," said Blaine. Everyone stared at him. "Well, high school regulations let you play short."

"Really?" asked Rachel brightly. She grinned and looked over at Quinn.

"What?" asked Quinn, raising an eyebrow. Then her eyes widened. "Rachel -"

"It would be enough people!" she said, almost bouncing. "If all the girls in Glee and Kurt joined -"

"What?" said Kurt, almost choking on his coffee. "You said what now?"

"We join. I mean, we don't have to play, really, just be numbers. We go out there and, I don't know, get out of the guys' way when they actually play!" explained Rachel brightly.

"Us? Play football?" asked Mercedes. "You've got to be kidding me, girl."

"We need to support our school!" said Rachel. "And think of how much everyone will look up to Glee club if we won. We'd be legends!"

They sat there in a thoughtful silence for a few minutes. Finally, Kurt sighed. "I really hate you right now."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you in a football uniform," said Blaine innocently, but his eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Shut up, Blaine."

It took some convincing, but the Glee girls plus Kurt were allowed to join the football team. Burt reluctantly signed the permission slips for both Quinn and Kurt and told them to please be careful.

Friday night, Kurt and the rest walked out on the field wearing the heavy football uniform. Kurt never, in a million years, thought he would be doing this. His dad had tried for years to get him on a sports team. In fact, he would be proud of him at this moment, though Kurt bitterly.

Kurt sighed and looked out at the bleachers full of people. He saw Blaine, standing awkwardly next to Carole and Burt. He waved up at him with a smile and Blaine waved back.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," said Kurt, looking out at the big football players lined up and laughing at their team. Laughing.

They were huge.

"Neither can I," said Quinn with a sigh. She slipped on the helmet. "Let's do it."

Kurt put on his own helmet as Rachel said to Puck with a gusto: "Let's kick some ass!"

Most of the game was absolutely horrible. Kurt and the girls usually fell to the ground when the ball came into play. They were getting killed, even Kurt knew that.

"Ok, we need someone to do a penalty kick," said Coach Beiste as the first half was about to end.

"Coach, you know none of us are kickers," said Sam, already looking defeated.

"I kick sideways," sighed Finn.

"I know," barked out the Coach. "But someone has to."

"Where would you have to kick?" asked Kurt, eyeing the field intently.

"Between those poles, at the end of the field," answered the Coach, pointing over. Kurt frowned and thought for a moment.

"I could do that," he said, pretty confident, but actually his stomach was flipping.

"Kurt, I don't know about this…" said Finn. "You've never, uh, played football before."

"Doesn't mean I can't kick," snapped Kurt. "I can do the highest kick on the Cheerios - that includes the girls. And it's not like you have a better option, so if I mess up, no harm done."

"Kid has a point," sighed Coach Beiste. "Fine, Fabray, you're up. Hudson, you hold the ball for him to kick. Puckerman - go to the locker room. You need to convince the other players to come back for the second half or we don't stand a chance."

Puck nodded and ran off the field and over to the locker rooms. Kurt and Finn ran onto the field. Kurt felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest. Even though he knew there wasn't much pressure to this - if he failed, oh well - he really didn't want to.

"You ok, dude?" asked Finn, who was leaning down with his finger on top of the football.

Kurt looked out to where Burt, Carole and Blaine were sitting. They were going wild that Kurt was on the field. Blaine was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"I'm ok. Let's get this over with."

Kurt closed his eyes and tried to calm down. He sang a song in his head - the first one that came to mind, which was unfortunately Single Ladies. He made sure the music just wrapped around him. He didn't get nervous when he sang or performed, so why should this be different.

Kurt opened his eyes and ran forward. He brought his foot back and kicked -

The ball sailed through the air in a great arc, closer and closer to the end of the field.

It went through the two large poles.

"Oh my god!" shouted Kurt. The crowd in the stands and his teammates on the sidelines went insane. "Was that good? That was good, right?"

"That was amazing!" exclaimed Finn, reaching out and hugging Kurt and hoisting him off his feet for a moment.

The half ended and they ran back to the Coach. Everyone congratulated Kurt. "Now that the first half is out of the way," said Mr. Shuester who was at Coach Beiste's side. "It's time to get ready for half time. Get changed and we'll see you out on the field in a few minutes."

Kurt ran into the girls' locker room with Quinn, mostly because it was much cleaner than the boys' and he still hated to be in that room after the whole thing with Karofsky. They all changed quickly into their zombie outfits and make up and rushed back on the field.

Only to find that the entire football team was there, in zombie make up.

