Fic: Careers Week (Part 2)
Part 2
Mr Schuester is thumbing through sheet music, making notes in the margins when he feels a presence next to him. Putting down his half-drunk coffee, he looks up to find Emma standing over him.
" Hi," he greets, smiling.
" Hi," she replies, half-smiling back and fiddling with the beads at her neck. " Can we talk, for a minute?"
He can tell she's got something serious on her mind because when he waves her into the opposite seat she doesn't even wipe off the chair before she sits down. Instead, she just clasps her hands together. " So, you know I've been having meetings with the Senior kids this week?"
Picking up his coffee, he takes a sip, wincing slightly at the bitter taste. " Look, if this is about Rachel's impromptu Streisand medley - " he starts with a laugh, but the mirth drops off when he catches the look on her face.
" I met with Tina Cohen-Chang and Mike Chang yesterday."
His feels his stomach drop. " Tell me she isn't pregnant."
She shakes her head, vehemently, and only then does his heart stagger back to the beat. He's not sure he could go through another babygate. Rubbing his forehead with his hand, relieved, he watches as she licks her lips. " They're bright kids," she offers up, tentatively, and he can't help but smile.
" Two of the brightest," he agrees, picking up a cookie and taking a healthy bite.
She nods her head, ticking things off on her fingers as she mentions them. " They both have 4.0 GPAs, take a full class load including AP, they got great marks on their SATs and take part in a bunch of extra-curricular activities," she tells him.
Schue, knowing all this, simply nods his head. " They're good kids," he agrees.
" Tina's bright, articulate, talented. She'd be a great candidate for an Ivy League school."
" No argument there."
" And I'm *sure* there are courses out there for someone with Mike's talents."
" Absolutely."
There's a pause, and then Emma asks slowly, " Do you know their main criteria for college is one that they can both get into? That Tina isn't even looking at Harvard and Mike's not interested in Julliard? That the only colleges they're looking at are ones that will accept both of them?"
Schue chews his cookie, washing it down with a swallow of coffee. He raises an eyebrow. " So what? I'm sure there are lots of colleges that'll want to take them. Like you said, they're great students."
Emma nods her head, her earrings bobbing and sparkling in the mid-morning sun. " Yeah, I'm sure there are. All I'm saying is...eighteen is pretty young to hang all your dreams - and your future - on one other person."
" I don't really think - " he rejoins, surprised at her words, but she cuts him off, her voice firm but gentle.
" All I'm saying is I've seen this happen before. Bright kids with a lot of potential...it's easy to think you're in love when you're a teenager. But...they focus on the relationship at a time when they should be focusing on themselves, and five years down the line they're still stuck in this town, married with kids and wondering what happened to their dreams."
Mr Schue rubs his eyes, feeling exhaustion creep over him, settling in the tips of his fingers and the soles of his feet, leaving them heavy and cold. " I think Tina and Mike are smarter than that," he sighs, his voice quiet, but he can already feel the little seed of doubt niggling in his belly.
Across from him, Emma tucks her hands under her thighs and nods her head. " Well I think so too," she agrees, her voice steady as she pins him with a look, her eyes wide. " But it wouldn't hurt for you to sit them down and talk to them."
Raising his hands, he makes a t-shape, leaning back in his chair. " Hang on, isn't that *your* job?"
" Yes," she responds contritely. " But they're both very private kids and you're closer to them. Besides..." she trails off, breaking her eye contact and looking vaguely uncomfortable as she cocks her head to one side. " You...married your High School sweetheart."
He scoffs, almost without thought. " And look how that turned out."
" Exactly." Her words are pointed, and she once again raises her eyes to meet his. Her meaning hits home like a sledgehammer. " Please, just sit them down and talk to them. Make sure they know exactly how much they could be compromising."
Picking up his coffee cup, he looks back down at his sheet music, signalling an end to the conversation. " I'll try."
Nodding, she stands up from the chair, smoothing her skirt down with her hands. Her voice, when she speaks, is soft. " Thank you."
She walks out of the staffroom, and with a sigh, he watches her go.
XxX
The Jazz Band is already in position as everyone files in, Kurt and Rachel there ahead of the rest of the club. They're both dressed in black bottoms - Rachel's skirt typically short, her socks over the knee, and Kurt's jeans molded to his body - and Rachel's argyle sweater is complimented by Kurt's gray vest, buttoned over a white shirt. They stand, facing away from the risers, clearly all ready for their performance.
Santana slides into the seat at the back of the room, crossing her bare legs and eying the two performers at the front. As the other members of Glee club take their seats around her, chair legs scraping and scuffing against the floor, she cocks her head and stares hard at Kurt and Rachel's back. " If they sing a love song I'm calling bullshit."
Walking past her, Mercedes scoffs, " Oh please, talk about two dogs going after the same bone. I'm sitting at the back to avoid the bloodshed."
" Yeah, seriously," Puck agrees, taking the free seat next to Santana. " These two have some twisted 'separated at birth/freaky twin' thing. It's weird. Honestly, sometimes I think I've made out with Kurt."
Everyone is laughing into their hands as Sam enters the room. He walks past the two performers at the front and does a double take. Speaking in a low voice, he clenches both fists, bringing his knuckles together. " With our powers combined, we are - DIVATRON!"
He takes the seat next to Mercedes, who rolls her eyes but wears a wide, amused smile.
Brittany flips her ponytail over her shoulder. " My birth control is divatron."
Tina and Quinn giggle, and Mike shoots her a fond look, and Santana whispers in Brittany's ear, a finger teasing the edge of her red Cheerios skirt.
" Good afternoon everybody," Mr Schue greets with a large smile, as everyone settles in, Mike at the back next to Brittany and Santana, and Tina down the front by Puck and Quinn, their conversations trailing off as the pre-performance tension mounts. " So far this week we have had Finn and Puck rocking us old school and Miss Santana Lopez breaking out of the box for two fantastic performances," he reminds them, and everybody cheers and whoops, spirits high. Tina shoots a smile behind her to where Santana sits, her palms raised, basking in the glory. Mr Schue waves his hands to quiet them again. " Today," he begins, indicating the two people behind him, " I am turning things over to our very own Kurt Hummel and Rachel Berry!"
Rachel turns around, her skirt flaring out around her knees. " I know lots of us have been thinking about the future and it's kind of scary," she begins, licking her lips, her hands smoothing down her sweater absentmindedly.
" As scary as Finn's dancing," Puck pipes up from the audience, leaning back and chucking his friend on the knee, the taller boy taking the ribbing in good spirits. He punches Puck back and everyone laughs.
Kurt turns, slowly, gracefully, and cocks one hip, hand resting at his waist. " While clinging to the metaphorical apron strings of home may be the safe option," he begins, his voice smooth and light, " Rachel and I agree - yes, I said agree - that the future is bright for all of us."
" It's a new start," she chimes in, nodding her head with fervor, bobbing on her toes. " A chance to keep all the best bits of ourselves and throw away the parts we don't like."
" Or the mistakes we've made."
There's a moment where everyone seems to consider this, and heads hang, just slightly.
" But we should be excited!" Rachel says, and the spirit in her voice seems to rub off on the group, because the tension that only a moment ago hung over them all starts to dissipate. " We all have *so much* to look forward to."
Kurt's smiling down at her, fondly, and it's almost absurd. He picks up her thread. " We wanted to share something - upbeat," he tosses out. There's a look in his face that says he knows his words are a little cheesy, but he's proud to say them none-the-less.
Tina leans into Quinn's side. " My money's on Spring Awakening."
" Five bucks says Wicked."
