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Mike notices them for the first time on the outdoor track that circles the football field, because Coach Sylvester has had the entire cheerleading squad running laps for the past hour, and they’re the first two done.
They share a water bottle and use each other to lean on as they stretch out their legs, and it’s not until the blow of a whistle signals the end of another round of planks that Mike realizes he’s staring.
“Check it out, boys.” Noah Puckerman tips his head in the direction of the two girls. “Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez. Word has it they’ll be battling it out for captain by next year.”
“I didn’t know you subscribed to Cheerleader’s Digest, man,” Finn quips with a grin, and Puck, unfazed, shakes his head at the round of laughter that follows.
“Whatever, dude. If those two are on the cover, sign me up for a yearly subscription. Fuckin’ smoking.”
Half the team practically blows a load when Quinn bends over to tie her shoe, and a string of comments regards the way Santana looks when she strips off her tank top and is left in her sports bra and spandex.
Something about it swirls uncomfortably in the pit of Mike’s stomach—maybe it’s the way he was raised, or maybe it’s the two Big Macs he had for lunch—so he stays silent, but offers a laugh here and there when appropriate.
He’s not about to be labelled the wuss of the football team before high school’s even started.
*
Two weeks into sophomore year, they all end up at a party together.
Mike isn’t drinking; he’s seen his older sister fall victim to an unforgiving Asian flush one too many times and isn’t all that eager to find out if he’s destined for the same fate, which leaves him on designated driver duty.
Quinn and Santana show up with the rest of the cheerleaders, and they don’t leave each other’s side all night.
They’ve already garnered a reputation around school that rarely revolves around words other than hot, bitchy, and terrifying, but they were nice enough to Mike during the class projects they were assigned together throughout freshman year and he’s the only guy on the football team who hasn’t made a play at either of them, so he likes to think he’s in their good graces.
He joins the game of spin the bottle that initiates hours later—a lopsided circle of high schoolers surrounding an empty beer bottle set atop an old checkerboard—and that’s how Mike Chang ends up kissing Santana Lopez.
It’s on his second spin, and while his hands remain lamely (and nervously) limp at his sides, hers wind up and tug on the hairs at the nape of his neck. Santana tastes like rum and Burt’s Bees, and when she pulls away, she shoots Mike a smile that could be considered friendly and a laugh that says not bad, Chang.
Quinn’s sitting on the couch chatting up a storm with Finn, and when Santana leans back to lazily rest against her knees, Quinn absentmindedly runs her fingers through Santana’s hair until her next turn.
There’s a tinge of tenderness in her touch, something so galactically out of bounds for a head cheerleader, but before Mike can think about it too long, Brittany S. Pierce is tugging him by the front of his shirt and leaning in.
*
Quinn gets pregnant, and Santana gets Brittany. Mike is forced to observe both revelations from the back of the choir room.
It’s not that he cares that much. He doesn’t really have time to, not with football practices, glee club rehearsals, and chemistry tutoring filling up every inch of his planner. Still, though—when Quinn strolls the halls in a pastel cardigan and modest sundress and Santana brushes by her without so much as a glance in her direction, Mike’s somewhat at a loss. Just a few weeks ago he was helping them pass notes to each other in their European History class.
Maybe girls are just different, he rationalizes. And anyone with common sense knows better than to ever question them, Quinn and Santana least of all. (The insults that spilled from their lips when they overheard Azimio speculating whether or not they hooked up in the locker room still haunt Mike to this day.)
He’s sitting with Santana in the library during one of their tutoring sessions when he notices something. “New bracelet looks nice.”
For a moment, Santana shoots him a quizzical look, and Mike starts to feel a nervous pulse in his Adam’s apple before her confusion is replaced with a laugh and shake of the head. “You notice everything, don’t you? But, thanks. It’s from Britt.”
“Cool.” Mike scratches at the back of his head and taps his eraser mindlessly against his notebook, cautious to add any supplemental commentary. There’s a delicate line to tread when it comes to Santana Lopez, and finding out whether or not it’s been crossed is not a science experiment Mike’s qualified to solve. His mouth, however, doesn’t seem to register the sentiment on time, because seconds later he’s asking, “By the way, how’s Quinn doing? You know, with everything?”
Santana frowns slightly. “I don’t know. Fine, probably. Isn’t that a question for her?”
“Yeah, guess so.” Mike cowers a little and clears his throat, cautiously. “It’s just, I know you two are close, and- and I’m sure she misses the Cheerios and stuff.”
“Yup,” Santana shrugs, rather dismissively, and having a semblance of a brain, Mike just nods his head without another word. When he and Santana meet eyes for a flash of a second, she relaxes her shoulders, just a little. Mike would’ve missed it if he blinked. “Look, sorry, I just- I don’t really have time to talk about this. My dad will chew me out if I bomb another test. So can you just...explain to me what the hell an isotope is?”
*
That’s the last time Mike tries to figure out what the deal is with Quinn and Santana. Actively, anyway.
They fight more often than not. Santana shakes her head with a scoff before rehearsals whenever Quinn is discussing pregnancy cravings with Kurt and Mercedes, and Quinn is unable to suppress a scowl whenever Puck and Santana spend entire passing periods talking (and, sometimes, not-talking) at her locker.
And if there’s one thing that rivals the terror of Quinn and Santana unleashing on someone together, it’s when that venom is directed towards each other. They’re each the only person in the school completely unafraid of the other, and Mike’s surprised punches haven’t been thrown.
It evolves into them not acknowledging each other at all. Quinn gets wrapped up in pregnancy hardships and Santana spends most of her time with Brittany, holding a glint in her eye that Mike thinks could resemble something like love.
