So first off, I wanted to respond to poolbeertattoos about their question if this story will continue as AU after the events of the show start. At this point, I'm thinking I will only end up writing about what happened before the show and end it during one of the scenes from the pilot, but who knows, maybe I'll get into it so much that I might make an AU version of the show. Anyway, thanks for everyone's reviews and story alerts so far. I look forward to reading more reviews in the future!

About half of the football season had gone by without Finn getting any real playing time. He occasionally got to go in when they were winning by more than twenty points, but that was rare. The games were always very close right to the end with Jack pulling out the game winning pass last second and securing their win. In short, he was really good, no; he was amazing actually, so there was no wonder why Finn never went in since they already had their star quarterback.

The only other playing time he got was during practices. Sure, he was second string and didn't really sub in for a game but he still needed to know the plays and be ready for when the day comes that something bad enough happens to Jack where he would take his place, but he always figured that day would never come. Jack was built, like really built, as in, 'I could defy the humanly impossible and get slammed into by a Mac truck and be standing seconds later' kind of built.

There was one time Finn actually thought he would be put in when Jack got sacked, and by sacked he meant pummeled, by three linebackers that looked like they were each three hundred pounds. He was pumped to get time in the game and was grabbing his helmet when super-human Jack pushed one of the guys off of him, dusted himself off, and shouted the infamous, 'I'm okay!' to the sidelines as the crowd cheered. Pfft. Whatever.

Since he guessed that any time in the game for him would come few and far between, he spent most of his practices watching Quinn at her Cheerio's practice which was, thankfully for Finn, held at the same time as the football practices.

Being on the Cheerios looked like it was tough. He couldn't imagine having to take orders from Coach Sylvester. Whenever he was in ear shot of their practice, he could hear her screaming insults at the girls like they were disappointments and ordering them to do things like get her water because she was parched from yelling at them, tell some of them they were too fat and had to move to the bottom of the pyramid, and he even once had heard her ordering them to smell their armpits. For what reason, who knows? Overall, he'd rather deal with Coach Tanaka any day.

Like every other one, Finn had been warming the benches for tonight's game. He finished watching the last play that Jack had run and decided to end the game watching the Cheerio's cheer on the team. He didn't think it would help them that much though. There were only ten seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter and McKinley had just gotten the ball on their own five. He had pretty much lost all hope at this point.

As he stared down Quinn in the Cheerio's formation, he heard the crowd burst into cheers, hoots, and hollers. He quickly shifted his view back to the field and noticed Mike Chang had caught the Hail Mary that Jack had thrown and was celebrating with the others for the catch that brought them to the opposite twenty yard line and into the red zone. Finn immediately jumped up off the bench and started cheering from the side line. It was then when he heard the crowd go from screaming and cheering to letting out gasps and shocked tones. He scanned the field for what they could have been looking at until his eyes found what he was searching for.

The impossible had happened. Jack Clintson was spread on the turf and unlike normal, he wasn't getting up. He just laid there while players from the opposing team; who Finn assumed hit him hard, even harder than a Mac truck, stood up. All of the players took a knee and just stared. The game clock stopped and the medical team rushed up to him and stayed circled around his motionless body for at least ten minutes. Every person in the stadium waited in anticipation for any type of news on the current situation. Another five minutes later, Jack was propped up on a football body stretcher and put on the back of a cart that drove him off the field. Finn just stared down the cart that was bringing Jack's injured body back to the locker rooms to be examined further.

The gravity of the situation hadn't hit him yet. All of his senses were fading back in when he heard Coach Tanaka shout, "Hudson! What are you doing still standing here? Get in there!" He looked at Coach Tanaka and nervously nodded as he threw on his helmet while he ran to the huddle at the twenty.

As soon as he arrived in the circle of players, he could tell they were all a little shaken up from what had just happened. "Come on guys, we got this!" Finn said trying to motivate his team. He watched all of the guys nod their heads up and down and he continued calling the play. "Okay, we're gonna pull a trick play here. Let's run a flea flicker," he said looking around the huddle. "Yeah, flea flicker 20 on three." he finished motioning to number twenty, Puck, letting him know the ball would be coming his way.

"Break!" they yelled while clapping their hands in unison.

They lined up in an I formation with a half back and full back at his sides and got set. Finn looked up at the game clock. They only had four seconds left telling them this would be their last play. They were only down by a field goal so if they could get a touchdown, they would pull off a victory. It was all up to him now.

With the game clock stopped at four, he only had to watch the play clock as it ticked down. He could feel his heart pounding and it felt like it would come out of his chest. He hadn't played a down yet but his forehead was already covered in beads of sweat. He watched as all of the defensemen magnified their stares at him, already plotting on how to 'taste his sweet virgin blood' which was a saying Coach Tanaka like to use a lot.

The play clocked ticked further and further down. 12..11..10.. Finn took one last look around and let his gaze fall upon the sidelines briefly, watching Coach Tanaka bite his finger nails in nervousness, at the shouting crowd, then at Quinn Fabray while she returned his gaze and smiled getting ready to see the final play. With one final look, he turned his attention back to the game.

"Hut one!"

9..8..

"Hut two!"

7..6..

"Hut three!"

5..4..