Puck, eavesdropping, stage whispers as he leans across Quinn's lap. " What's that one where they all dress like cats?"
Quinn shoots him a frown, pushing him away from her, though her hands linger on the shoulder of his letter jacket. " Why would they sing something from Cats?"
His eyebrows rise and he tosses back, " It's Hummel and Berry - why *wouldn't* they sing something from Cats?"
It looks like Quinn's about to reply, but then the band starts, and Rachel spins around, and it's *far* from Broadway.
" I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined."
Kurt saunters from his place by the piano, taking the next line. " I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned."
The two of them stand, face to face as they sing, harmony weaving in and out and around the room in perfect timbre. Smiles light their faces. " Staring at the blank page before you, open up the dirty window, let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find. Reaching for something in the distance, so close you can almost taste it, release your inhibitions - feel the rain on your skin!"
Rachel starts jumping as the band rocks the tempo, her hair flying behind her. Kurt looks on, laughing and singing at the same time, and it's the first time in a long time he's looked so honestly *happy* and carefree that everyone in the audience can't help but share a look.
" No one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in. No one else, no one else can speak the words on your lips! Drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open. Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten."
It's so uptempo, so completely and utterly *joyous* that the rest of the Glee club can't stay in their seats. They grab each others' hands, everyone getting up and running down the steps to the floor, and then they're all dancing and singing and Quinn and Tina are holding hands, spinning around and it makes them laugh hard and Mike's watching them with a grin, and then Santana dips Brittany, and Finn joins in, half moshing half jumping, his frankenteen head bobbing above all of them. In the middle of the throng, Kurt and Rachel keep singing, their arms wrapped around each others' waist, heads close together and mirrored, wide smiles.
" The rest is still unwritten."
XxX
They're all trailing out of the choir room, Rachel's arm still wrapped around Kurt's waist as they exit, their heads close together and giggling, and Mike and Tina walk behind them, hands joined and swinging between their bodies, her face turned up his as they talk. They're just passing the piano when Mr Schue calls their names, and they still their feet.
" Tina? Mike? Can I talk to you two for a minute?"
Artie and Quinn shoot them curious looks as they shuffle past, the last ones to gather their things and leave, and they move quickly when they sense the vibe in the room. Mr Schue points towards his office. " Come and sit down."
They follow him silently, hands still together and fingers intertwined, and drop into the two empty chairs facing his desk. Mr Schuester sits down, moving a pile of half-marked Spanish tests to the side, before coughing lightly and looking at the two of them. There is a long silence.
" Mr Schue?" Mike starts, hesitant, " Are we in trouble? Because the Janitor's Closet was totally Tina's idea."
" Mike!" her voice is indignant and sharp in the quiet room.
" Well it was," he shoots back, his voice a stage whisper, a blush creeping over his cheeks.
She crosses her arms over her black-sweater clad chest, causing her beads to swing. " Well if Mr Ryerson hadn't been creeping behind the bleachers..." she trails off, raising one eyebrow and looking at Mike pointedly. " After last time when we found him watching, I really don't like the way he looks at you."
Mr Schue throws his hands in the air, cutting the conversation short, saving himself from hearing any further details, though the snippets are enough to cause an uncomfortable array of mental images. " It's not about the Janitor's Closet - I don't even want to *know* about the Janitor's Closet."
They both duck the chins down in mutual apology. " Sorry," they chime in unison.
Their teacher rubs a hand over his forehead, a little unsure of where to begin. " I had a talk with Miss Pillsbury this morning." He doesn't miss the look that passes between his two students. " She asked me if I'd talk to you both."
It's Tina who looks him in the eye, her tone confused, if a little wary. " About what?"
" Look," he folds his hands on the table between them, studying the two dark-eyed students, who look back at him with matching expressions of unease. " You two are *just* eighteen. You can't imagine all the paces that you're going to go, or the things you're going to see."
" Okay..." Mike's word is low, drawn out, and he shares a quick glance with Tina, who looks equally bemused.
" *Or*," Mr Schue emphasizes, looking pointedly at their linked hands, " The people you're going to meet."
They seem to realise his intent at once. Bemusement and confusion are quickly replaced by irritation. " Mr Schue - " Mike begins, his tone firm and set, and Mr Schue has to jump in quickly, feeling the situation tense.
" I'm not saying you two aren't a great couple," he assures them - because as far as Glee club goes, with more partner swapping than a square dance, Tina and Mike are as solid as they come. " I'm just saying...maybe planning your whole lives around each other now, when you're so young is..." he trails off, for a moment, and when he speaks again, he can't help but keep his voice soft. It feels like a low blow. " Setting yourselves up for disappointment."
He sees the moment the words hit home; Mike's face falls and Tina's shoulders slump.
" Look," he tries again, keeping his voice gentle, hoping upon hope that this kind of tough love will prove to be a good thing. " All I'm saying is, I married my High School sweetheart, and you both were around to see how that turned out." Mike and Tina share a look, and something knowing and terrified shoots across their eyes. " I want you to learn from my mistakes, so you don't have to make the same ones."
There's a long pause, as neither of the teenagers seem to know how to reply. They sit, stock still, until Tina crumples and begins to cry, softly. Mike puts his arm around her, slowly rubbing her back and murmuring soothing words into her hair.
" You can go," Schue tells them with a flick of his wrist, and watches as Mike guides Tina up, their bodies in constant contact. They leave the office in silence, save Tina's tiny sobs.
From the other side of the desk, Mr Schue feels like his work is done, and can't help wonder why he feels so bad.
XxX
" Mr Schuester said *what*!?" Mercedes' voice carries through the halls as she speaks on her cellphone, silver 'M' pendant clinking against her jacket zipper as she walks.
Santana's voice on the other end is just as contrite. " For real - I didn't believe it when Brit told me."
Brittany, walking alongside Santana, speaks into her own phone as their joined pinkies swing between them. " He said he might call their parents. Tina's so sad she hasn't even combed her hair and I'm pretty sure she copied my answers in Bio."
Mercedes is just about to speak when her phone buzzes against her ear. " Hang on, I have Kurt buzzing in." She pulls the phone away accepting his call with a swift, " You heard?"
" Artie just told me. Is this why Mike looks like someone just killed his puppy?"
" They might as well have," Santana replies, frustration clearly evident in her tone. " Talk about a low blow."
" I didn't know Mike had a puppy," Brittany chirps up, but is met by a simple side-glance from Santana.
Mercedes is just heading down the stairs when she hears her name being called, and she slows her steps as Sam and Puck catch up to her. " We heard," Puck growls, loud enough to be heard over everyone's phone. " And I am *not* down with people messing with my Asian Fusion."
" Seriously," Sam adds, leaning into Mercedes, " I asked Mike if he wanted to go to the arcade after school, play some DDR. You know what he said?" There's a pause as all of the listening members hold their phones just a fraction closer, and Sam takes a beat. " He said 'I don't really feel like dancing'."
There's a collective intake of breath, and Santana throws her hands up in the air. " That's it, I'm calling it," she states, her voice hard and fierce. " This is now an official Glee-mergency."
" I suggest an intervention," Kurt pipes up as he strides down the hall, meeting Santana and Brittany at the bottom of the stairs, followed only a second later by Mercedes, Puck and Sam. They all flip their phones shut.
" Agreed," Santana confirms, and Brittany nods along. " But we better get thinking because Barbara is *not* gonna cut it this time."
XxX
The Cohen-Chang house is homely and warm, full of squashy over-stuffed furniture and piles of books, photographs and hand-made afghans. Tina is sitting flipping through a magazine, her legs snuggled under one of the multicoloured blankets, bare toes peeking out under the edge and wiggling in the dim light, and her mind miles away when the front door opens and footsteps sound in the hall.
