Wow, long time no read. I'm really sorry about that.

Winter was finally almost over; not really but mid February was close enough in Mike's opinion. He raised the intensity of the heater in the car as he made his way down Santana's street; the soft tunes of his new Greg Laswell album playing in the background. Mike would be forever grateful that Santana introduced him to her CD collection. He had just pulled into her driveway when Santana stormed out of the house and made her way to the car; her mother stood on the porch and yelled after her angrily.

"-you little slut-" Was all Mike heard as Santana quickly got in the car and closed the door.

"Santana what-"

"Just drive." She interrupted and Mike quietly pulled out of the driveway. The drive was silent as Mike held in all the questions slowly swirling in his head; it wouldn't do to push her, Santana would tell him when she was ready.

"I know you're curious." Santana said, quietly breaking the silence.

"I am but I was waiting for you to be ready to tell me." Mike explained.

Santana sighed, "She's still pissed that I told my dad. She retaliated by informing him of my sexual history, or at least that I wasn't a virgin anymore."

"How did she even know that?" Mike asked.

"Don't know, maybe it was obvious because I was somewhat dating Puck last year and he's known all around Lima for being a man whore. Anyways, my dad was pissed and both of them had the best of times telling me how much of a slut I am, how I have no respect for my body, and how I should've waited to lose my virginity. My dad even told me that I should be concentrating on raising my grades instead of chasing boys. He said that if I don't get a good education I should get used to spreading my legs and selling my body for money; that he won't support a whore. I haven't spoken to him since." Santana replied.

"Jeez, are you okay?" Mike asked. Santana stayed quiet but he could've sworn he saw tears in her eyes before she turned away from him. When he pulled into the parking lot and turned off the ignition, Mike grabbed Santana's hand before she could move to leave the car.

"You're amazing." Mike stated suddenly.

"What?"

Mike looked over at a confused Santana and smiled, "I don't think people tell you that enough. You are amazing Santana and I'm become extremely happy every time I remember that you're my friend."

Santana's eyes became glassy before she looked away. Mike could see her trying to fight a smile and it made his own become even wider. He leaned across pulled Santana into a hug, catching her completely by surprise. They stayed like that for a moment before Mike heard a quiet 'thank you' and Santana left the car.

Mike couldn't believe how quickly time was flying by. It only seemed like yesterday that they were still in January; now Valentine's Day was just next week. Mike was happy that he and Tina were on the mend but he wasn't sure if he was ready to try for a relationship again. They were slowly becoming friends again but Mike could still see that Tina was jealous of Santana; even if she tried to deny it.

"Great, another person struck by the sappiness of this stupid holiday." Santana grumbled from beside him. Mike turned to see Santana glaring at a love struck couple making their way down the hallway. He figured that Santana was still upset about her parents and because she couldn't spend this time with the one person she really wanted to.

"Don't be bitter, you don't have to have someone on Valentines." Mike said hopefully and Santana scoffed.

"Yeah right. Plus, it's not like I'll really be able to find someone, not with you around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike asked.

"Don't think I haven't caught on to you yet. You've been scaring off any guy that tries to get close to me. You're being a cock block and it's annoying." Santana ranted.

"Look, if they're not even willing to fight for you then they shouldn't get to sleep with you." Mike shrugged; it made sense, whether Santana agreed or not.

"Why can't you just let me try to fit in?" Santana questioned quietly.

"So get a beard." Mike says simply.

"You mean a boyfriend." Santana corrects.

"Same thing." Mike shrugs and ignores Santana's glare.

"So, you want me to find a boyfriend. I guess I can do that, Sam and I do have this sorta friendship thing going on." Santana muses.

"Dating Quinn remember, at least go for someone who isn't currently in a relationship." Mike retorts and Santana stares at him expectantly. It takes Mike a moment to catch on to what she's thinking, "No, no way. It would be weird." The warning bell rings. "I'll see you at lunch okay."

"Fine, be that way." Santana says angrily. Mike sighed as she stalked off towards her next class

Mike watches as Santana makes her way over to the lunch table with a scowl on her face. She sat down and pointedly ignored him as she ate her food.

"Are you still upset that I turned you down?" Mike asked.

"It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, the whole school already thinks we're together already." Santana replied as she stabbed at her salad.

"Santana I think it would be awkward if we dated." Mike states.

"why?"