*
When Quinn’s parents kick her out and everyone finds out Puck’s the father of the baby, there’s a shift. It’s subtle and easy to glaze over, but it’s there.
Quinn has a softer, quieter edge to her. What used to be sneers and eye rolls are now subdued frowns and averted gazes; time she used to spend in the choir room biting comments about Rachel or Santana is now devoted to silently doing homework or reading a book.
Sometimes, Mike will catch her eye when he’s taking his seat in the back row, and the brief smile she’ll shoot him will cause a slight pang in his chest—a reminder of how young she is, and everything she’s being forced to face.
Santana steps back into her corner again, just barely. It’s clear that Brittany’s her number one now, but Mike notices how Santana will hold Quinn’s backpack for her sometimes; notices how, on Quinn’s bad days, Santana will lean in and try to make her laugh when she doesn’t think anyone is looking.
Mike still tutors Santana every Thursday, and when he’s feeling optimistic, he thinks he could consider them friends. They have easy conversations that don’t center around school, Santana laughs at his jokes with well-placed eye rolls, and once in awhile, she sneaks in an order of tater tots from the cafeteria for them to split—"You’re like, all muscle, Chang, so don’t you dare tell me you can’t use a little grease up in those bones.”
Some weeks, she shows up late, taking her seat with a huff. “Sorry, I had to help Juno pick up her stupid vitamins.” Her tone is clipped and annoyed, but Mike thinks it’s really nice that she’s helping. He tells Santana that much, and she grimaces, slightly. “Yeah, well. Someone needs to tend to her helpless ass, right?”
*
On the bus ride to Regionals, everyone falls asleep.
Well, almost everyone.
Mike’s eyelids are lulling shut when his peripherals catch Santana scanning her surroundings before sliding into the empty spot next to Quinn, right in front of Mike and Matt.
“Hey. You good?” she asks, her voice quiet and soft in a way Mike’s never heard her use with anyone who wasn’t Brittany. It sounds so personal and intimate despite being a question so simple, that Mike turns up the music flowing through his ear buds so as to not feel like he’s intruding.
*
Quinn goes into labor right after they finish performing, and Mike helps carry her up and down the bus and into Artie’s lap. Her fingers grip at the base of his neck, not unlike Santana’s did during spin the bottle at the very beginning of the school year, except Quinn’s grasp hurts and she’s really angry, and Mike figured the girl was strong, but this is just—
She’s wheeled off to the delivery room before he knows it, her mom, Puck, and Mercedes hot on her tail. Mike and Matt raid the vending machine as everyone lingers in and around the waiting room, and when Mike hands Santana a pack of peanut m&m’s, he overhears her muttering unimpressed comments in a perfected Spanglish regarding Mrs. Fabray’s sudden resurgence.
Some hours later, Mercedes comes with a grin and good news. The baby’s name is Beth, and she’s happy and healthy, just like Quinn. Mike swears he hears the room let out a collective exhale.
They’re not allowed into Quinn’s room, but the doctors let them all shuffle into the hall and wave hello from the door. Mike half-expects Quinn to look beyond her years cradling a tiny, swaddled pink blanket in the crook of her elbow, but ironically, she looks as young as he’s ever seen her. Just a girl.
Mr. Schue ushers them back to the elevators so they can get back to the competition, but not before Santana shakes her head in amusement, a proud, “you did it, Q,” leaving her lips in a soft whisper.
*
Mike doesn’t hear from either of them all summer, instead spending his weekdays as a camp counselor alongside Tina Cohen-Chang.
He likes Tina a lot. She’s sweet, funny, talented, and she’s already familiar with all the foods Mike was too embarrassed to bring in for lunch growing up, so when they go out for dim-sum, they can both order whatever they want without fear of judgement.
They hang out almost every day after camp, and Mike even calls his sister to tell her all about how he’s watched 13 Going on 30 four times this summer solely because Tina likes it that much.
Three weeks before his junior year starts, he asks Tina to be his girlfriend.
A small part of him feels bad because he and Artie are cool, but the way Tina holds his face in her hands and kisses him right before she says yes, yes, yes lets him know he made the right decision.
*
So, it’s Tina who texts him about the fight in the hallway.
Mike’s stuck in office hours because biology isn’t exactly his strong suit and his dad is concerned that he clocked a B+ on his first quiz for the semester when his phone buzzes in his back pocket.
From: T
Q/S fighting in hall. Slapping n yelling, it’s bad
He meets her at her locker just before last period, and after she explains everything, all Mike can respond with is, “Wait, Santana got a boob job?”
Tina shoots him this glare that lets him know he’ll have to swing by the florist after school.
*
It’s not like Mike’s afraid of Quinn. She’s never had a bone to pick with him and he’s never been on the receiving end of one of her infamously icy stares—he just isn’t as close to her as he is to Santana (and even then, ‘close’ might be generous). So when he ends up behind her in the lunch line the following day, he finds himself stumbling over his words to keep from commenting on the dark purple bruise coloring the side of her arm. And are those...nail marks, too?
“Are you ok?” Quinn finally asks after he incoherently answers her question about the brownies being any fresh this week. “You seem off your game today. Did something happen with Tina?”
“Oh, no,” Mike laughs courteously. His gaze falls on the battle scar again, and he shakes his head. “Parent stuff,” he lies. “Dad was up late lecturing me about grades already.”
Quinn just sighs empathetically and nods her head, because she can understand the suffocating expectations of parents better than anyone. If they were actual friends, Mike thinks they could probably bond over it, as sad as it may be. “Mine was the same,” she says.
She grabs them each a brownie and bids him a quick goodbye before he can respond.