" Tina, sweetie I'm home! I wish you'd come to class with me today - we had live nudes, you would have loved it. We were working with chalks, and honestly, the shadowing on some of these pictures was just fantastic..."
Gloria Cohen-Chang hangs up her coat, khaki cigarette pants and patterned sweater meeting at her skinny hips, long dark curls trailing down her back. She slings her purse onto the floor and toes off her shoes, entering into the living room, her cheeks flushed pink with the evening chill.
" Mrs Ling asked after you hon, she says it's been too long since she's seen you down at the community centre." Entering the room, she pushes her hair back from her face and spots her teenage daughter curled up on the sofa, her eyes downcast and her body curled in on itself, half-heartedly turning the pages of Cosmo. " Honey," she asks swiftly, cocking one hip and looking at her with concern. " What's wrong?"
It's her mother's direct question and no-nonsense attitude that prompts Tina to sigh, shutting the magazine and tossing it on the coffee table without a second glance. " I had my Careers meeting with Miss Pillsbury."
" The guidance counselor?" Her mom takes a seat on the arm of the couch, her attention focused completely on her daughter.
Tina nods. " Yeah."
" How did it go?"
Shoulders shrug, but Tina's mom can read her like a book and Tina knows it, so she forces herself to elaborate. " She thinks I'm throwing away my future."
Gloria's face screws up in instant consternation. " *What*?" She moves onto the sofa, properly, so that her khaki-clad knee brushes with her daughter's bare skin. " What would make her say that?"
Tina can feel a lump already forming in her throat, and she bites her lip trying to force it away. Her next words are almost a non-sequitar, and seem to tumble from her lips like hot coals. " Do you think I should be looking at other colleges? Without Mike?"
There's a pause, and Gloria rests her hand on Tina's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. " Is that what *you* want to do?" she asks, gently, her voice calm and even and without even a trace of bias.
Tina's voice is small. " I don't know."
Curling her legs up beneath her, Gloria turns her body so she and her daughter are sitting knee-to-knee, unconsciously mirroring each others' position, full of angles and points. " Tina, honey, have you changed your mind about going away to school with Mike?"
" No." The words are definite, and immediate, and coupled with a shaking of Tina's dark head. " I want to go with him."
" Then why do you think you should be looking at places without him?"
She raises her fist and rubs at her eyes, and props her cheek on her knee, weary and tired. Tina sighs. " Miss Pillsbury and Mr Schue both think that if Mike and I go to college together then we're going to end up trapped and unhappy."
" Is that what you think?"
" No." Tina shakes her head again, and a loose piece of hair trails down her shoulder, tickling her pale skin. " I think if we go to college together we'll...go to college together. And we'll make new friends, and study, and have fun and if...if for some reason along the way I stop loving him or he stops loving me, then we'll still have fun, and we'll still make new friends, and we'll still study. We just won't do it together any more."
At these words, Gloria breaks into a small smile, reaching out and pulling her daughter to her. She wraps her arms around Tina and cradles her to her chest like she used to when she was a small child. " You've given yourself your answer Tina," Gloria tells her daughter, stroking her hair back from her face and pressing a kiss to her temple. " In the end, this is your decision and it's Mike decision, and it's really no one's business but yours."
" I just..." Tina starts off, before pausing and sighing deeply. " They're my teachers, and you're my Mom."
" I am responsible for you," Gloria tells her with a soft smile, " but I don't have ownership of you Tina. And neither do Mr Schuester or Miss Pillsbury. You're 18 years old, and you can make your own decisions, and part of my job as a parent - and theirs as your teachers - is trusting you to make the best ones you can. Your father and I raised you right - you're a smart girl and you've got a good head on your shoulders." She squeezes Tina's skull in a way that makes the young girl yelp with laughter, ducking out of her mother's grip for a moment before being pulled back into a hug. " I don't expect you to get your choices right every time. And of course I'm going to be here if things go wrong, or if you need me. But I'm not going to tell you how to live your life Tina. You want to go to UCLA and be with Mike? Fine. As long as you can justify your choices to yourself you don't have to justify them to me. And as long as you can say to yourself that you're doing your best, working your hardest, and doing everything you can to make yourself happy, then I support you."
Tina snuggles against her mom's shoulder, enjoying the warmth of her body, the familiar smell of her perfume, the feel of her fingers stroking gently through her hair. " Thank you Mom," she murmurs, squeezing tight. " I needed to hear that."
Her mom squeezes back. " Mike's a good boy. He's sensible, he works hard, he's respectful, and he treats you right. If I thought for even a moment that he was making you compromise yourself, your beliefs or the things that you wanted out of your life, then I would want you to sit down and talk to him, and really consider if this was the right move for you. But...I trust you Tina. And as long when you're with him, you're happy and safe, then I'm okay with that."
The two women sit, silence pervading, and they hold each other in the evening dim.
XxX
It's Thursday, and the choir room is thick with near-end-of-week weariness but buzzing with the close proximity of the weekend. It's a heady mix. Kurt and Santana are rock-paper-scissoring for something in the back row, feet propped on the chairs in front, and Brittany is walking Finn through some of their newest choreography as Rachel watches on, occasionally throwing in comments or running to adjust Finn's arm or leg position. Mercedes and Quinn sit gossiping, their heads close together and giggles occasionally sneaking out, and Artie and Puck are lazily tossing a football across the room.
Tina sits amongst them but alone, checking her phone, wondering exactly where her boyfriend has disappeared to. She's not too concerned because Sam is missing too, and considers that maybe they had gotten caught up in one of their bromatic forays - lifting weights in the gym or studying in the library - and forgotten the time. Her fingers are just itching to text him when finally she sees a flash of dark hair and a flash of blond go skidding past the door, and Mike and Sam finally enter.
Sam's guitar is slung over his shoulder. " Are we late?"
Tina shakes her head, pointing towards the closed office door. " Mr Schuester's just talking with Kate Atkins. Apparently her dog really *did* eat her homework."
" I heard they had to take him for emergency surgery or something," Mercedes pipes up, pulling away from Quinn long enough to interject into the conversation.
Brittany - having finished practicing with Finn - stretches her leg, lifting it parallel to her body in a feat that makes Tina ache just watching. " My cat ate my retainer once," she grins, knee next to her ear.
Finn has just turned around to respond when Mr Schue finally exits his office, awkwardly patting the sobbing red-head on the shoulder. " Well tell your little brother I hope Rex gets better soon," he comforts in platitudes, waiting until the girl leaves the room before turning around and clapping his hands together. " Okay, so it's the end of our week, the end of our lesson, I want to talk about what you think you've learned."
They're all mulling it over, when a hand being raised in Tina's peripheral vision catches everyone's attention.
" Mr Schue? Is it...I mean...would it be...Can I share something?"
There's a moment where everyone pauses, and turns their head, as though they've heard something that can't possibly be real. Because it's Mike, hand raised, half stood from his seat, and Mike *never* offers to share with the group on his own.
It takes the teacher a moment to recover. " Sure Mike, go ahead." He opens his palm towards the floor, and just steps back as Mike gives a small nod to Sam, and the two boys walk down the risers.
Everyone's expecting a dance - some kind of contemporary free-style, or athletic, acrobatic popping-and-locking - so they're doubly surprised when both Sam and Mike pull stools in front of the piano and sit down.
Tina's watching, unable to take her eyes off her boyfriend because she has *no* idea what's going on and he truly looks like he might pass out or throw up any moment. She wants to go up there, take his hand, kiss him until he stops looking so terrified, but she's frozen to her seat.