"I just don't think of you that way." Mike said, trying to let her down gently. He couldn't in good conscious beard for her when he wasn't sure of his feeling for Tina. That just seemed to be potentially setting himself up for disaster. Before Santana could reply however, their conversation was interrupted by Sam who sat down next to them. Based on the look Santana was giving him, Mike just knew the conversation wasn't over.

"Hey guys." Sam greeted and Mike waved.

"Sup trout." Santana greeted.

"I really wish you'd stop calling me that." Sam groaned.

"Not gonna happen. I suggest you get used to it." Santana replied.

Sam looked towards Mike for help but he only shrugged, "It helps if you think of it as a term of endearment."

"How?"

"At least she's not torturing you or ignoring your entire existence. It's all about silver linings." Mike said nonchalantly and Santana nodded.

Sam stared at them in shock before he chuckled, "You two are odd. Anyways, Santana I was wondering if you could look over my English essay."

"Yeah sure." Santana replied before Sam handed her his assignment. Mike was just happy that Santana was making progress and starting to make friends; at least he hoped.

Glee was awkward as all the couples paired up. Mike was careful to sit a few seats away from Santana; he wasn't ready to continue their previous conversation. The one flaw in his plan was that by avoiding Santana, Mike inadvertently ended up sitting next to Tina.

"What not sitting next to your girlfriend? I thought the two of you would be a bit more affectionate, given your little display in the parking lot this morning." Tina grumbled.

"What?" Mike asked.

"It's all over Jacob's blog. Pictures of your little make-out session in your car. So much for just friends." Tina muttered darkly.

"Tina please don't start." Mike sighed; it seemed with Valentine's looming around the corner, even Tina's been a bit snippy. He honestly didn't understand why she couldn't just leave it be and not believe every rumor about Santana and himself.

"Hey you wouldn't believe what I just witnessed in the hallway." Santana stated as she chuckled. Mike looked over curiously.

"What?" Brittany asked.

"Mr. Shue asking Mrs. Pillsbury if she remembered the first time he wore the vest he's wearing today. Judging by her face even she's realized his stupid vest addiction." Santana explained.

"I don't think he's addicted." Mike defended, jumping into the conversation.

Santana glances behind her before rolling her eyes at Mike, "Oh please, he's so addicted he needs to be in a 12 step program." Before Mike could open his mouth to comment, they were interrupted by Mr. Shue's entrance.

Mr. Shue walks over to the whiteboard and writes 'love' on the board, "I have one word for you."

"Is it love?" Brittany asks suddenly and Mike chuckles from his seat; why didn't Mr. Shue realize that they could read?

"That's correct Brittany."

"Yes! Totally gonna graduate now."

Mr. Shue smiles at Brittany before continuing on, "Valentine's day is coming up. So for this week's lesson, I want you guys to pick a partner because you're going to sing to them what you think is the world's greatest love song." Mike groans inwardly; why not try harder to point out the fact that some people are single. "Yeah, find a song that communicates all the things you think love means to you. Now partner up.

Finn raises his hand, "Mr. Shue can I say something?" Mr. Shue nodded and Finn stood before the group, "I just wanted to point out that an entire month has gone by without anyone of us getting slushied." Some people cheer about this fact and Mike's pretty sure they haven't been slushied because of cold weather and the fact that they got off of winter break not too long ago.

"I think the fact that I led the football team to the conference championship might have something to do with it." Finn continues and Mike silently snorts. Santana hears and silently chuckles. "Fact is, I'm the closest thing this glee club has to a celebrity right now and just like a famous athlete, I want to give to a charity, you guys. So I'm setting up a kissing booth, for a dollar a smooch, and donating the proceeds to glee club. To help up-"

"Don't even try to act like you're helping this glee club out. You just want to kiss a bunch of girls." Mercedes interrupted and Mike nodded. He was glad someone spoke up because he wasn't sure how much longer he could take Finn's crap.

"Now, I've kissed Finn and can I just say, not worth the buck." Santana says and a few people chuckle. Mike sighs, he just knows this is going to go bad. "I would however pay a 100 dollars to jiggle one of his man boobs." Santana finishes and Mike tries to hide his smile; he wonders if Santana realized she somewhat voiced her love of boobs.

"Do you ever get tired of tearing other people down?" Finn asked.

"No not really." Santana replied, folding her arms.

"Cause you always just seem to be meddling in everyone else's business." Finn comments and Mike rolls his eyes because really? Could Finn talk?

"Oh please, you guys love me. I keep it real and I'm hilarious." Santana says confidently.