*
“I wonder what happened,” Tina ponders after school, as they walk the two blocks to Mike’s car. Being one of the only juniors who didn’t get a parking spot in the main lot sucks. “They seemed fine after Regionals last year.”
“I don’t know,” Mike answers honestly, because he thought the exact same thing. “I’m not gonna be the one dumb enough to ask either of them,” he adds, and Tina giggles, tugging him closer by his wrist and interlacing their fingers together.
The action alone makes Mike’s heart flutter, just like every other time, and all Quinn-and-Santana speculation ceases for the day.
*
So Quinn’s dating Sam now, Brittany’s dating Artie, Santana’s brewing something between Finn and Rachel, Kurt goes to Dalton Academy, and Mike…
Mike’s just trying to figure out Sectionals choreography. That’s all.
He and Brittany rehearse for two hours nearly every day after Cheerios and football practice, and when Mike is up until two in the morning doing homework, he thinks maybe he’s stretching himself too thin. Then he and Brittany will finish putting together another 8-count of their choreo, and Mike’s just relieved to be able to showcase the art he loves.
He’s usually the first one in the dance studio, and when Artie isn’t the one accompanying Brittany on her walk over from the girls’ locker room, Santana is. And unlike the beginning of sophomore year, before the baby drama and the dismantling of what the school has coined the Unholy Trinity, Quinn isn’t with them, ever.
Everything’s tense the week before the show—Kurt’s gone, Rachel found out about Finn and Santana and has been (not so secretly) spending more time with Puck ever since, Mike’s still nursing some injuries as a result of the Karofsky fight, Brittany’s distracted by a magic comb or something, and on top of all of that, something must’ve gone down between Quinn and Santana at Cheerios practice today, because Mike overhears Santana complaining to Brittany as they walk down the corridor one day.
“The only reason she’s captain anyway is because she’s a power-hungry snitch who decides to play tattle-tale like it’s her job,” she grumbles, and Brittany’s response is too quiet for Mike to decipher. When they reach their destination, Santana peeks her head in to quickly say hello. “Don’t work too hard, Chang,” she quips, the venom from her voice gone, then she sulks out of sight without another word.
“Everything good?” Mike asks, raising his eyebrows as Brittany just runs her hands down her face.
“The Cheerios make Quinn and Santana forget how much they actually care about each other,” she mumbles, taking a seat next to him on the ground so she can start stretching. “Santana misses Quinn, and Quinn misses Santana. I know it. They just care too much about being popular to realize it, and I can’t understand why.”
Mike nods his head, commending the input. Brittany may not always be the brightest, but no one gives her enough credit for her people skills. She can read them better than almost anyone. “I’m guessing you’re the middleman when they fight?”
Brittany nods. “Yeah. Or, you know, middlewoman.” She starts rummaging through her backpack, mutters something about not being able to find the comb (what is with this comb?), then she shakes it off before rising to her feet. “Ok, so where’d we leave off last time?”
*
They tie with Dalton at Sectionals. It’s not a win, per se, but nevertheless they advance to Regionals, and Mike guesses that’s all that matters.
The holidays are a rather uneventful affair. Brittany’s belief in Santa remains, Mike buys Tina a new pair of Converse (and gets a brand-new set of headphones in return), and his sister and her boyfriend fly in from Chicago to spend Christmas in Lima.
Come January, shit kinda hits the fan and Quinn, Santana, and Brittany all quit the Cheerios.
“Sylvester can suck my dick,” Santana says one day after fourth period, when she and Mike are both exchanging books out of their adjacent lockers. He doesn’t tutor her anymore so they don’t have a real excuse to talk and hang out, but Mike figures they don’t need one. They’re friends, he likes to think, and passing periods are usually spent exchanging anecdotes until it’s time to walk to class.
“Not gonna lie, I’m still not sure I totally recognize you in pants,” he quips, because he feels comfortable enough around Santana to tease her, and she tsks her tongue before softly shoving his shoulder.
“So you’re getting brave now, huh?” she arches an eyebrow as she shuts her locker closed. “Later, Mike.”
She heads to her next class, and Mike does the same minutes later, plopping down in his usual seat next to Quinn in Brit Lit. She slips her phone back into her bag when he arrives, but Mike’s 20/20 vision is enough for him to catch Finn’s name on her phone screen. “Hey,” she greets nonchalantly.
“Hey,” he greets just as easily. He smiles at the scarf she wears around her neck and asks, “And how is common folk Ms. Fabray doing today?”
Quinn can be a tougher cookie to crack sometimes, but she lets out a laugh as she rolls her eyes. “Funny.”
*
Santana may or may not have given Quinn and Finn mono on Valentine’s Day, Quinn and Finn may or may not be having an affair, and Sam breaks up with Quinn so he can date Santana.
Mike’s head spins. He’s just glad he still has Tina.
“Seriously, T. I love you so much,” he makes sure to reassure her, because the glee club can make people crazy, but he just wants her to know that the two of them are good. Always good.
They go to Rachel’s house party extravaganza with Artie and Brittany.
It’s kind of a mess—everyone gets so drunk that even Mike can’t tell his left from his right by 11 o’clock. He spends most of the night on one of the couches playing drinking games with Tina, Mercedes, and Artie, but at some point he ends up by the bar, listening intently as Quinn and Zizes take turns using Puck as a verbal punching bag. It’s somewhat satisfying to watch.
They ease up on him eventually, and Mike’s pouring himself another cup of jungle juice when Santana stumbles towards him, make-up streaking down her face. “He likes her more than me,” she stammers, clutching onto his shoulder for balance.
Assuming she’s referring to Sam and Brittany kissing during spin-the-bottle, Mike asks, “Brittany?”