Mike clears his throat. " Uh..." he begins, and his voice is soft, but even. " Our assignment this week was to think about the future, about growing up. And a lot of people have told me that it's a time to be selfish - to think about myself." He side-eyes Mr Schue at this point, who at least has the good graces to rock uncomfortably on his heels. Mike's voice gets stronger. " But when I imagine the future there's really only one thing that matters." He pauses, shrugging his shoulders slightly, a blush darting across his cheeks. " This is for you, Tina."
He still looks like he might faint or vomit, but Sam gives him a firm, reassuring nod, and begins to play, his fingers firm on the chords and rhythm. When Mike opens his lips, his voice is nervous but strong.
" We'll do it all, everything, on our own. We don't need anything or anyone."
Everyone's mouths are hanging open, shocked, because they've *never* heard Mike sing, not really, not beyond genial harmony lines and car-radio-gym-shower singing. And he's not amazing but he's *good*, he's *really* good, and his eyes are boring into Tina's as though he's afraid to look anywhere else. As though it's only the two of them in the room.
" If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?"
She feels it then, like a punch to the sternum. This is *his* decision. This is *Mike* making his stand against other people's expectations, and telling her that he chooses her over everyone else and everything else, despite other people's opinions. Tina's heart races, hard and thrumming, and she feels tears prick at the corners of her eyes as he continues to sing.
" I don't quite know how to say how I feel. Those three words are said too much - they're not enough."
Mike's blushing, but staring at her, and she knows he's remembering every time they've said those 'three little words' to each other, from the first time (in the wake of Kurt's father's heart attack and Tina's " You never know when it's going to be too late to tell people how you really feel" - followed by her arms flying around his neck and the words being murmured against his lips. " I'm falling in love with you Mike.") to the most recent (that morning, on the phone as she queried the bite-mark-shaped bruise she had just discovered on her inner thigh, Mike had responded with laughter and distraction - " I love you so much T.").
" All that I am, all that I ever was, is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see. I don't know where, confused about how as well, just know that these things will never change for us at all."
They've talked about about the future, about college and beyond. They've talked about him moon-walking into their wedding, and he's promised Brittany that she can be a bridesmaid and how their first dance should be something awesome and epic. The phrase " When we have kids" has slipped from both their lips, and when they talk about proposals and marriage it's always a 'when' and not an 'if'. But having him sit before her - in front of their teacher, in front of all their friends, in front of the family they've *chosen* - and sing these words and this song to her...well, for Tina, and she knows for Mike, he might have got down on one knee and held out a diamond ring.
She doesn't even notice herself moving, but by the time he sings the final line - " Would you lie with me and just forget the world?" - she's on her feet, and standing right before him. Their eyes are locked, and as the last note trails off, she leans into him, pressing their lips together hard.
The rest of the glee club is silent - still shocked, and aware that there is *so* much more going on than just a simple song - and so when Tina and Mike pull away from each other, no one moves. Tina simply takes his hand, tugs him off the seat, and pulls him behind her as she walks out of the room.
After they exit, the stunned silence remains
Mr Schue clears his voice. " Oookay," he stands up, and his eyebrows are up in his hairline. " Anyone else?"
The rest of the club shake their heads, slowly, still processing.
" Right then," he says, rubbing his forehead, full of thoughts and feelings, whirring and making him feel unbalanced. " You can go."
Santana leans forward, her hand on Quinn's shoulder as she picks up her bag. " I take it we should avoid the library?"
Quinn nods. " And the art supply cupboard on the third floor."
" The girls' bathroom by the Science rooms," Mercedes adds, grasping her notebook.
" Behind the bleachers," Sam adds, and then off the girls' looks adds, " What? Mike's my bro. We talk."
Puck, with a crooked grin, adds, " The locker room."
" Yeah," Finn adds with a shudder, hands shoved into his pockets. " That's not something I need to see again."
They all seem to be having the same thought, and Santana pauses, her fingers threading with Brittany's. " Anyone else just want to go get coffee? Come back when we get the all clear?"
The nods are unanimous, and they all leave the choir room together.
Mr Schue sits at the piano, and hangs his head.
XxX
The next day in the staff room, Schue sits over a stack of papers, a cold cup of coffee in front of him and the events of the week playing over and over in his head like a video on a loop. He sighs, throwing his pen across the table.
" Mr Schue?" Puck's leaning against the door frame, mohawk still damp from a shower and a strange expression on his face. Somewhere between mischievous and serene.
" Hey Puck, what can I do for you? Your Spanish assignment isn't due til next week."
Puck shrugs his shoulders, hands sliding into the pocket of his jeans, backpack slung over his shoulder. " Rachel told me to tell you to come to the auditorium after school. And I ain't nobody's messenger boy, but she scares the crap out of me, you know?"
Mr Schuester sits, bemused, and finally nods his head. " Tell her I'll be there," he agrees.
" Sweet," Puck lifts his chin. " Oh, and do you think Miss Pillsbury would be down to come along too?"
" I can ask her."
" Cool. Later Mr Schue."
" Bye Puck."
XxX
The auditorium is dim but the stage is lit. The members of Glee Club sit along the edge, their feet dangling over, all with various accents of red in their outfits, looking out at Mr Schuester and Miss Pillsbury with curiosity clear across their faces, because on entering he had called them together and said that before anything else, he wanted to talk. Mike and Tina sit next to each other, sides pressed together, his hand resting somewhere behind her back.
Standing before them, Mr Schue takes a quick glance sideways, to where Miss Pillsbury sits in one of the fold-down seats, and takes a breath. " I should apologise," he starts off, his voice soft. " Right now, you all have the world unfolding at your feet. And where you want to go, what you want to do, and *who* you want to do it with, that's up to you now." He sees Mike and Tina share a look, and watches as she rests her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. Mr Schue feels a smile cross his lips. " You are amazing young men and women and you have been through so much together. And I want to thank you, for letting me share in a small part it."
All the glee kids share a look - part acceptance, part amusement - and then with a clap of her small hands, Rachel hops up on the stage.
" Mr Schuester, we all accept your apology and in the spirit of reconciliation we have prepared a little something."
At her words, everyone gets up and walks across the stage until they are in clearly choreographed positions. Mr Schue takes a seat next to Miss Pillsbury right as the lights go down, and it's pitch black for a moment before a single spot-light flicks on, bathing a lone person in simple, white light.
In a simple red dress, her hair hanging down her back and a small smile on her painted lips, Tina looks much more grown then her 18 years. Her voice, when she sings, is clear and ringing and pure. " There are places I'll remember, all my life though some have changed. Some forever not for better, some have gone and some remain."
The lights come up, and the whole group stands scattered across the stage, arm's width apart.
Artie and Quinn come forward so that they are either side of Tina, and add their voices into the mix. " All these places had their moments, with lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living, in my life I've loved them all."
The choreography begins, as the kids pair up in twos. Mike comes along side Tina, spinning her around with his hands on her hips as the two of them sing. " But of all these friends and lovers, there is no one compares with you and these memories lose their meaning, when I think of love as something new."
As the whole group begins to sing, the music soars and the emotions in the room swell. In the audience, tears prick at Mr Schue's eyes, and Miss Pillsbury reaches over, resting a hand on his forearm. In the darkness, they share a look of mutual understanding.
" Though I know I'll never lose affection for people and things that went before, I know I'll often stop and think about them. In my life I love you more."
The New Directions stand in a line, staring out into an empty audience, voices raised together.
In the centre, Mike reaches across and laces his fingers with Tina's.
