Second Wind

Ch. 1.: Pep Rally

"And now, we introduce you to McKinley's varsity girls soccer team, your reigning state champs for three years running!" cried out Figgins during the pep rally. The girls all rush forward through the banner being held by the baby Cheerios. Santana, star and captain of the team for two years running, dressed in her soccer uniform minus her turf cleats, saunters out after her fellow teammates, causing the stands to erupt into pandemonium.

Upon reaching Figgins, Santana gestures for the use of the mic. "Fellow Titans," she starts. "This is the part where I could bore you with some speech and all, telling you the merits of school spirit, but, I'm from Lima Heights Adjacent, and that's not how we roll. So, if you wanna see some asses get kicked by hot girls, then show up to our games for another great season! I personally guarantee that we'll have a better record than our football team again – sorry Puck! But we all know which team is the best; go Lady Titans!" And with that, she hands over the mic to Figgins and struts over to her co-captain and best friend Brittany, but not before throwing a wink along the way to Cheerios captain Quinn Fabray.

Quinn, dressed in her Cheerios uniform, complete with the high pony, rolls her eyes at Santana's antics during Santana's speech, but feels her heart start to race when Santana winks her way. She's not given much time to think about why she's feeling this way about Santana winking at her because her second-in-command, Rachel, not so subtlety nudges her in the side for Quinn to get the girls ready for the pump up routine, which announces the entrance of the football team.

The football team comes barreling out of the entrance way, led by Noah Puckerman. Quinn knows she should feel something towards Puck – maybe nostalgia – after their drunken mishap over the summer, but she can't shake the feeling that nothing would have happened between the two of them if it hadn't been from the tragic passing of their friend Finn.

Another nudge – more like a shove – from Rachel along with a hissed "Goddammit, Quinn," gets Quinn to stop thinking about the past summer and instead to focus on the task at hand; getting the crows pumped up for the football team, which is considerably harder than it should be for while Puck is best friends – lezbros he calls it – with Santana, it seems that he just doesn't ignite the crowd like she does. Or Quinn, for that matter.

"Give me an 'M'!" Quinn cheers, which is followed by the rest of the squad calling back with "M, you got your M, you got your M!" As Quinn continues the cheer, coupled with some basket tosses and scorpions to liven up the routine, Santana can't help but to stare at Quinn as the pleats of her skirt lift whenever she twirls around or kicks her long, muscular legs in the air. Legs that Santana can't seem to stop thinking about, even though she knows that the start of this flirtatious banter between the two of them is mostly only temporary and will cause her to get her heart broken. Because even though Santana herself is out and proud, Quinn has never showed any signs of being anything but straight and most of the time any of their flirting happens is at Puck's infamous house parties.

But, before Santana can think back to the last party they were at together, the raucous cheering the crowd brings her back to the gymnasium and the current pep rally taking place. She dutifully cheers with everyone else as the football team chants some incoherent jumble, though she rather just stare at Quinn instead.

Soon, the pep rally is over and everyone is spilling out. Quinn has already left the gymnasium with her fellow Cheerios, but not before sending a shy smile Santana's way before heading out. Santana smiles back, confusing both Brittany and Puck, who try to figure out what it was that made Santana smile. But both shrug it off and go back to what they were talking about – the first party of the year, which will be held Saturday after the first soccer game of the season. Brittany and Puck are so engrossed in the party planning that they fail to see that Santana is no longer with them. So, Santana takes a deep breath, exhales, and thinks out loud "Please, God, let this year be as good as what it looks like it's going to be," before she calls out for Brittany and Puck to wait up.

A/N: Well, here's the start of a multichapter story I was given a prompt to. This is just the first chapter, so please bear with me since I'm not really used to writing anything besides my smutty oneshots. That being said, I'll still be posting one oneshot a week, so keep coming up with suggestions and such for those. As for my multichapter stories (there's another one brewing, but I won't start to post that until I've got this baby rolling), I'll be posting them less frequently so I can flesh out my drafts and make them longer. Hopefully you guys liked the start of this one. And, true to my form, smut will eventually happen, but I need to establish the story first. Until next time, stay smutty my friends! - xxs