"Actually, you're just a bitch." Lauren jumps in.

"Okay, I'm sorry you just got eyes for my man." Santana replied.

"Okay first of all I'm not your man." Puck responds and Mike closes his eyes in annoyance; so much for him saying something constructive.

"And Finn is right, all you ever do is insult us. Three weeks ago you said you were disappointed I didn't have a lizard baby." Quinn states. Mike frowns and looks at Quinn, was she serious? Pot meet kettle. On the other hand the lizard thing was a bit weird.

"Five minutes ago you said Mr. Shue needed to be in a 12 step program." Tina adds.

"Wait what?" Mr. Shue asks.

"You're addicted to vests." Santana shrugs and Mike puts his hands in his head in frustration. He's about to put a stop to this entire mess when Rachel speaks.

"The truth is Santana you can dish it out but you can't take it. Okay maybe you're right, maybe I am destined to play the title role in the broadway musical version of Willow but the only job you're gonna have is working on a pole." Rachel rants angrily.

Mike couldn't believe his ears. Did Rachel really say that? The resounding shocked silence answered his question. A quiet laugh ripped through the silence and Mike glared at the culprit; Puck.

"It's not funny!" Mike says angrily.

There was movement from below as Santana gathered her things, "Fine."

Mike quickly stood up to follow Santana but Brittany caught his eye and he stopped; she would handle it. He sat back down and tried to push down the anger that was trying to burst forth.

Rachel scoffed, "See what I mean? She can dish it out but can't take it."

"Rachel-"

"Shut up!" Mike snaps and the room is quieted once more. He turned and glared at Rachel, taking in an odd sense of satisfaction from her shocked expression.

"You were completely out of line with your comment." Mike said.

"She says mean things to us all the time. My comment wasn't anything Santana didn't deserve." Rachel argues.

"So that gives you the right to say mean things back? That makes you no better than her and she didn't deserve any of what you said. By your logic, what do you deserve for sending Sunshine to a crack house?" Mike responds angrily. When he was met with silence, Mike grabs his things and made to leave the room but Tina stops him.

"Mike wait."

"No, you know how much I hate seeing someone get ganged up on." Mike states, his comment making everyone in the room look guilty. He quietly continues his way out of the quiet room and is met with a crying Santana that was being comforted by Brittany.

"I'll take her home Mike." Brittany states and Mike nods. He gives Santana another concerned look before continuing down the hall.

Mike walked through the front door and sighed as he dropped on the couch. He still felt bad for Santana and how messed up it was that people who wanted her to consider them friends, family even, were so quick to gang up on her and bring her down. Sure she wasn't a saint herself but they were working on it. Mike sighed again.

"Sounds like you had a hard day." Mike looks up to see his mom standing in the doorway, "Yeah, but it was mainly glee that was stressful."

"Oh? What happened?" Mrs. Chang asked and Mike explained the events of the glee meeting.

"Your teacher didn't stop anything?"

"No, what's worse, Santana's dad said something similar to her not too long ago." Mike replied. "Honestly, I think that's why Rachel's comment hurt so much."

"Regardless that's a horrible thing to say to someone." Mrs. Chang said and Mike nodded.

"Where is she now?"

"Brittany took her home. I think they need to spend some time together, it' will probably help Santana." Mike explained.

Mrs. Chang smiled knowingly, "And just how are the two of them doing?"

Mike looked at her sadly, causing her smile to fall. As much as he wanted everything to be okay he couldn't let his parents think everything was fine.

"It's …" Mike sighed, "Brittany's dating Artie and Santana's in denial about her sexuality."

"Oh my."

"She's trying so hard to be straight, to be 'normal', and it's so sad because it's obvious how miserable she is." Mike continued sadly. He just couldn't hold it in anymore, it hurt too much to see Santana struggle so much.

"What do I do mom?"

Mrs. Chang sighs and sits next to him, "There's nothing you can do but be there for her."

Mike sighs but nods quietly.

The next day Mike yawned loudly as Santana entered the car. The first thing he noticed is that Santana looked much happier than she did yesterday; seems time with Brittany did her some good.

"Someone's in a better mood." Mike commented as he pulled out the driveway.

Santana smiled, "Britt and I got a chance to hang out yesterday, parent free."

"That's good what did you guys do?" Mike asked.

"We talked a bit, I really missed her you know." Mike nodded; he knew just a little too well how much they missed each other.