" In my life I love you more."
XxX
Mr Schuester is thumbing through sheet music, making notes in the margins when he feels a presence next to him. Putting down his half-drunk coffee, he looks up to find Emma standing over him.
" Hi," he greets, smiling.
" Hi," she replies, half-smiling back and fiddling with the beads at her neck. " Can we talk, for a minute?"
He can tell she's got something serious on her mind because when he waves her into the opposite seat she doesn't even wipe off the chair before she sits down. Instead, she just clasps her hands together. " So, you know I've been having meetings with the Senior kids this week?"
Picking up his coffee, he takes a sip, wincing slightly at the bitter taste. " Look, if this is about Rachel's impromptu Streisand medley - " he starts with a laugh, but the mirth drops off when he catches the look on her face.
" I met with Tina Cohen-Chang and Mike Chang yesterday."
His feels his stomach drop. " Tell me she isn't pregnant."
She shakes her head, vehemently, and only then does his heart stagger back to the beat. He's not sure he could go through another babygate. Rubbing his forehead with his hand, relieved, he watches as she licks her lips. " They're bright kids," she offers up, tentatively, and he can't help but smile.
" Two of the brightest," he agrees, picking up a cookie and taking a healthy bite.
She nods her head, ticking things off on her fingers as she mentions them. " They both have 4.0 GPAs, take a full class load including AP, they got great marks on their SATs and take part in a bunch of extra-curricular activities," she tells him.
Schue, knowing all this, simply nods his head. " They're good kids," he agrees.
" Tina's bright, articulate, talented. She'd be a great candidate for an Ivy League school."
" No argument there."
" And I'm *sure* there are courses out there for someone with Mike's talents."
" Absolutely."
There's a pause, and then Emma asks slowly, " Do you know their main criteria for college is one that they can both get into? That Tina isn't even looking at Harvard and Mike's not interested in Julliard? That the only colleges they're looking at are ones that will accept both of them?"
Schue chews his cookie, washing it down with a swallow of coffee. He raises an eyebrow. " So what? I'm sure there are lots of colleges that'll want to take them. Like you said, they're great students."
Emma nods her head, her earrings bobbing and sparkling in the mid-morning sun. " Yeah, I'm sure there are. All I'm saying is...eighteen is pretty young to hang all your dreams - and your future - on one other person."
" I don't really think - " he rejoins, surprised at her words, but she cuts him off, her voice firm but gentle.
" All I'm saying is I've seen this happen before. Bright kids with a lot of potential...it's easy to think you're in love when you're a teenager. But...they focus on the relationship at a time when they should be focusing on themselves, and five years down the line they're still stuck in this town, married with kids and wondering what happened to their dreams."
Mr Schue rubs his eyes, feeling exhaustion creep over him, settling in the tips of his fingers and the soles of his feet, leaving them heavy and cold. " I think Tina and Mike are smarter than that," he sighs, his voice quiet, but he can already feel the little seed of doubt niggling in his belly.
Across from him, Emma tucks her hands under her thighs and nods her head. " Well I think so too," she agrees, her voice steady as she pins him with a look, her eyes wide. " But it wouldn't hurt for you to sit them down and talk to them."
Raising his hands, he makes a t-shape, leaning back in his chair. " Hang on, isn't that *your* job?"
" Yes," she responds contritely. " But they're both very private kids and you're closer to them. Besides..." she trails off, breaking her eye contact and looking vaguely uncomfortable as she cocks her head to one side. " You...married your High School sweetheart."
He scoffs, almost without thought. " And look how that turned out."
" Exactly." Her words are pointed, and she once again raises her eyes to meet his. Her meaning hits home like a sledgehammer. " Please, just sit them down and talk to them. Make sure they know exactly how much they could be compromising."
Picking up his coffee cup, he looks back down at his sheet music, signalling an end to the conversation. " I'll try."
Nodding, she stands up from the chair, smoothing her skirt down with her hands. Her voice, when she speaks, is soft. " Thank you."
She walks out of the staffroom, and with a sigh, he watches her go.
XxX
The Jazz Band is already in position as everyone files in, Kurt and Rachel there ahead of the rest of the club. They're both dressed in black bottoms - Rachel's skirt typically short, her socks over the knee, and Kurt's jeans molded to his body - and Rachel's argyle sweater is complimented by Kurt's gray vest, buttoned over a white shirt. They stand, facing away from the risers, clearly all ready for their performance.
Santana slides into the seat at the back of the room, crossing her bare legs and eying the two performers at the front. As the other members of Glee club take their seats around her, chair legs scraping and scuffing against the floor, she cocks her head and stares hard at Kurt and Rachel's back. " If they sing a love song I'm calling bullshit."
Walking past her, Mercedes scoffs, " Oh please, talk about two dogs going after the same bone. I'm sitting at the back to avoid the bloodshed."
" Yeah, seriously," Puck agrees, taking the free seat next to Santana. " These two have some twisted 'separated at birth/freaky twin' thing. It's weird. Honestly, sometimes I think I've made out with Kurt."
Everyone is laughing into their hands as Sam enters the room. He walks past the two performers at the front and does a double take. Speaking in a low voice, he clenches both fists, bringing his knuckles together. " With our powers combined, we are - DIVATRON!"
He takes the seat next to Mercedes, who rolls her eyes but wears a wide, amused smile.
Brittany flips her ponytail over her shoulder. " My birth control is divatron."
Tina and Quinn giggle, and Mike shoots her a fond look, and Santana whispers in Brittany's ear, a finger teasing the edge of her red Cheerios skirt.
" Good afternoon everybody," Mr Schue greets with a large smile, as everyone settles in, Mike at the back next to Brittany and Santana, and Tina down the front by Puck and Quinn, their conversations trailing off as the pre-performance tension mounts. " So far this week we have had Finn and Puck rocking us old school and Miss Santana Lopez breaking out of the box for two fantastic performances," he reminds them, and everybody cheers and whoops, spirits high. Tina shoots a smile behind her to where Santana sits, her palms raised, basking in the glory. Mr Schue waves his hands to quiet them again. " Today," he begins, indicating the two people behind him, " I am turning things over to our very own Kurt Hummel and Rachel Berry!"
Rachel turns around, her skirt flaring out around her knees. " I know lots of us have been thinking about the future and it's kind of scary," she begins, licking her lips, her hands smoothing down her sweater absentmindedly.
" As scary as Finn's dancing," Puck pipes up from the audience, leaning back and chucking his friend on the knee, the taller boy taking the ribbing in good spirits. He punches Puck back and everyone laughs.
Kurt turns, slowly, gracefully, and cocks one hip, hand resting at his waist. " While clinging to the metaphorical apron strings of home may be the safe option," he begins, his voice smooth and light, " Rachel and I agree - yes, I said agree - that the future is bright for all of us."
" It's a new start," she chimes in, nodding her head with fervor, bobbing on her toes. " A chance to keep all the best bits of ourselves and throw away the parts we don't like."
" Or the mistakes we've made."
There's a moment where everyone seems to consider this, and heads hang, just slightly.
" But we should be excited!" Rachel says, and the spirit in her voice seems to rub off on the group, because the tension that only a moment ago hung over them all starts to dissipate. " We all have *so much* to look forward to."
Kurt's smiling down at her, fondly, and it's almost absurd. He picks up her thread. " We wanted to share something - upbeat," he tosses out. There's a look in his face that says he knows his words are a little cheesy, but he's proud to say them none-the-less.
Tina leans into Quinn's side. " My money's on Spring Awakening."
" Five bucks says Wicked."