"They decided to join up again!" said Finn with a laugh, running up to the girls. "And since they're singing with us, they get to play the second half! We might actually win!"

This prospect only made them more excited. Kurt grabbed Quinn's hand and dragged her on to the field and got into position. A fog machine had been positioned so it leaked creepy fog onto the field. The crowd in the bleachers watched with interest as they got ready, mostly silent.

Kurt twisted his body in the "zombie pose" he and Quinn had perfected for hours in her room the night before and waited for Santana to begin the song. The band fired up and the thrill of the performance - something football could never bring to him - multiplied.

He didn't have a solo in this song, of course. It was mainly Santana and Artie, but they sounded fantastic. He and the rest danced around, pretending to be zombies. It was actually really fun. He and Quinn did cartwheels across the field, while Mike and Brittany did much more impressive flips.

The performance went off without a hitch. It was perfect and the crowd loved it. They ran off, planning on changing, but Coach Beiste said to stay in zombie make up. "We need all the help we can get."

Since the actual team was back, he and the girls went to the sidelines to cheer them on. "Only if we need another kick, I'm calling you up, Fabray!" she said, pounding him on the back in which he was sure was an endearing way, but was actually quite painful.

They came back from behind, scoring point after point. It was really amazing how they did. But, the were still behind and there didn't seem much time…

Kurt had to admire the theatricality of it all. Chanting "brains" at a high school football team and winning because of it?

The crowd poured out on to the field to celebrate with the McKinley Titans. Many of the players were hoisted into the air on shoulders. In all the chaos, Blaine actually found Kurt and tackled him in a hug.

"Blaine! Don't! I'm all sweaty!" complained Kurt. He was glad the zombie make up was on, or else Blaine probably would have seen his blush.

"That was fantastic, Kurt! You could be an amazing kicker!" bubbled Blaine.

"Kid's right," said Burt, coming up behind him, his arm over Quinn's shoulders. Carole must have been off finding Finn. "Well played game, Kurt." Burt held out his hand and Kurt shook it, smiling up at Burt. It felt really nice to know that Burt was proud of him, for something like this. It wasn't just because it was sports, either, which is how his own dad would have been, but because Kurt did a good job. Simple as that.

"As soon as Carole finds Finn, we're going out for pizza," said Burt with a wide smile. "Although, I bet the team is celebrating in some way, too…"

"They probably are," said Kurt with a shrug. "But they'll probably end up going for pizza, too."

In the end, they squeezed the entire football team and glee club into the local pizza place. It was loud and much too stuffy, but a fun time of celebrating the win.

Of course, come Monday, the football players weren't as friendly with the Glee members. It wasn't like Kurt expected anything to change. Well, things changed a bit. There weren't slushies, at least to the Glee members. Kurt figured that for a little while, there would be a truce. He just wished that at least one or two of the football players would have joined glee permanently. They seemed to enjoy the dancing around and performing, even though they thought they wouldn't.

But public opinion was everything in high school, and Glee club was still a club for losers.

The Cheerio's Regionals competition was the next weekend. Burt and Carole weren't able to make it, since it was over 4 hours away. Because of this, it was just Quinn and him.

Kurt nervously stretched back stage with Quinn before they were due to go on. He didn't know why he was so nervous - he did this last year. Really, it wasn't difficult. He was taking a sip of his water bottle, by his bag, when his phone rang.

Kurt sent a hesitant glance toward the rest of the girls. Their coach was already in the audience, so she wouldn't see him taking the call…

"Hello?" he said.

"Hi, Kurt," said Blaine warmly.

"Blaine," said Kurt, instantly getting less nervous. "Why are you calling? I'm at Regionals."

"I know," said Blaine, in almost a teasing tone. "I just wanted to wish you luck. Break a leg doesn't seem appropriate for a cheer competition. I'm sure you're going to own that stage."

Kurt grinned into his phone, his stomach bubbling with excitement and butterflies for Blaine, instead of nerves for the competition. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "It means a lot."

"You're welcome. No get out there and win, Mr. Fabray."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Anderson," said Kurt in a light tone before hanging up.

Kurt and Quinn sang as the other Cheerios, and them, for that matter, did their complicated routine.

They won. Which meant Sue was happy, if much too full of herself (but that wasn't exactly new), which mean Kurt and the other Cheerios were happy.

TBC

There we are. I would have put Valentine's day in this chapter, but it was going to be way too long! So this one is a bit short. The next chapter will make up for it! J

Feedback is welcome!