"Hike!" The final word left his mouth with such force his voice almost cracked. In a split second, the center had snapped the ball to him and he set the play in motion, first handing off the ball to the half back as he continued to drop back. He watched as his teammate ran with the ball then lateraled it back to him. As quickly as he got rid of the ball the first time, it was back in his hands. He searched the field for Puck who was being covered extremely well then scanned for any one else. His worst nightmare had come true when he found no one open. Their trick hadn't worked leaving only one thing left to do.

He ran for the touchdown instead. He diligently watched for any of the defense as he sprinted the twenty yards. His breathing became labored and his heart was pounding so fast he thought there was a good chance it might explode. He continued to the end zone with some help getting blocks from the only two freshman line men, Dave Karofsky and Azimio Adams, he made a few leaps over downed players and kept running. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for Finn. That twenty yard full out sprint seemed to be the longest in his life. Along with the slow motion sensation, the stadium was unusually quite to him, even though people must have been screaming but he had zoned it all out. All that mattered was reaching the end of the field.

He began to grin through his mouth guard as he came up on the last five yards of the field. He only needed to take a few more steps before he felt big hands grip around his ankles. He was quickly tripped up as he made the last effort to reach for the end zone.

He felt his whole body hit the ground with his arms still extended. He didn't even get to look up before he heard the deafening whistle blow from the referee which was immediately followed by cheers. He looked up from the turf to see that he had gotten the football over the line and into the end zone. He let out a relieved breathe and let the biggest smile possible onto his face while he was hoisted up above his teammates. He heard the final score announced with the Titans taking the victory with a score of 20 to 17 following the loud cheers of his team.

After fifteen minutes of celebrating, the team started jogging into the locker room. As he jogged there with the rest of the team, he felt someone grab onto his arm and pull him out of the crowd of players. He looked over to find Santana Lopez holding onto his forearm and drag him over to the sidelines where the other Cheerios had been celebrating the win.

"Wow Finn, that was amazing!" she congratulated him with a big smile while now softly gripping onto his hand.

"Uh…yeah, uh, thanks Santana." He replied without looking at her. Instead he had been looking at Quinn who was hugging other Cheerios behind Santana. His attention was averted back onto Santana once she started to talk.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me to celebrate. It's not everyday that a freshman leads the football team to a last second victory. Maybe to Breadstix? You must be starving." she said finishing her words with a seductive tone.

It wasn't that he was ignoring Santana but he once again found his attention back on the blonde standing behind her. Quinn was now looking and smiling at him. All he could bring himself to say to Santana was, "Um, I'm sorry Santana but... excuse me." as he shifted passed her not noticing her shocked and angry face, and made his way to Quinn.

He walked up grinning with the biggest dimples on his face which only showed when he was smiling a true smile.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey." he responded back.

"Congrats on the win. You were really great out there."

He felt the butterflies in his stomach flutter a little, oh who was he kidding, they were fluttering a hell of a lot. He had been so nervous to talk to her. "Uh, thanks, you too- Wait, I mean, you were great too, I- I uh, I- I liked the cheer. You guys do good cheering and... stuff." Great, not only was he stuttering from his nervousness but he was rambling too. His face turned a few shades of pink in embarassment. 'Ugh, she probably thinks you're such a moronic idiot!' he thought to himself after realizing what had just come out of his mouth.

She just laughed sweetly and remained smiling after his comment. "Well thanks Finn." she said still giggling.

"Yeah, you're welcome." he said with a laughing smile as well trying to laugh off his embarassment. He looked over his shoulder to see that all of the rest of the team had already returned to the locker room and he knew he had to get going. "Listen, I need to go and shower and change and stuff, so hopefully, I'll talk to you later?" he asked.

"Yeah, definitely." she agreed as she started to walk backwards back towards the Cheerios and waved. He lifted a hand back signifying a wave, turned around and finished his jog back to the locker room.

He had just gotten out of the shower and was getting ready to get dressed when he realized something. 'Oh man, I totally forgot to ask when and where I'd be able to see her again." He thought wanting to kick himself for forgetting something so obvious. Oh well, he figured he'd see her in school on Monday.

He was just about ready to leave the locker room and head home with his bag slung over his shoulder when he remembered he had left his water bottle out on the field on the benches, so he turned around and walked back out to the field.

Sure enough, there was his water bottle right where he left it, sitting on the bench where he had been for the majority of the game. As he picked it up and stuck it in one of the pockets of his duffle bag, he noticed a small piece of folded paper resting on the bench where his water bottle was. He grabbed it, unfolded it, and read the words written on the inside.

Hey Finn,

We said we would talk again, and then I realized we never made plans. Give me a call sometime so we can hang out. My number is 522-4801. Congratulations again on the win. You deserve it.

Quinn

p.s. I thought your stuttering was cute. You're still the same Finn Hudson from seventh grade.

A huge smile spread across his face like wildfire as he finished the note. She gave him her number, wanted to hang out, and told him one of his biggest flaws was cute. Oh yeah, this Friday night had been one of the best of his young life.

Sorry it took just a little longer than normal for this update. I've had a lot of stuff going on in the last couple days, so I've been writing in increments, plus, even after one chapter, I had a minor case of writers block. Anyway, it's posted now so that's all that matters. How was it? Please, please, please let me know. I really want a bunch of reviews, good or bad. I love getting positive reviews but I also love constructive criticism. The people that put this story on story alert must like it for a reason so tell me please! Leave it in the reviews :)