Santana furrows her eyebrows, shaking her head. “No, not Brittany. Quinn. And of course he fuckin’ does, I mean...look at her. She’s smart, she’s pretty, she’s surprisingly sweet when she wants to be—she’s everything.”
It’s the highest regard in which Santana’s spoken of Quinn in...well, maybe ever, but Mike’s too inebriated to realize it. He wraps an arm around his friend. “Well, so are you,” he says, and the words just thrust Santana into another round of tears.
He won’t remember this the next day. He’ll just spend twenty minutes trying to scrub her mascara stains from his sweater before giving up and tossing it in the wash.
*
Mike blinks twice and all of a sudden the glee club is en route to New York for Nationals. And he doesn’t mean to be pessimistic, but...they’re kind of screwed. Right now, their only path to victory is through means of Brittany’s ode to a plastic cup (which is actually quite catchy, but probably not enough to beat Vocal Adrenaline).
Mr. Schue has them all on songwriting lockdown while he’s out in the city, and Quinn, Santana, and Brittany are nowhere to be found.
“They probably realized how badly we’re going to get crushed and are currently drafting an apology letter to Sue asking if they can reclaim their spots on the Cheerios,” Tina theorizes to Mike’s right, and he just gives her arm a reassuring squeeze. The three girls may have their own nuances to work through amongst themselves, but they wouldn’t do that to the glee club. They just wouldn’t.
Brittany emerges first. She bounces into the room with a cheerful grin and reassures everyone Santana and Quinn will be back in a bit.
Mike sighs, because now that’s four people who have managed to evade the “mandatory” lockdown. He rests the side of his head against the hotel room’s window and spots the two girls in question waiting for a cab outside; Santana has an arm wrapped around Quinn’s shoulders, Quinn leans into her gratefully, and Mike comes to a simple conclusion:
Everything will be fine.
*
They don’t even place at the competition. Mike has to be amongst the few to hold Santana back when she blows her lid at Rachel, but once that’s out of her system, everyone’s ready to get home and move on. Rachel and Finn are seemingly back together, Quinn has had more of a relaxing air to her ever since Santana took her to get a haircut, and Mike and Tina get to spend their last night in New York on a date night.
Everything is fine, indeed.
*
Mike spends his summer vacation splitting time between football camp, shadowing his dad at the hospital, dancing, and Tina.
Santana and Brittany rejoin the Cheerios, this time in a pair and not a trio.
“Quinn's doing her own thing,” Santana shrugs when Mike asks her about it on the football field one day, a slant of sadness in her voice.
So he doesn’t see Quinn all summer, but he hangs out with Santana a handful of times—mainly when Cheerios and football end around the same time and Brittany’s out of town on a trip with her family.
“Being captain is cool and all, but it’s weird without her there,” Santana admits quietly one afternoon. Her gaze is on her nail file and she doesn’t say anything else.
Mike tries to lighten the mood. “Because you didn’t have to pry the captaincy from her bare hands?”
It works, to an extent. Santana breathes out a courteous laugh, then she shakes her head. “Yes and no. I don’t know. It’s just weird sometimes, doing things without her.”
Mike nods his head. “I get it,” he says, although he’s not totally sure if he does.
*
Quinn makes her return in August with pink hair, a nose ring, heavy eye makeup, and a lower back tattoo. (And Mike considers himself to be quite smart, but even he can’t sort through this.)
They have Honors Calc together, and Mike’s eyes strain not to linger on her on his way to his seat—not next to her, because that chair is occupied by who Mike assumes is one of the “Skanks” Tina referred to this morning, but two seats behind her. Quinn smells distinctly of cigarettes, and her hooded eyes don’t meet Mike’s once.
After school, at football practice, Mike’s leading the team in a stretch when he spots Santana and Brittany talking to Quinn by the bleachers. There’s no telling what’s being said; Santana speaks with a hand on her hip, Brittany nods in agreement every so often, and Quinn simply levels them behind her sunglasses.
A small part of Mike hopes he’ll walk into school the next morning and Quinn will be blonde and in a Cheerios uniform, but that day never comes.
*
She does go back to blonde, though, eventually; back to blonde and sundresses and glee club.
Mike’s too busy stressing out about his dad to notice that Santana smiles more often and a little easier now that Quinn’s back. He doesn’t notice that they sit next to each other in the choir room and play hangman in Quinn’s notebook when Rachel is droning on and on about something Mike’s not listening to, and he doesn’t notice that they might actually consider themselves to be friends again. Like, now that they’re no longer fighting over the same captaincy spot or the same boys, they can co-exist peacefully.
Things are good.
*
Finn outs Santana in a packed hallway, and things are…less good.
“He shouldn’t have done that,” Mike mutters the second Tina tells him about it. “Whatever she was saying to him beforehand, no matter how bad it may have been, he shouldn’t have done that.”
“I know,” Tina agrees, and she wraps her hand around one of Mike’s hands, which has reflexively clenched into fists. “Santana will be ok, Mike. We’ll talk to her when she’s ready.”
It’s a whole week after Santana slaps Finn in the auditorium, after the Troubletones spend the week with the New Directions, when Mike and Santana are both at their lockers at the same time. She’s been quieter since everything went down, and Mike’s stuffing a textbook into his bag right before he says, “Vending machine accidentally gave me two packs of M&M’s. You want one?”
Santana loosens her shoulders, as if she has to relax her muscles after bracing for an impact that never came, and she shoots Mike this smile that says she’s grateful he’s acknowledged her without having to acknowledge recent events—because everyone’s already done more than enough of that. “Peanut?”
“Of course.”