Puck, eavesdropping, stage whispers as he leans across Quinn's lap. " What's that one where they all dress like cats?"
Quinn shoots him a frown, pushing him away from her, though her hands linger on the shoulder of his letter jacket. " Why would they sing something from Cats?"
His eyebrows rise and he tosses back, " It's Hummel and Berry - why *wouldn't* they sing something from Cats?"
It looks like Quinn's about to reply, but then the band starts, and Rachel spins around, and it's *far* from Broadway.
" I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined."
Kurt saunters from his place by the piano, taking the next line. " I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned."
The two of them stand, face to face as they sing, harmony weaving in and out and around the room in perfect timbre. Smiles light their faces. " Staring at the blank page before you, open up the dirty window, let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find. Reaching for something in the distance, so close you can almost taste it, release your inhibitions - feel the rain on your skin!"
Rachel starts jumping as the band rocks the tempo, her hair flying behind her. Kurt looks on, laughing and singing at the same time, and it's the first time in a long time he's looked so honestly *happy* and carefree that everyone in the audience can't help but share a look.
" No one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in. No one else, no one else can speak the words on your lips! Drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open. Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten."
It's so uptempo, so completely and utterly *joyous* that the rest of the Glee club can't stay in their seats. They grab each others' hands, everyone getting up and running down the steps to the floor, and then they're all dancing and singing and Quinn and Tina are holding hands, spinning around and it makes them laugh hard and Mike's watching them with a grin, and then Santana dips Brittany, and Finn joins in, half moshing half jumping, his frankenteen head bobbing above all of them. In the middle of the throng, Kurt and Rachel keep singing, their arms wrapped around each others' waist, heads close together and mirrored, wide smiles.
" The rest is still unwritten."
XxX
They're all trailing out of the choir room, Rachel's arm still wrapped around Kurt's waist as they exit, their heads close together and giggling, and Mike and Tina walk behind them, hands joined and swinging between their bodies, her face turned up his as they talk. They're just passing the piano when Mr Schue calls their names, and they still their feet.
" Tina? Mike? Can I talk to you two for a minute?"
Artie and Quinn shoot them curious looks as they shuffle past, the last ones to gather their things and leave, and they move quickly when they sense the vibe in the room. Mr Schue points towards his office. " Come and sit down."
They follow him silently, hands still together and fingers intertwined, and drop into the two empty chairs facing his desk. Mr Schuester sits down, moving a pile of half-marked Spanish tests to the side, before coughing lightly and looking at the two of them. There is a long silence.
" Mr Schue?" Mike starts, hesitant, " Are we in trouble? Because the Janitor's Closet was totally Tina's idea."
" Mike!" her voice is indignant and sharp in the quiet room.
" Well it was," he shoots back, his voice a stage whisper, a blush creeping over his cheeks.
She crosses her arms over her black-sweater clad chest, causing her beads to swing. " Well if Mr Ryerson hadn't been creeping behind the bleachers..." she trails off, raising one eyebrow and looking at Mike pointedly. " After last time when we found him watching, I really don't like the way he looks at you."
Mr Schue throws his hands in the air, cutting the conversation short, saving himself from hearing any further details, though the snippets are enough to cause an uncomfortable array of mental images. " It's not about the Janitor's Closet - I don't even want to *know* about the Janitor's Closet."
They both duck the chins down in mutual apology. " Sorry," they chime in unison.
Their teacher rubs a hand over his forehead, a little unsure of where to begin. " I had a talk with Miss Pillsbury this morning." He doesn't miss the look that passes between his two students. " She asked me if I'd talk to you both."
It's Tina who looks him in the eye, her tone confused, if a little wary. " About what?"
" Look," he folds his hands on the table between them, studying the two dark-eyed students, who look back at him with matching expressions of unease. " You two are *just* eighteen. You can't imagine all the paces that you're going to go, or the things you're going to see."
" Okay..." Mike's word is low, drawn out, and he shares a quick glance with Tina, who looks equally bemused.
" *Or*," Mr Schue emphasizes, looking pointedly at their linked hands, " The people you're going to meet."
They seem to realise his intent at once. Bemusement and confusion are quickly replaced by irritation. " Mr Schue - " Mike begins, his tone firm and set, and Mr Schue has to jump in quickly, feeling the situation tense.
" I'm not saying you two aren't a great couple," he assures them - because as far as Glee club goes, with more partner swapping than a square dance, Tina and Mike are as solid as they come. " I'm just saying...maybe planning your whole lives around each other now, when you're so young is..." he trails off, for a moment, and when he speaks again, he can't help but keep his voice soft. It feels like a low blow. " Setting yourselves up for disappointment."
He sees the moment the words hit home; Mike's face falls and Tina's shoulders slump.
" Look," he tries again, keeping his voice gentle, hoping upon hope that this kind of tough love will prove to be a good thing. " All I'm saying is, I married my High School sweetheart, and you both were around to see how that turned out." Mike and Tina share a look, and something knowing and terrified shoots across their eyes. " I want you to learn from my mistakes, so you don't have to make the same ones."
There's a long pause, as neither of the teenagers seem to know how to reply. They sit, stock still, until Tina crumples and begins to cry, softly. Mike puts his arm around her, slowly rubbing her back and murmuring soothing words into her hair.
" You can go," Schue tells them with a flick of his wrist, and watches as Mike guides Tina up, their bodies in constant contact. They leave the office in silence, save Tina's tiny sobs.
From the other side of the desk, Mr Schue feels like his work is done, and can't help wonder why he feels so bad.
XxX
" Mr Schuester said *what*!?" Mercedes' voice carries through the halls as she speaks on her cellphone, silver 'M' pendant clinking against her jacket zipper as she walks.
Santana's voice on the other end is just as contrite. " For real - I didn't believe it when Brit told me."
Brittany, walking alongside Santana, speaks into her own phone as their joined pinkies swing between them. " He said he might call their parents. Tina's so sad she hasn't even combed her hair and I'm pretty sure she copied my answers in Bio."
Mercedes is just about to speak when her phone buzzes against her ear. " Hang on, I have Kurt buzzing in." She pulls the phone away accepting his call with a swift, " You heard?"
" Artie just told me. Is this why Mike looks like someone just killed his puppy?"
" They might as well have," Santana replies, frustration clearly evident in her tone. " Talk about a low blow."
" I didn't know Mike had a puppy," Brittany chirps up, but is met by a simple side-glance from Santana.
Mercedes is just heading down the stairs when she hears her name being called, and she slows her steps as Sam and Puck catch up to her. " We heard," Puck growls, loud enough to be heard over everyone's phone. " And I am *not* down with people messing with my Asian Fusion."
" Seriously," Sam adds, leaning into Mercedes, " I asked Mike if he wanted to go to the arcade after school, play some DDR. You know what he said?" There's a pause as all of the listening members hold their phones just a fraction closer, and Sam takes a beat. " He said 'I don't really feel like dancing'."
There's a collective intake of breath, and Santana throws her hands up in the air. " That's it, I'm calling it," she states, her voice hard and fierce. " This is now an official Glee-mergency."
" I suggest an intervention," Kurt pipes up as he strides down the hall, meeting Santana and Brittany at the bottom of the stairs, followed only a second later by Mercedes, Puck and Sam. They all flip their phones shut.
" Agreed," Santana confirms, and Brittany nods along. " But we better get thinking because Barbara is *not* gonna cut it this time."
XxX
The Cohen-Chang house is homely and warm, full of squashy over-stuffed furniture and piles of books, photographs and hand-made afghans. Tina is sitting flipping through a magazine, her legs snuggled under one of the multicoloured blankets, bare toes peeking out under the edge and wiggling in the dim light, and her mind miles away when the front door opens and footsteps sound in the hall.
