A/N: Everything I know about football, I learned from Wikipedia, so forgive me if I butcher it!
I do not own Glee.
Finn tightened his shoelaces and looked around the mostly empty locker room. He didn't know why they were wasting every one's time like this. Coach Beiste told them she had a secret plan, but he didn't know how they were going to use it, they would be disqualified as soon as the other team realized they only had seven players. Everyone else was already at the door waiting for him, waiting for him to be their leader, to rev them up, to tell them it was going to work out. But he didn't know anymore than they did. All he knew was he had to lead practice the last three days because Coach was working on her secret weapon.
"Well, let's go." he mumbled and waved, half hearted, towards the field. Sam glared at him, but he just wanted to get this over with. They marched outside. It was freezing. The crowd was huge. Either they hadn't gotten the message that there was no team, or they were all out there to laugh them off the field. Things were going to end badly. They were huddled by the benches, when Beiste came out with four people in football gear trailing her. For a minute, he was hopeful, maybe she'd let some of the other guys play, but no. Oh no, no, no. This was not happening.
"What the hell, Coach..." Puck blurted out. "They can't..."
"What're you trying to say, Puckerman, girls can't play?" Beiste growled at him. No one else said anything. Beiste practically had smoke coming out of her ears. "I said people can only play this game if they went to Glee practice. And they went to Glee practice." She smiled a little and dared them to argue.
Finn looked at the new players and closed his eyes. Lauren, Mercedes, Tina, and Rachel were all still standing there when he reopened them. This was just not going to work. Rachel was going to get killed. He tossed the football to Sam, if Sam was quarterback, Finn could just focus on keeping Rachel from getting crushed.
"No way, man. I'm not taking responsibility for this disaster!" Sam threw the ball back at him, hard.
"Come on, guys!" Lauren said. "We've been practicing all week. We can do this!" Finn wished he shared her optimism.
"Fine." He couldn't even believe he was going to do this. "Get out on the field." He grabbed Puck by his face mask. "Do not let Rachel get hit." He snarled. Puck nodded and they headed out to the field. It was going to be a bloodbath. The other team somehow managed to beat every team they came across, and they didn't even have a real field to practice on. He looked at Mercedes and Tina. "Are you sure you guys have this?" They both nodded. He didn't even want to acknowledge Rachel right now. She'd spent the last three days texting him about Spanish homework, but she'd neglected to mention this?
He could hear the laughter of the other team before they even made it into formation.
"Are you serious? Four girls and a cripple?" The whole team snickered. "I could win this game with one hand tied behind my back!" Puck opened his mouth to respond, but Finn shook his head. "Let's just get this over with." He wished Beiste had at least let them have one practice together. He didn't know if he could throw the ball to Tina or if Lauren knew she was supposed to block him. Sam snapped him the ball and he braced himself to get hit. He tossed the ball to Mike, but Mike fumbled. He was too busy, watching to see if Tina was getting tackled.
It didn't get any better by half time. The other team was up by 14 points. The only good part of it all was that they were afraid to hit girls, so they weren't playing very aggressively. They walked off the field to get ready for the halftime show. Luckily, Mr. Schue was having them all perform in uniform. Finn grabbed Rachel's arm as they were waiting for the Cheerios to finish their insane performance of California Girls. Were they really shooting Becky out of a canon? He shook his head, he needed to think fast.
"Listen, you should have told me about this!" He whispered fiercely. "You don't belong out there! What if you get hurt?" Rachel glared at him.
"You're not in charge of me, Finn. I needed to do this. Think of how much people will appreciate us, if we save the game. Maybe I can be respected for myself. Maybe it'd be nice to for people to respect me for being something other than Finn Hudson's girl friend or ex girlfriend or whatever it is that we're playing at being right now." Mr. Schue whistled at them. "We can't do this right now, we have to go on." Her eyes were gleaming, her chest was heaving, he was really having trouble not just grabbing her and kissing her and showing her exactly what he wanted them to be, but she was storming out to the field before he could even finish his thoughts.
Mr. Schue had decided to mash up Thriller and Heads Will Roll for the half time show. It would have looked a lot cooler with the whole football team, but they did a good job. There was certainly enough anger and passion beneath the surface. They were back in the game too quickly though. Beiste had yelled at them pretty hard before they got back on the field and Puck was able to make a touchdown with Mercedes' help. That was the signal for the other team to start playing for real though, and they all got pounded after that. They lost the game 28 to 7. The locker room was a quiet place, except for the banging of the lockers and helmets and pads hitting the floor. Finn knew that after today, no one would remember that they were almost State Champions, well, no one would remember anything but the almost part. He dreaded school on Monday. He took his time putting his gear up. He didn't want to run into anyone on the way to his truck. Especially Rachel.