"After that we watched a movie and cuddled."

"Sounds amazing." Mike smirked. Santana lightly hit his arm before they burst into laughter.

The day went fine but Mike thinks that was only due to him avoiding most of the gleeks. Santana and Brittany were back to their usual selves and it made him happy to see them giggling together in the hallway. Walking towards the cafeteria with Santana and Brittany in tow was a new experience for Mike. On one hand, he was happy to see them together and being their usual handsy self. On the other, he felt a bit left out; it made him frown.

"Awww don't frown. I didn't forget about you, my little teddy bear." Santana cooed as she hugged Mike.

"I'm not a teddy bear." Mike pouted.

Brittany giggled, "You totally are."

Mike pouted some more before making his way to the lunch line; Brittany and Santana giggling after him. After getting their food they went their separate ways. Once seated Mike noticed Santana watching Brittany kiss Artie before taking her seat; her mood noticeably dampened.

"Don't torture yourself by watching." Mike said as he took a bit of his pizza.

"I'm fine." Santana defended. Mike was about to reply but was interrupted by Sam taking a seat.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hi." Mike and Santana both replied.

"So I think there's something going on between Quinn and Finn." Sam states suddenly.

"What makes you say that?" Mike asks.

"It's just a vibe I get from them and then there's the looks. Also Quinn didn't like my date idea to go to Color Me Mine." Sam explained.

Santana chuckled, "No offense trout but Color Me Mine? That sounds like something a married couple would do together with their kid or something."

"Okay, maybe you have a point but I still feel like something's going on." Sam replied.

"Well just ask her then. Secondly, since when do you have this lunch period?" Santana asks.

"Since I switched into another history class."

"Why? What happened?" Mike asked.

"That teacher, Mrs. Newman, was a raging bitch. She said that I was using my dyslexia as an excuse to be lazy. I told my mom and she had a fit. I don't think I've ever seen Figgins look so scared." Sam explained and Santana burst into laughter. Mike honestly missed her laugh and he was comforted that Sam was trying to make up for yesterday.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt." Mike looked over to see a girl from his Spanish class; Megan if he remembered correctly.

"What's up?" Mike asked before Santana could reply.

"Well as you know Valentine's day is coming up and I was just wondering if any one of you wanted to purchase roses for your special someone." Megan explained.

"How much?" Sam asked reaching for his wallet.

"A dollar a rose." Megan answered and Mike could see Santana frown.

"Here's a five." Sam said as he passed her the money.

"Great thanks. Just fill out this form and on Monday we'll pass them out. Anyone else?"

"No thanks." Mike stated. Megan turned to Santana who only glared at her until she walked away.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked.

"She's single and Valentine's is coming up." Mike said.

"Shut up." Santana said angrily as she stabbed at her food. There was an awkward silence as they continued to eat their food. Suddenly Sam reached into his backpack and pulled a paper out.

"Look, I got an 'A' on my essay you helped me with." Sam said as he handed Santana the essay.

Santana smiled as she saw the bright red 'A' at the top of the page, "That's great."

Glee the next day was a little weird as the first batches of songs were performed: Santana and Mercedes sang together, stating that they were the only females that were single (a fact that Santana was going to fix).

The last song of the day was performed by Puck to none other than Lauren Zizes herself. Mike just couldn't believe Puck thought that 'Fat Bottom Girls' was a love song, let alone an appropriate one. Mike was just starting to walk out of the choir room when he's stopped by Artie.

"Hey Mike, I was wondering if you wanted to partner up?"

"Yeah, sure." Mike agreed.

"Cool, I already got a song. Meet me at my place and we can practice." Artie says as he gives Mike his address. Mike nods and it isn't until Artie rolls away that he realizes what he's done; Santana isn't going to be happy. Walking towards the car, Mike couldn't help but notice Santana standing next to the car looking upset.

"Santana…"

"Every girl…" She trailed off.

"What?" Mike asked confused.

Santana turned to him; her eyes glassy with unshed tears, "Every girl Puck has ever dated or been interested in he's sang to. Everyone except me. I just don't understand why."

"I don't know." Mike replied. He could understand how that would make her feel left out, that there was something wrong with her and Mike hated seeing her hurting so badly. Santana sighed and got into the car.

The entire ride home was spent in silence.

Mike had just rang the doorbell when the door opened and he was greeted by Mrs. Abrams.

"Hello."

"Hi you must be Mike." Mrs. Abrams greeted warmly, "Come in."