" Tina, sweetie I'm home! I wish you'd come to class with me today - we had live nudes, you would have loved it. We were working with chalks, and honestly, the shadowing on some of these pictures was just fantastic..."
Gloria Cohen-Chang hangs up her coat, khaki cigarette pants and patterned sweater meeting at her skinny hips, long dark curls trailing down her back. She slings her purse onto the floor and toes off her shoes, entering into the living room, her cheeks flushed pink with the evening chill.
" Mrs Ling asked after you hon, she says it's been too long since she's seen you down at the community centre." Entering the room, she pushes her hair back from her face and spots her teenage daughter curled up on the sofa, her eyes downcast and her body curled in on itself, half-heartedly turning the pages of Cosmo. " Honey," she asks swiftly, cocking one hip and looking at her with concern. " What's wrong?"
It's her mother's direct question and no-nonsense attitude that prompts Tina to sigh, shutting the magazine and tossing it on the coffee table without a second glance. " I had my Careers meeting with Miss Pillsbury."
" The guidance counselor?" Her mom takes a seat on the arm of the couch, her attention focused completely on her daughter.
Tina nods. " Yeah."
" How did it go?"
Shoulders shrug, but Tina's mom can read her like a book and Tina knows it, so she forces herself to elaborate. " She thinks I'm throwing away my future."
Gloria's face screws up in instant consternation. " *What*?" She moves onto the sofa, properly, so that her khaki-clad knee brushes with her daughter's bare skin. " What would make her say that?"
Tina can feel a lump already forming in her throat, and she bites her lip trying to force it away. Her next words are almost a non-sequitar, and seem to tumble from her lips like hot coals. " Do you think I should be looking at other colleges? Without Mike?"
There's a pause, and Gloria rests her hand on Tina's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. " Is that what *you* want to do?" she asks, gently, her voice calm and even and without even a trace of bias.
Tina's voice is small. " I don't know."
Curling her legs up beneath her, Gloria turns her body so she and her daughter are sitting knee-to-knee, unconsciously mirroring each others' position, full of angles and points. " Tina, honey, have you changed your mind about going away to school with Mike?"
" No." The words are definite, and immediate, and coupled with a shaking of Tina's dark head. " I want to go with him."
" Then why do you think you should be looking at places without him?"
She raises her fist and rubs at her eyes, and props her cheek on her knee, weary and tired. Tina sighs. " Miss Pillsbury and Mr Schue both think that if Mike and I go to college together then we're going to end up trapped and unhappy."
" Is that what you think?"
" No." Tina shakes her head again, and a loose piece of hair trails down her shoulder, tickling her pale skin. " I think if we go to college together we'll...go to college together. And we'll make new friends, and study, and have fun and if...if for some reason along the way I stop loving him or he stops loving me, then we'll still have fun, and we'll still make new friends, and we'll still study. We just won't do it together any more."
At these words, Gloria breaks into a small smile, reaching out and pulling her daughter to her. She wraps her arms around Tina and cradles her to her chest like she used to when she was a small child. " You've given yourself your answer Tina," Gloria tells her daughter, stroking her hair back from her face and pressing a kiss to her temple. " In the end, this is your decision and it's Mike decision, and it's really no one's business but yours."
" I just..." Tina starts off, before pausing and sighing deeply. " They're my teachers, and you're my Mom."
" I am responsible for you," Gloria tells her with a soft smile, " but I don't have ownership of you Tina. And neither do Mr Schuester or Miss Pillsbury. You're 18 years old, and you can make your own decisions, and part of my job as a parent - and theirs as your teachers - is trusting you to make the best ones you can. Your father and I raised you right - you're a smart girl and you've got a good head on your shoulders." She squeezes Tina's skull in a way that makes the young girl yelp with laughter, ducking out of her mother's grip for a moment before being pulled back into a hug. " I don't expect you to get your choices right every time. And of course I'm going to be here if things go wrong, or if you need me. But I'm not going to tell you how to live your life Tina. You want to go to UCLA and be with Mike? Fine. As long as you can justify your choices to yourself you don't have to justify them to me. And as long as you can say to yourself that you're doing your best, working your hardest, and doing everything you can to make yourself happy, then I support you."
Tina snuggles against her mom's shoulder, enjoying the warmth of her body, the familiar smell of her perfume, the feel of her fingers stroking gently through her hair. " Thank you Mom," she murmurs, squeezing tight. " I needed to hear that."
Her mom squeezes back. " Mike's a good boy. He's sensible, he works hard, he's respectful, and he treats you right. If I thought for even a moment that he was making you compromise yourself, your beliefs or the things that you wanted out of your life, then I would want you to sit down and talk to him, and really consider if this was the right move for you. But...I trust you Tina. And as long when you're with him, you're happy and safe, then I'm okay with that."
The two women sit, silence pervading, and they hold each other in the evening dim.
XxX
It's Thursday, and the choir room is thick with near-end-of-week weariness but buzzing with the close proximity of the weekend. It's a heady mix. Kurt and Santana are rock-paper-scissoring for something in the back row, feet propped on the chairs in front, and Brittany is walking Finn through some of their newest choreography as Rachel watches on, occasionally throwing in comments or running to adjust Finn's arm or leg position. Mercedes and Quinn sit gossiping, their heads close together and giggles occasionally sneaking out, and Artie and Puck are lazily tossing a football across the room.
Tina sits amongst them but alone, checking her phone, wondering exactly where her boyfriend has disappeared to. She's not too concerned because Sam is missing too, and considers that maybe they had gotten caught up in one of their bromatic forays - lifting weights in the gym or studying in the library - and forgotten the time. Her fingers are just itching to text him when finally she sees a flash of dark hair and a flash of blond go skidding past the door, and Mike and Sam finally enter.
Sam's guitar is slung over his shoulder. " Are we late?"
Tina shakes her head, pointing towards the closed office door. " Mr Schuester's just talking with Kate Atkins. Apparently her dog really *did* eat her homework."
" I heard they had to take him for emergency surgery or something," Mercedes pipes up, pulling away from Quinn long enough to interject into the conversation.
Brittany - having finished practicing with Finn - stretches her leg, lifting it parallel to her body in a feat that makes Tina ache just watching. " My cat ate my retainer once," she grins, knee next to her ear.
Finn has just turned around to respond when Mr Schue finally exits his office, awkwardly patting the sobbing red-head on the shoulder. " Well tell your little brother I hope Rex gets better soon," he comforts in platitudes, waiting until the girl leaves the room before turning around and clapping his hands together. " Okay, so it's the end of our week, the end of our lesson, I want to talk about what you think you've learned."
They're all mulling it over, when a hand being raised in Tina's peripheral vision catches everyone's attention.
" Mr Schue? Is it...I mean...would it be...Can I share something?"
There's a moment where everyone pauses, and turns their head, as though they've heard something that can't possibly be real. Because it's Mike, hand raised, half stood from his seat, and Mike *never* offers to share with the group on his own.
It takes the teacher a moment to recover. " Sure Mike, go ahead." He opens his palm towards the floor, and just steps back as Mike gives a small nod to Sam, and the two boys walk down the risers.
Everyone's expecting a dance - some kind of contemporary free-style, or athletic, acrobatic popping-and-locking - so they're doubly surprised when both Sam and Mike pull stools in front of the piano and sit down.
Tina's watching, unable to take her eyes off her boyfriend because she has *no* idea what's going on and he truly looks like he might pass out or throw up any moment. She wants to go up there, take his hand, kiss him until he stops looking so terrified, but she's frozen to her seat.
