Swaying In The Background

Episode 19: Dream On

Mike walked out with Tina, Matt lagging with Britt and Santana.
Brian Ryan was a dick; what was so bad about dreaming big. Yeah, maybe not all of them will get big in showbiz (like himself), but Rachel and Mercedes are definitely talented enough to make it; Rachel especially has the drive to make it, no matter what. 

Mike was pulled out of his thoughts by sniffling coming from Tina. Mike dug around in his pockets and handed her the tissue pack he had in there. 

Tina smiled as she took it. "Thanks."

"Are you okay?" Mike questioned, worried about his friend. "You know Mr Ryan was wrong, right?"

"Yeah. It just threw me at having someone literally throwing all our dreams in the bin. I didn't know how to handle it." Tina explained with a sad look. 

Tina sighed as she began to clean up her makeup as best she could. She reached down her bag to grab her pocket mirror, but all she felt was air. When she looked down, her bag wasn't there. How the hell did she miss that?

"I've forgotten my bag, and I need to check on Artie. I'll see you later." Mike waved with an amused expression as Tina turned around and pushed through the group to get back to the choir room. 

Matt saw his chance and sidled up to Mike. "You okay?"

"Tough lesson", Mike stated. 

"That's not it", Matt disagreed. He looked around at the Glee club dispersing, took Mike's arm, and steered him into a classroom before locking the door. 

"What did you put down?" Matt stood in the way of the door so Mike couldn't escape. Mike didn't want to have this conversation, either. 

He crossed his arms. "What about you?"

Matt sighed but decided to humour him. "Professional football player. Stop deflecting."

"What does it matter?" Mike said, refusing to look Matt in the eye. 

"Tell me... Please"

Mike whispered, "Professional dancer."

Matt's face lit up. "Mike, that's..."

"Never gonna happen," Mike interrupted as he sat on a nearby table. 

"Why? You are insanely talented, if you want you should go for it." Matt came and sat next to him. 

"My parents, especially my dad, would never allow it. They barely allowed me to be in Glee. Dad wants me to become a doctor. It's a reliable job and will make him proud." 

"But you won't be happy."

"It doesn't matter. I'm going to continue Glee and have fun because that's all this is 'fun'. There's no career in dancing." Mike said, staring at a specific spot on the wall. 

Matt looked at Mike with sad eyes. "You sound like your father."

Mike shrugged. "I need to go. Please leave this alone; I'm not going to change my mind."

Matt watched as Mike left with a dejected look and felt like screaming. His boyfriend had the talent to succeed, just not the drive. He sighed. He'll drop the topic for now, but if Mike thinks he's just going to let this lie, then he's got another thing coming. 

//////

"I need your help" Tina slammed her hands on his table. 

Mike looked up from his homework. He had escaped to the library to get away from Santana who had been stalking his every move.

He put his pen down and focused his attention on her "What do you need?"

Tina took that as an invitation and sat in the chair across from him, dropping her bag to the floor. "Artie and I were going to do a tap dance routine for this week's assignment."

"We didn't get an assignment because Mr. Schue was too distracted by Brian Ryan," Mike stated. 

"I know, so we created our own assignment, but I'm worried Artie might pull out of the dance" Tina bit her lip in worry. 

Mike was confused about what exactly she needed help with. "So what do you need me to do?"

"Can you learn the dance? You're the best dancer in the group and..." 

Mike placed his hand on hers. "It's okay, Tina, I'll do it."

Tina lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want you to have to forfeit your performance. But I don't think Artie would do that to you. Have faith in him," Mike said, pulling his hand back. 

"I do." She sighed. "I just want to have a backup plan."

"So what are we doing?" Mike changed the subject. 

"It's a tap dance routine since that's my speciality, and it's to the song 'Dream a Little Dream of Me. '"

Mike smiled. "Nice, with a long instrumental, perfect for dancing too."

Tina nodded. "Exactly. So are you free every day after school? We need to nail this routine down."

"Yep, that's fine. I'll tell my parents I'm tutoring."

"Thanks, Mike." Tina grinned before she picked up her bag and left the library. 

//////

"Dream a little dream of me."

Mike dipped Tina as the song came to an end. He stared into her eyes and gave her a small smile before pulling her up as the rest of the group gave them applause. 

Mr. Schue stood up, clapping, "Tina, Artie, and Mike, that was amazing, definitely a contender for Regionals." 

Mike frowned slightly. That's unlikely, but he can always hope. He happened to look over at Artie, who was looking quite downtrodden.

"I'll see you all next week. Enjoy your weekend." Mr. Schue addressed the rest of the group, and everyone moved backstage. 

Tina pulled away from him and went over to Artie; she whispered a few words to him before they both quickly left. 

Mike quickly walked backstage to collect his stuff. He turned around and saw Santana right there on his face.

Mike violently jumped "Jesus Christ." He took a few deep breaths. "What are you doing?"

"It's Tina, isn't it?" Santana stated with no explanation. 

"Excuse me?" Mike's brain hadn't entirely caught up yet. 

Santana got annoyed "Tina. Tina's the person you like."

Mike's mouth opened slightly; how had she been stalking him all week and still got it so wrong? "Tina has a boyfriend"

"Apparently, she has two." Santana placed her hands on her hips. "Are you in a threesome?"

Mike's eyes widened. "No!" Santana raised an eyebrow. "NO. Tina and I aren't together. She likes and is with Artie; we're just friends."

Santana visibly sank. "God dammit." 

"Can I leave now?" Mike asked timidly. 

Santana reluctantly nodded.

"See you next week, Santana." 

Santana waved half-heartedly, and Mike quickly exited the room. God, Santana scared the shit out of him sometimes.