She takes it from his outstretched hands then abruptly pulls him into a tight hug, rising onto her tiptoes to say, “Thank you, Mike. You’re the best.” And she’s shutting her locker and slinging her bag over her shoulders and making her way down the hall before Mike can respond.
*
Tina and Kurt have a meeting to discuss competition costumes after school, so Mike waits for her in one of the empty classrooms, getting a headstart on homework. He digs through his bag to find his earbuds—life is too quiet when there’s no music—when he hears two voices growing louder as they walk down the otherwise empty hall. It takes a few seconds to realize that they belong to Santana and Quinn.
…Santana and Quinn.
Together?
“...you and Brittany,” is the first thing Mike hears Quinn say. “And, you know, I—I’ll always have so much love for you, S. I mean that. No matter who you love…or how many times we try to kill each other.”
Santana laughs quietly. “Yeah. Same here, Q.”
Silence envelops them, and the next words Quinn murmurs are muffled. Mike can only assume they’re in an embrace.
He finally locates his earbuds stuck in between two of his notebooks, and he pops them in before he’s caught eavesdropping.
*
Quinn gets Santana, Mercedes, Brittany, and Sugar to rejoin the New Directions. Mike doesn’t know how the hell she did it, but everyone’s back together again right after Sectionals, and the world feels like it’s in proper balance.
The holidays come and go, Mr. Shue and Miss Pillsbury get engaged, Mike and Tina celebrate another Valentine’s Day together, Finn and Rachel also get engaged, and before Mike knows it, the glee club’s prepping for Regionals.
Tensions have been high surrounding the drama with Sebastian and the Warblers and Blaine’s eyes and…a supposed naked picture of Finn? It stresses Mike out more than he cares to admit, but by the time competition day rolls around, he’s feeling good. Like they really have a chance at winning the thing, in spite of everything that’s been in the air lately. The glee club’s always been weirdly good at sorting out their messes at the last second, anyway.
Mike’s always felt like he’s at his best whilst performing, and tonight only solidifies that. Everyone’s the most in sync they have been all year, and when they’re announced as the sole winners, Mike is unsurprised but elated nonetheless. He dips Tina in his arms and kisses her onstage.
Everyone hurries back to their homes to get ready for Finn and Rachel’s wedding. Mike shows up at the courthouse in his suit and takes a seat next to Artie and Sam in the room with Finn and all the groomsmen. “What’d I miss?”
“Quinn’s running late, and Rachel wants to wait until she gets here,” Sam says, and Mike sighs. (He rushed his hair routine for nothing.)
*
He’s leaning on the arm of Artie’s wheelchair, more than half asleep, when Finn bursts through the doors, as pale as a ghost. “Quinn’s been in an accident.”
*
The last time the entire glee club was in a hospital together, it was freshman year, and Quinn was having a baby.
Now, with more tubes attached to her than Mike can count, every visible part of her more cut up and bruised than not, the waiting room is just as tense as it was back then. Tina’s crying silently in the chair next him, and he wraps an arm around her shoulders, resting his lips against her hair.
His dad is on shift and is able to give everyone an update. “No severe brain damage and she’s shown small signs of consciousness, but that’s about the only good news anyone can give right now.”
Rachel breaks out into a sob, Mercedes and Kurt are holding onto each other tightly in their chairs, and Santana has to step out of the room, her facial expression a mystery.
*
They’re saying it’s temporary paralysis. Or at least, hopefully temporary. Quinn’s in the hospital for weeks following the accident, and the glee club takes turns visiting, in pairs and trios so as to not crowd her or her room.
Today, Mike and Tina visit for half an hour after school, and after, they’re in the car when Mike realizes he forgot his backpack in Quinn’s room.
“I’ll be right back,” he says, and he takes the elevator back up to the 7th floor. He’s humming a random Michael song under his breath when he pauses in his tracks, because Santana’s made her way from where she was in the waiting room to Quinn’s bedside.
Quinn’s sleeping, and Santana’s clasped one of Quinn’s hands in between both her own. Her expression is soft as she seemingly whispers things quietly for Quinn to hear (or not hear). Unable to intrude on the private moment, Mike retreats down the hallway, out of sight.
It’s minutes later when the door to Quinn’s room swings open and Santana walks out, one hand stuffed in her letterman jacket while the other wipes at the tears streaming down her cheeks. She glances around to make sure no one sees her before making a beeline towards the bathroom.
Mike swiftly grabs his backpack, and he gets back to the car undetected.
*
Quinn comes back to school in a wheelchair. Everyone looks at her like she’s this fragile invalid, and Santana makes sure to throw a sneer anyone’s way if their eyes linger too long. It causes Mike to smirk, because he should’ve known—no one’s more loyal than Santana Lopez.
*
He spends hours shopping with his mom and sister to find a tie and corsage that perfectly matches Tina’s prom dress.
“So handsome, Michael,” his mom grins proudly, her hand cupping his cheek, and Mike leans down to kiss hers.
Brittany’s dinosaur theme is actually a hit; the glee club performs, Mike dances, and Tina’s the most beautiful girl in the room.
They’re wrapped together in a slow dance, swaying in sync to the beat of the music when Tina pulls away and starts patting excitedly at his chest because Quinn’s standing. She’s standing.
And, of course, it’s Santana holding her up, a secure arm wrapped around Quinn’s waist. Her fingers clutch at the fabric of Quinn’s lavender dress because in spite of everything they’ve been through (or maybe because of it), she’d never let Quinn fall.
*
Tina’s there with the rest of his family when he opens his acceptance letter from Joffrey, and she starts crying before Mike can even finish reading the first sentence.
“I’ll only be a couple states over, T,” he comforts her, wiping tears away with the pad of his thumb. Tina shakes her head.