He didn't have any luck though, he walked out to the hall in the middle of a screaming match. Coach Sylvester, Mr. Schue, Sam, and Quinn were all standing in the hall.
"You can not be serious, Quinn! I never pegged you for a loser. A quitter!" Coach Sylvester spat at Quinn. Quinn just looked at her. She looked so sad, Finn was really familiar with this look and he hated it, even when he hated her. His feet moved toward her all on their own.
"I saw what those girls did today, Coach. They went all out and they did what they had too. And you sabotaged them at every turn!" Quinn looked at Mr. Schue. "Did you know that she paid the footballers not to go to Glee practice? She promised them she'd get Beiste fired and they'd still be able to play the game."
"What?" Mr. Schue shouted at Sue. Sue just shrugged. "Eh, sometimes my plans backfire."
"I'm done. I don't want to be involved with you anymore. I'm quitting the Cheerios for good." Quinn said firmly.
"What are you talking about, Quinn!" Sam yelled. "What about all our plans, what about Prom king and queen? Doesn't this mean anything to you?" He grabbed Quinn's hand roughly, to show her the ring. Finn had seen enough.
"Back off her, man. She's had a bad enough time this year, without any help from you. I know her better than you, she wouldn't quit anything without really good reasons." Sam dropped Quinn's arm and got right up in Finn's face.
"Really, you think you know her better than me? She cheated on you, you cheated on her...sounds like a match made in heaven. You want her back, she's all yours." Sam slammed his hand into the lockers and stormed down the hall. Coach Sylvester just rolled her eyes and followed him.
"Are you ok?" he asked Quinn. She hugged herself tightly and looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Yeah, I've needed to do that for a long time. I should never have gone back. I've changed too much to be happy there." She smiled at him and moved closer. "Thanks for standing up for me. Sometimes, I think no one really sees me anymore." She kissed him on the lips. Then pulled back and smiled sadly. "I've lost so much. I wish I'd learned what I really wanted before I lost you. Just another thing I can never get back. Good night, Finn."
*Glee*
Will Schuester walked into Glee Club on Monday with a pounding headache. It didn't get any better when he realized the room was completely silent and no one was sitting by anyone else.
"Did I forget and assign you guys a test or something? What's the deal." The room descended into chaos with everyone pointing at everyone else. Seems like they had all taken sides over the football game and the following drama and in the process had managed to make everyone mad at everyone.
"ENOUGH!" He shouted. God, what had ever made him think he wanted to work with hormonal teenagers. He wondered if that accountant job was still available, before shaking his head. "I don't get it you guys. The other day, when Finn was defending Rachel, he said you were all a team, a family. What's happened to that?"
Rachel stared at Finn in surprise, she didn't know he'd stood up for her to the whole club.
"You guys have got to find a middle ground. You have to become a team again. Otherwise the only thing we're going to be doing at Regionals is congratulating Kurt on his win. Let's go to the auditorium. I have something for you to sing."
*Glee*
Rachel stood at the far side of the stage.
I can't go any further then this
I want you so badly, it's my biggest wish
The spotlight picks up Finn on the opposite side, he walks toward her as he sings.
I spent my time just thinkin thinkin thinkin bout you
Every single day yes, I'm really missin' missin' you
And all those things we use to use to use to do
Hey girl, wuz up, it use to be just me and you
I spent my time just thinkin thinkin thinkin bout you
All the guys join in from the back of the stage.
Every single day, yes I'm really missin missin you
And all those things we use to use to use to do
Hey girl wuz up, wuz up, wuz up, wuz up
And then everyone is singing.
Meet me halfway, right at the borderline
That's where I'm gonna wait, for you
I'll be lookin out, night n'day
Took my heart to the limit, and this is where I'll stay
I can't go any further then this
I want you so bad it's my only wish
Finn knows he has to make things right with Rachel. He steps closer to her and looks right in her eyes, hoping she knows he means every word. He has to step up and help the club become a team again. He smiles at Quinn, who's standing beside Puck. They all miss the way they used to be. And they want to get it back. At the end of the song, they are standing in one group at the middle of the stage, and they are all cheering and clapping, even Sam. Because somehow, everything is going to be ok.