Still not mine, alas.

He sighs as he walks up the steps to the Berrys' front door, wishing he could have stayed home to catch the end of the Buckeyes game instead of coming here to work on an assignment for glee. But here he is, because despite how much he loves Ohio State football, he doesn't want to risk having the Wrath of Berry directed at him because he was late for their meeting.

One of Rachel's fathers opens the door shortly after he rings the doorbell. "Oh, you must be Michael," he says, waving him through the door. "Please, come in. Rachel is in the living room. You're here for glee?"

Mike nods. "We have an assignment for next week that we're working on, and Rachel said she had some ideas she wanted to discuss."

"Ah," the tall, lean man says dryly. "Well, you may have to wait a while."

The lanky Asian stares at him in puzzlement as he finishes taking off his shoes. "Isn't she home?"

"No, she's definitely home," he laughs. "But—"

"Oh, come on!" Mike's eyes widen at the feminine shriek coming from the living room. "Pass interference!"

He blinks. Is that Berry? Yelling about pass interference? Wordlessly, he follows Rachel's father into the living room, where he is greeted with a sight that makes him wonder if he is having some sort of strange dream.

Rachel is sitting cross-legged on the couch, a bowl of tortilla chips in her lap and a smaller bowl of salsa resting on the coffee table in front of her. More than that, she is wearing a hooded OSU sweatshirt, the sleeves pushed up to her elbows, and jeans. As if that weren't enough reason to make him question his own sanity, she is leaning forward, eyes glued to the huge plasma screen TV mounted on the wall, which clearly depicts the OSU game that had just gone into overtime when he left home.

What. The. Fuck.

He turns to look at her father in bewilderment, but the older man just chuckles at his expression. "You might as well have a seat and watch the game, son," he says kindly. "You can't pry her away from an OSU game with a crowbar."

Dazed, Mike walks over to take a seat next to Rachel on the couch. She smiles at him as she registers his presence, but quickly returns her attention to the screen when she hears the ref's voice. "YES!" she cheers as the ref does indeed call pass interference on the defense, giving the Buckeyes an automatic first down.

"Um," he says dumbly. "Hi Rachel."

"Hello Michael!" she says, still intent on the game. "Oh, what was that?" she groans as the quarterback gets sacked.

Mike finally gets over his shock and grins, shaking his head at this unlikely turn of events. Might as well enjoy the game, right?

He is surprised at how much he likes this relaxed version of Rachel. She cheers just as loud as he does when OSU makes forward progress, glares daggers at the TV when one of the commentators says he thinks Michigan has been the better team this game, and more often than not she calls the penalty before he even sees the flag.

She squeals when the Buckeyes win, and suddenly he finds himself with a lap full of Rachel Berry. Her arms are around his neck, and he laughs as he pulls her closer in a celebratory hug. She's so happy she's practically glowing, and honestly he doesn't exactly hate the feeling of having her in his arms. He knows he's in trouble when she flashes him a wide, bright smile as she pulls back off his lap, and his stomach does that weird flip-flop thing.

"So," he starts, playfully. "Never would have pegged you for a football fan, Rachel."

She makes a face at him, crinkling her nose. "It is just such an intricate game, I was entranced the first time I saw it on TV. And I adore the Buckeyes!"

"Glad to hear you're not a fan of a team from some ritzy New York school," he teases.

Her jaw drops. "Michael Chang!" she huffs indignantly. "I'll have you know my entire family, on both sides, are OSU fans! My very first article of clothing was an OSU onesie! My insistence that we needed a better screen for watching Buckeyes games is the only reason we have this ridiculously large television!"

He laughs, slinging an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close again. "I was just kidding, Rach. Calm down."

"Oh," she deflates, relaxing into him. She brightens after just a few moments, looking over at him. "Are you a big OSU fan too? And wasn't that a fantastic game?"

"Yeah, on both counts" he agrees with a smile. "Although I have to say, it looked much better on your TV than mine."

"As I just mentioned, we procured it so that I could watch OSU in high-def. It's nice for other reasons, too, though. You should see how Modern Warfare 2 looks on it!" she beams, and his eyes go wide as saucers at the last piece of information she casually dropped.

And that, right there? Is when he decides that Rachel Berry was going to be his.