“No, it’s not that,” she says, leaning forward to kiss him and tasting like salty tears and lip gloss. “I’m just so proud of you.”
*
Two days before graduation, he and Santana are cleaning out their lockers together.
“Hey, you remember when we kissed during Spin the Bottle? Right when sophomore year started?”
“I think I have that date forever commemorated in my calendar, yeah,” Mike teases, and Santana shoves him with a grin. “That is what you were going to ask me, right?”
“Alright, Chang,” she rolls her eyes. She shakes her head, amused. “You know, even back then, I knew you were different from all the other guys on the football team. You didn’t try sticking your tongue down my throat, didn’t announce the kiss to the entire school the following Monday…” she pauses, her gaze lifting to his eyes when she says, “I just want to thank you. For everything, like being my friend.”
Mike smiles at her. “Thanks for being mine,” he says. He opens his arms for a hug, and Santana feigns hesitance before stepping into them wholeheartedly. “I’ll clear a spot on my dorm room floor for when you visit me.”
“Oh please, like you would let me sleep on the floor.”
(Mike laughs at that, because she’s not wrong.)
*
Mike spends most of his summer with Tina, Mercedes, and Kurt, getting in all the final moments he can with them before he leaves for Chicago, Kurt leaves for New York, and Mercedes for LA.
He and Tina agree to do long distance, because they both mean too much to each other to let something like that deter them, and she helps Mike and his parents pack the trunk of his car on move-in day.
“Let me know when you get there.” She kisses him, engulfing him in a hug.
This time, it’s Mike who cries, and his tears blur his vision until Tina wipes them away.
*
Distance ends up being more than either of them anticipated, and their relationship ends the third week of October.
Mike only tells his sister, and when he and Tina change their relationship status on Facebook, he figures it’s their way of letting their high school friends know what happened without having to actually say the words.
Santana calls him for the first time all semester. She lets him steer the conversation, lets him control what they do and don’t talk about, and if she hears the way Mike’s voice breaks, she’s nice enough not to say anything.
He asks her how she’s doing, because after a certain point talking about Tina just makes him feel worse, and she voices her worries about her and Brittany heading down the same path.
“I’m sure you two will get through it,” he says truthfully. They’re Santana and Brittany, after all—they can get through anything.
*
It’s three weeks later when he gets a text from Quinn, after a long day at the dance studio. He has to blink twice to make sure he didn’t read the notification wrong.
Quinn Fabray
Today 7:31pm
Hi Mike, I’m in town for a family wedding and
would love to grab some lunch or coffee. Let me
know if you’re around.
*
He and Quinn haven’t had many conversations outside of the context of school and glee, so Mike would be lying if he said he wasn’t feeling the littlest bit shy on his walk over to the restaurant they chose to meet at, a couple blocks from Quinn’s hotel.
She’s already there, as punctual as ever, donning a peacoat with a scarf wrapped regally around her neck. Her hair’s a lot longer than it was the last time Mike saw her, and she beams with a wave once she spots him.
They get seated in a booth along one of the walls, and Quinn orders an iced tea and a wedge salad; Mike a water and turkey wrap. They talk like old friends, and Mike’s comforted by how easily the words come.
Quinn shares stories of New Haven and a secret society and regular phone calls with Sam and Mercedes, and Mike tells her about Chicago and his performance schedule and keeping up with their other high school friends.
Quinn’s lips quirk into a small smile at the mention of Santana, but it’s gone just as quickly as it comes. “Sometimes I almost miss having her around, bitching me out for no reason. Is that weird?”
“I mean, I’ll be the first to say I could never keep up with your guys’ relationship, but no, I don’t think that’s weird,” Mike says, and Quinn laughs in response.
“And listen, I—I just have to say, I’m sorry about you and Tina. We don’t have to get into it, but I really am. I just want you both to be happy.”
Mike smiles. “Thanks, Quinn,” he says, and the gratitude applies to both the initial sentiment and the fact she’s not pushing the subject any further.
They finish up their lunch and depart with an embrace, and Quinn smiles at him before saying, “It was nice to see you, Mike.”
“You, too,” he says, smiling back. “Catch you at Thanksgiving?”
Quinn nods, and they wave at each other one last time before heading in opposite directions.
*
Long distance claims its next two victims, and Santana and Brittany break up.
Mike reaches out to Santana, the same way she did to him when she found out about him and Tina, but she doesn’t answer his call so he sends her a text instead.
Sorry about you and Britt. Here for you, it says.
Santana replies hours later.
yeah, well. couldn’t let you have all the fun could i? she sends, followed quickly by, but thank you, Chang.
*
Everyone’s home for Thanksgiving, and they all meet in the auditorium per Finn’s request. Santana and Quinn exchange waves and tiny smiles the moment they lock eyes on each other, and Mike thinks this week might actually remain drama-free.
*
He’s wrong.
“They slapped each other?”
“Britt’s the only one who actually saw it, but I swear I heard them from all the way down the hall,” Sam says. Mercedes shakes her head.
“When will those two learn that they’re really just looking out for each other? I mean, they say the shit that needs to be said, but they’re so nasty about it, it comes out all bitch.” She rolls her eyes for good measure, and Mike silently voices his agreement.
Lord help them.
*
Seeing Tina doesn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. They keep a healthy distance and it only feels natural to seek her out after their Sectionals loss, but Mike ultimately stops himself because he knows that’s not his role anymore.
He makes his way back to school the following weekend feeling both relieved and incomplete.
*
His parents fly out to Chicago for the holidays since both he and his sister are there, so the next time Mike’s back in Lima is for Mr. Schue’s wedding. Brittany’s with Sam now, Tina seems too preoccupied with keeping tabs on Blaine and Kurt to acknowledge him much, and Quinn and Santana remain glued to each other’s sides from the second they sit down in the same church pew.
