Swaying In The Background

Episode 1: Audition

Tina laid her head on Mike's chest. They were meant to be doing homework in his bedroom, but Tina immediately moved their work aside and settled on his chest.

Mike stroked her hair. "How did it go with Artie? He gave me a nasty glare in Glee Club today."

Tina sighed. "Well, he saw us holding hands in the hallway and cornered me in the cafeteria line." She pushed herself onto her elbows. "I told him he was a terrible boyfriend and officially broke up."

Mike saw she looked slightly upset. "That's good, right?"

Tina focused on his face. "Of course. We can be together now."

Mike smiled at Tina, which was partially returned. Mike bit the inside of his cheek and went to say something when his name was shouted from downstairs.

Mike sat up in a panic; it didn't sound like a very friendly shout. He quickly sprinted downstairs, Tina on his heels.

He halted in the doorway and saw his and Tina's parents standing with two other people: a woman and a girl around their age.

"Michael, this is Mrs Corazon and her daughter Sunshine", Mike's father introduced the pair.

Mike nodded his head in greeting. "Nice to meet you."

His mum looked disappointed. "You keep telling me how good the Glee Club is, but I'm extremely disappointed in you."

Mike and Tina traded looks. What had happened?

"I'm confused. What's going on?" Mike questioned.

Mrs Corazon placed a hand on Sunshine's head. "Sunshine wanted to audition for your Glee club, but when she followed the directions given to her by a member of YOUR club, she..."

"I ended up in a crack house", Sunshine interrupted with a glare.

Mike's mouth dropped; what?

"What do you have to say for yourself, Michael?" His dad fixed him with a pointed look.

"I-I", Mike stuttered. He couldn't form words with his parents looking at him like that.

"We didn't know anything about this. We were told no one wanted to audition today." Tina spoke up, resting her hand on his wrist.

He swallowed. "Who sent you to the crack house?"

"I think her name's Rachel?" Sunshine said, and immediately, everything clicked. Rachel had been acting very shady at Glee rehearsals, but everyone thought it was because she was glad no one had come in to steal her talent.

Mike looked down at Tina, who reflected his understanding. "We are so sorry that you had to go through that."

"We'll tell Mr Schue first thing tomorrow, and he'll sort Rachel out," Tina added.

"Hopefully," Mike muttered. Mr Schue's reputation for punishing Rachel's behaviour was lacklustre at best.

//////

Mike hurried out of the choir room, followed closely by Tina, Rachel's words spiralling around his head.

Tina followed after him with a pissed-off look on her face. Not only did Mr Schue not give Rachel any punishment, but he also let her get away with insulting her and her boyfriend.

She grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. "You know all that stuff Rachel said isn't true, right?"

Mike scoffed, "She's got a point, though. If I can't dance, then what am I doing in Glee Club? What's the point in having a member who can't sing?"

Tina moved her hand down his arm and grasped his hand. "Hey. You can sing; I've heard you since we spend most of the time in the back of the group together."

"Yeah, enough to carry a tune and do backing vocals." Mike shrugged.

"I don't care if your voice isn't the best; you express yourself with your body. What's this all about?" Tina asked, trying to meet his eyes.

"I'm just worried that you'll want someone who can keep up with your amazing voice," Mike muttered, leaving the 'like Artie' unspoken.

Tina blushed, "Well, I much prefer a man who'll treat me right than one who just uses me for my voice."

Tina leaned up and pressed a brief kiss to his lips. Mike grinned as they pulled apart, and the pair held hands before walking down the hall.

//////

Tina and Mike linked arms as they walked out of the auditorium with the rest of the group. Each of them talking about how good Sunshine was. 

"Sunshine was amazing", Tina exclaimed with a wide smile.

"Yeah, she was. Do you think she'll be okay joining after what Rachel put her through?" Mike frowned, wondering if Rachel had traumatised their potential new member.

"Let's hope so; we really need her."

"Tina, wait up" Tina turned to see Rachel chasing after them.

She rolled her eyes and waited for Rachel with an annoyed expression. Mike waved at her but continued down the hall (he didn't want to speak to Rachel at the moment, and Tina didn't blame him).

"What do you want?" Tina asked as soon as Rachel reached her.

"You heard how good Sunshine was in there..."

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there." Tina held up her hand. "Sunshine was amazing, and we'll be lucky to have her on our team if she even wants to join after what you pulled. If you've come to gain sympathy, you're not going to get it. Go find your boyfriend if you want someone to whine to."

"But..." Rachel started.

Tina interrupted her again, "No. What you did was awful, and you should face the consequences of your actions."

Rachel had the decency to look ashamed, but Tina wasn't done. "Also, for the record, if you ever talk like that to me or Mike again, I'll slap you so fucking hard, it'll knock the talent right out of you. Leave us alone."

She stormed away to where Mike had been waiting at the end of the corridor. He wrapped an arm around her, and they walked into the choir room.