Mike clears his throat. " Uh..." he begins, and his voice is soft, but even. " Our assignment this week was to think about the future, about growing up. And a lot of people have told me that it's a time to be selfish - to think about myself." He side-eyes Mr Schue at this point, who at least has the good graces to rock uncomfortably on his heels. Mike's voice gets stronger. " But when I imagine the future there's really only one thing that matters." He pauses, shrugging his shoulders slightly, a blush darting across his cheeks. " This is for you, Tina."
He still looks like he might faint or vomit, but Sam gives him a firm, reassuring nod, and begins to play, his fingers firm on the chords and rhythm. When Mike opens his lips, his voice is nervous but strong.
" We'll do it all, everything, on our own. We don't need anything or anyone."
Everyone's mouths are hanging open, shocked, because they've *never* heard Mike sing, not really, not beyond genial harmony lines and car-radio-gym-shower singing. And he's not amazing but he's *good*, he's *really* good, and his eyes are boring into Tina's as though he's afraid to look anywhere else. As though it's only the two of them in the room.
" If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?"
She feels it then, like a punch to the sternum. This is *his* decision. This is *Mike* making his stand against other people's expectations, and telling her that he chooses her over everyone else and everything else, despite other people's opinions. Tina's heart races, hard and thrumming, and she feels tears prick at the corners of her eyes as he continues to sing.
" I don't quite know how to say how I feel. Those three words are said too much - they're not enough."
Mike's blushing, but staring at her, and she knows he's remembering every time they've said those 'three little words' to each other, from the first time (in the wake of Kurt's father's heart attack and Tina's " You never know when it's going to be too late to tell people how you really feel" - followed by her arms flying around his neck and the words being murmured against his lips. " I'm falling in love with you Mike.") to the most recent (that morning, on the phone as she queried the bite-mark-shaped bruise she had just discovered on her inner thigh, Mike had responded with laughter and distraction - " I love you so much T.").
" All that I am, all that I ever was, is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see. I don't know where, confused about how as well, just know that these things will never change for us at all."
They've talked about about the future, about college and beyond. They've talked about him moon-walking into their wedding, and he's promised Brittany that she can be a bridesmaid and how their first dance should be something awesome and epic. The phrase " When we have kids" has slipped from both their lips, and when they talk about proposals and marriage it's always a 'when' and not an 'if'. But having him sit before her - in front of their teacher, in front of all their friends, in front of the family they've *chosen* - and sing these words and this song to her...well, for Tina, and she knows for Mike, he might have got down on one knee and held out a diamond ring.
She doesn't even notice herself moving, but by the time he sings the final line - " Would you lie with me and just forget the world?" - she's on her feet, and standing right before him. Their eyes are locked, and as the last note trails off, she leans into him, pressing their lips together hard.
The rest of the glee club is silent - still shocked, and aware that there is *so* much more going on than just a simple song - and so when Tina and Mike pull away from each other, no one moves. Tina simply takes his hand, tugs him off the seat, and pulls him behind her as she walks out of the room.
After they exit, the stunned silence remains
Mr Schue clears his voice. " Oookay," he stands up, and his eyebrows are up in his hairline. " Anyone else?"
The rest of the club shake their heads, slowly, still processing.
" Right then," he says, rubbing his forehead, full of thoughts and feelings, whirring and making him feel unbalanced. " You can go."
Santana leans forward, her hand on Quinn's shoulder as she picks up her bag. " I take it we should avoid the library?"
Quinn nods. " And the art supply cupboard on the third floor."
" The girls' bathroom by the Science rooms," Mercedes adds, grasping her notebook.
" Behind the bleachers," Sam adds, and then off the girls' looks adds, " What? Mike's my bro. We talk."
Puck, with a crooked grin, adds, " The locker room."
" Yeah," Finn adds with a shudder, hands shoved into his pockets. " That's not something I need to see again."
They all seem to be having the same thought, and Santana pauses, her fingers threading with Brittany's. " Anyone else just want to go get coffee? Come back when we get the all clear?"
The nods are unanimous, and they all leave the choir room together.
Mr Schue sits at the piano, and hangs his head.
XxX
The next day in the staff room, Schue sits over a stack of papers, a cold cup of coffee in front of him and the events of the week playing over and over in his head like a video on a loop. He sighs, throwing his pen across the table.
" Mr Schue?" Puck's leaning against the door frame, mohawk still damp from a shower and a strange expression on his face. Somewhere between mischievous and serene.
" Hey Puck, what can I do for you? Your Spanish assignment isn't due til next week."
Puck shrugs his shoulders, hands sliding into the pocket of his jeans, backpack slung over his shoulder. " Rachel told me to tell you to come to the auditorium after school. And I ain't nobody's messenger boy, but she scares the crap out of me, you know?"
Mr Schuester sits, bemused, and finally nods his head. " Tell her I'll be there," he agrees.
" Sweet," Puck lifts his chin. " Oh, and do you think Miss Pillsbury would be down to come along too?"
" I can ask her."
" Cool. Later Mr Schue."
" Bye Puck."
XxX
The auditorium is dim but the stage is lit. The members of Glee Club sit along the edge, their feet dangling over, all with various accents of red in their outfits, looking out at Mr Schuester and Miss Pillsbury with curiosity clear across their faces, because on entering he had called them together and said that before anything else, he wanted to talk. Mike and Tina sit next to each other, sides pressed together, his hand resting somewhere behind her back.
Standing before them, Mr Schue takes a quick glance sideways, to where Miss Pillsbury sits in one of the fold-down seats, and takes a breath. " I should apologise," he starts off, his voice soft. " Right now, you all have the world unfolding at your feet. And where you want to go, what you want to do, and *who* you want to do it with, that's up to you now." He sees Mike and Tina share a look, and watches as she rests her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. Mr Schue feels a smile cross his lips. " You are amazing young men and women and you have been through so much together. And I want to thank you, for letting me share in a small part it."
All the glee kids share a look - part acceptance, part amusement - and then with a clap of her small hands, Rachel hops up on the stage.
" Mr Schuester, we all accept your apology and in the spirit of reconciliation we have prepared a little something."
At her words, everyone gets up and walks across the stage until they are in clearly choreographed positions. Mr Schue takes a seat next to Miss Pillsbury right as the lights go down, and it's pitch black for a moment before a single spot-light flicks on, bathing a lone person in simple, white light.
In a simple red dress, her hair hanging down her back and a small smile on her painted lips, Tina looks much more grown then her 18 years. Her voice, when she sings, is clear and ringing and pure. " There are places I'll remember, all my life though some have changed. Some forever not for better, some have gone and some remain."
The lights come up, and the whole group stands scattered across the stage, arm's width apart.
Artie and Quinn come forward so that they are either side of Tina, and add their voices into the mix. " All these places had their moments, with lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living, in my life I've loved them all."
The choreography begins, as the kids pair up in twos. Mike comes along side Tina, spinning her around with his hands on her hips as the two of them sing. " But of all these friends and lovers, there is no one compares with you and these memories lose their meaning, when I think of love as something new."
As the whole group begins to sing, the music soars and the emotions in the room swell. In the audience, tears prick at Mr Schue's eyes, and Miss Pillsbury reaches over, resting a hand on his forearm. In the darkness, they share a look of mutual understanding.
" Though I know I'll never lose affection for people and things that went before, I know I'll often stop and think about them. In my life I love you more."
The New Directions stand in a line, staring out into an empty audience, voices raised together.
In the centre, Mike reaches across and laces his fingers with Tina's.
" In my life I love you more."
XxX