Miss Pillsbury never shows, but there’s still a reception. Mike doesn’t really get it, but free drinks and a dance floor are two things he’d never turn down, so to the venue he goes.
He dances with everyone; Brittany and Sam, Mercedes, Jake and Marley, and even Quinn and Santana—until they move onto the bar, hand–in-hand.
Seeing them together like this reminds Mike of freshman year of high school, when they saw each other as equals and had an effortlessly superior air to them that let everyone else know they were untouchable. It’d be intimidating if it wasn’t somewhat nostalgic.
They stay by the bar for the most of the night, their heads leaned in close together as they engage in conversations not meant to be heard by anyone else.
Finn and Rachel end up singing a ballad together onstage, and Mike and Tina are the only ones seated at the glee club’s assigned table. They exchange looks that silently say why the hell not? before taking a spot amongst the dancing couples and wrapping their arms around each other.
Nobody notices, though, because everyone’s watching the way Quinn tugs Santana onto the dance floor herself.
“That’s new,” Tina observes. “What do you think’s going on with them?”
Mike shrugs, somewhat amazed. “When it comes to Quinn and Santana, I’ve found it’s better not to ask questions.”
*
They leave the ballroom together much later in the night, their purses and jackets in tow. Santana’s laughing, Quinn’s whispering something against the shell of her ear, and when they think no one’s looking, Quinn slides her hand down Santana’s arm to interlace their fingers together.
Mike averts his eyes, shaking his head just once to bring himself back to the room.
Like he said—better not to ask.
*
They don’t come back, and that’s the last Mike sees of them before he’s driving back to Chicago two days later. All he can do is shake his head and run a hand through his hair.
He’s never met anyone like them.
*
He ends up staying at school over Spring Break, and he meets a girl he might like. Her name is Julie, she’s a dancer, and it turns out she was in Vocal Adrenaline while Mike was in New Directions (maybe the Midwest isn’t so big after all).
They watch TV shows and movies in her dorm and explore the city together (the Bean, the lake, the Sears Tower), and Mike hasn’t felt butterflies around anyone since the beginning of his relationship with Tina.
He forgot what they felt like until now.
He’s walking back to his room after dropping her off in hers when he opens up his Instagram app and a new post from Santana sits at the very top of his feed. His walking pace slows when he sees it’s a picture of her and Quinn.
Mike can’t tell where they are; just that they’re on a ferry somewhere and it’s incredibly sunny yet exceptionally windy. They sport matching grins, care-free attitudes, their faces close.
santanalopez: Lucy Q and the coast today. And yes I’m still prettier than them both 💋
*
It doesn’t take long for Mike to realize they’re taking a road trip together along the East Coast.
Together as in…just together. No Kurt or Rachel or anyone else.
*
He spends a weekend at the Bushwick loft when he’s in town for a dance performance, mid-April. Rachel and Kurt bring him to their favorite spots around the city, and when they’re away at class or work, Santana takes him to lunch.
The first thing she says after the waiter hands them their menus is, “I’m not dating Quinn.”
Mike can’t help but let out a laugh. Santana never tiptoes around anything. “I wasn’t going to ask you that,” he says, and it’s not really a lie because he wasn’t. Not in those exact words, at least.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to approach it. Quinn and Santana haven’t posted any pictures together since their road trip last month, but Santana will flaunt photos of tiny shops in New Haven just as often as Quinn will do the same of dive bars in New York.
“We’ve just been spending a lot of time together since the wedding,” Santana says. “I guess now that we’re out of high school, we’re capable of actually being good friends? I don’t know. But we visit each other most weekends, and we have a good time. That’s all.”
“I think that’s nice,” Mike says. While he scans over the appetizer section of the menu, he builds up the courage to ask, “do you…want to be dating her?”
Santana slowly sets her menu down, eyes Mike from her seat. For a split second, he thinks she’s seconds away from tearing him a new one. When she just swallows with apprehension, Mike says,
“Your answer doesn’t leave this table. I’m not dating Tina anymore.”
Santana laughs at that. “Guess you’re right,” she mumbles. She takes a sip of her water then says, “I don’t know what I want. This might sound stupid given how we treated each other in high school, but my relationship with Quinn is everything to me. This gray area that we’re in right now…it’s not sustainable enough to last forever, but I can’t leave it without knowing what the other side will look like. Does that make sense?”
Mike nods his head. “Sure,” he says. He doesn’t add any of his own additional commentary, and Santana seems to relax. “So…that road trip you two went on seemed cool. What was your favorite part?”
At that, Santana brightens, and she grins as she tells Mike all about Portland, Maine.
*
Julie picks him up at the airport once he’s back in Chicago, and he asks her out on a date before they even reach campus.
By Halloween, they’re officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Matching costumes and all.
she’s pretty Chang, is what Santana texts him after a photo of him and Julie hits his Instagram profile, followed quickly by, so happy for you.
*
Sue shuts down the glee club, and Mike is among the alumni that fly back to enjoy one last week in the choir room. It’s been just over a year since he saw everyone at the wedding, but it’s as if nothing’s changed, even though everything has.
Quinn and Santana are dating; not each other, but other people. Santana beams about her girlfriend in New York, and everyone meets Quinn’s boyfriend over dinner. They seem happy, both in general and for each other, but Mike knows something is off-kilter.
He knows this, because when Quinn isn’t looking at Biff, she’s looking at Santana. Because when Santana listens to their anecdotes about being Yale’s golden couple, she smiles, but it’s pinched and somewhat forced. Because the one time they accidentally make eye contact the entire week, Quinn stares at her lap for minutes afterwards.
Because, now that he thinks about it, maybe neither of them seem happy after all.
Still, everything trudges along, and Mike bids goodbye to the choir room he considered his home for so many years with the people he considers his family.
*
“How was the trip?” Julie asks him as they lay curled in his bed the night he’s back at school. Mike just shakes his head, hiding deeper into the curve of her neck.
“I’m just glad to be back.”
*
Part of growing up is realizing that maintaining friendships requires effort. Mike reminds himself of this when he goes months without talking to anyone from McKinley. There are spare calls with Sam, Mercedes, and Kurt; even a text message from Tina once in a blue moon. But nothing more than that.
It’s been eight months since he’s seen or spoken to Santana when he opens up Facebook one night and the first update at the very top of his feed says:
Santana Lopez is in a relationship with Quinn Fabray.
*
Mike nearly jumps out of bed, awakening Julie in the process.
“Sorry, sorry,” he whispers, then he’s unplugging his phone from its charger and scrolling through his message history until he finds Santana’s name.
Facebook doesn’t have a super like button, does it?? I’m so happy for you two. Seriously.
Santana replies the following morning. god, ur like an embarrassing dad lol. thank you tho Mike. miss you.
*
Mike is 27, living and performing full-time in Chicago, when he asks Julie to marry him. Quinn and Santana are two of the first people to call and congratulate him once the news drops.
When they FaceTime him, they do so from their apartment in New York. Time has aged the three of them, and Quinn and Santana carry themselves with a refined maturity that Mike marvels at. Santana still teases Quinn in a way no one else would dare to, but the smile on her face is nothing short of besotted. Quinn still rolls her eyes at any of Santana’s inappropriate remarks, but she does so rather fondly.
“Julie, you’re a lucky gal,” Santana says when Julie makes an appearance on screen. “Mike was a good kisser back in high school, and I can only assume he’s gotten better ever since.”
Quinn’s laughing as she smacks Santana’s arm.
*
They’re both at his wedding, as is the rest of the glee club. Mike finds it silly, the way he still refers to everyone as “the glee club” despite them being a decade out of high school. But when Sam takes over the dance floor with his ridiculous moves, when Rachel and Mercedes sing along to every song the DJ plays at the very top of their lungs, when Brittany leads everybody in a line dance, Mike concludes the glee club will always be who they are, despite how old they may be getting.
Tina attends with her fiance Chris, and the two of them have a good time, too. Mike catches a moment alone with her while grabbing water from the bar, and he smiles when she squeezes his hand and says, “We both ended up good, didn’t we?”
“Yeah. We did, T,” he agrees, and he pulls her close to press a kiss to the top of her head.
*
Theodore Michael Chang is born two years later, on the same day as Mike's birthday.
“Couldn’t let Daddy have his special day, huh?” he teases softly, grinning down at his boy. “It’s ok. I’ll share.”
*
Quinn and Santana send their congratulations, along with a plush teddy bear that Theo never wants to let go of.
They’re also among the people who fly into Chicago for Mike’s 30th birthday, both sporting glistening diamond rings on their left hands. When they’re not catching up with everyone, they’re cooing over Theo. Quinn dangles his teddy bear just over his nose, and he grins his gummy grin that lights up the whole room, the whole city of Chicago, the whole world. Santana laughs as she takes pictures of the two of them on her phone.
“You like Auntie San and Auntie Q, don’t you?” Mike smiles crookedly, and Theo gurgles—his way of saying, yeah Dad, they’re the best.
*
Three years later, on a beautiful day in August, Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez get married—to each other, not other people. Santana’s the one who cries on the altar, and Quinn’s the one who leans in and kisses her before the officiant is even done speaking.
Julie looks beautiful in her dark green dress and Theo looks sharp in his tuxedo. His teddy bear is at the hotel they’re staying at because his tux didn’t come in on time.
It’s Quinn and Santana, so the ceremony and reception is just as extravagant and thought-out as one would imagine. When they dance their first dance, it’s a sweeter, more intimate version of the way they danced together at Mr. Schue’s wedding. Santana murmurs sweet nothings into Quinn’s ear for the first half of the song, and Quinn smiles in response to each one.
They spend the second half silently holding each other, their eyes closed as they sway together in perfect tandem. Like they’re the only two people on earth.
*
It’s just past 11pm, and Mike is holding a sleeping Theo in his arms, waiting for Julie to use the restrooms before they head home. There’s a soft squeeze at his shoulder, then to his surprise, Quinn takes a seat next to him, flushed and exhausted but happy and in love.
“Thanks for making the trip out here,” she says. Then she tips her chin towards Theo. “He dances just like you, you know.”
Mike laughs. “Probably even better,” he says, and Quinn smiles. “You and Santana are beautiful brides, by the way.”
“Thank you,” Quinn says, laughing when their eyes find Santana trying to drag Kurt back onto the dance floor. “You know, I never told you this, but I feel like…like you always understood us, in a way.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.”
“No, seriously. You checked in every now and again, but you never pushed anything and just wanted us to be happy; whatever that may have looked like,” Quinn says. “I guess I just want to say thank you. For always looking out for us. Especially Santana.” She reaches for his free hand and holds it. Mike brushes his thumb across her knuckles.
“Always,” he promises. “Enough of this, though. Go dance with your wife.”
Quinn laughs. “Yeah, my wife,” she repeats, an automatic grin finding her lips when her eyes lock on Santana again. “Who would’ve thought, huh?”
Mike knows at least one person who was rooting for them all along.
*
(It’s him, if that wasn’t clear. But, you know—he’s not gloating or anything.)