Mike enters the house and is met by Artie, who is currently in their spacious living room. If he was being honest, Mike was shocked that Artie even asked him to be his partner; considering Mike had dated his ex.

"Hey."

"Hi, are you ready to get started? I've been practicing the song so all we really need to do is come up with some sort of choreography."

"Cool." Mike answered and they spent the next two hours working on their performance.

Mike walked into school that Friday morning feeling a little down; today was the day for his performance with Artie. The choreography wasn't that hard, basically him pulling some slick moves around Artie while he sings. It's just that he couldn't get his mind of the fact that if things had gone differently then he would be singing this song to Tina. Thoughts of how happy this type blatant public affection would have made her smile bought a bittersweet smile to Mike's face. Pushing these thoughts aside, Mike squared his shoulders and mentally prepared for a before class mini glee session and made his way to the choir room.

Everyone laughed and clapped as Mike and Artie finished their performance; even Tina didn't regard him with her usual frown. Mike watched as Brittany happily ran over to Artie and kissed him. All in all Mike would say he did pretty well; until he saw Santana's slight frown. Mike looked away guiltily when he realized that he indirectly helped Artie pull Brittany further away from Santana. He just knew they would be having words about him performing with Artie.

"Great work guys." Mr. Shue said as the bell rang and everyone gathered their stuff. "Don't forget that we still have our actual glee meeting after school."

"That was amazing." Tina said as she walked over, pulling Mike from his thoughts. "I know we're not together anymore but you wanna walk me to class?"

"Sure." Mike responded; anything to prolong his argument with Santana.

Santana was late. It wasn't even by a few minutes; it was nearly the middle of the period and she had yet to show. Mike bit unhappily into his sandwich; he was worried. Maybe Santana was a lot angrier than he realized. Mike looked around and noticed Sam walking pass and grabbed his arm.

"Hey have you seen Santana?" Mike asked.

"Nope, not since earlier." Sam answered before continuing on.

Mike quickly finishes the rest of his sandwich and gets up to search for Santana. He stops in the middle of the hallway when he realizes he has no idea where to begin searching. Mike didn't want to risk using his cellphone to call her; teachers were really cracking down this year. Making his way towards the choir room, Mike notices a large group of kids huddled together and laughing.

"Holy shit she got her ass handed to her." One guy says.

"Serves that bitch right." A girl replies.

Mike frowned; there was a fight? He didn't like the way his stomach dropped. Mike made his way over to the group, "What happened?"

The first boy looked over, "Santana Lopez tried to take on Zizes and got her ass kicked." The rest of the group burst into laughter.

"She had to be carried off by Coach Beiste." Another said.

Mike felt nauseated; Santana was hurt enough that she had to be carried? Mike didn't know what urge was greater, the need to yell at these kids for their callousness or the need to find Santana.

"Here look it's on youtube." A girl says as she holds up her phone. Mike was horrified by what he was being shown; how could anyone cheer at someone being tossed around like that? He flinched every time Santana was thrown into a locker.

"About time someone put her in her place." The girl said smugly and Mike glared at her.

"That's not funny. She could be seriously hurt." Mike snapped, quieting the entire group. He turned from them and quickly pulled out his phone; teachers be damned.

Mike continues his search as Santana's phone goes to voicemail yet again. Turning the corner and groaning in frustration, Mike hears a muffled cry. He stops and listens quietly after a moment and hears it again from further down the hallway. Mike runs in that direction and sees Santana just outside the main office.

"Santana!" Mike's eyes widen as they fall upon her. She had tears streaming down her face and she leaned heavily on the doorframe breathing laboriously. Mike frowned when he noticed a bruise starting to form on her face; it sort of looked like a hand.

"My ribs hurt." Santana groaned out, snapping Mike out of his internal assessment of her injuries.

"Okay, um, how hurt? Like 'I need to rest' type hurt or 'take me to the hospital' type hurt?" Mike asked in a panic.

"I don't know, they hurt really bad." Santana says struggling to take a deep breath. Mike moves closer and gently pokes her ribs. Santana yelps out in pain and starts to cough as sobs rack her body.

"Shit, this is really bad. We should take you to the nurse." Mike says feeling guilty for causing the girl even more pain than she was already in.

"I tried that, the nurse isn't here. Coach Beiste is trying to call my parents but they aren't answering." Santana says before moving to lean against the wall. She hissed in pain and stood straight. Mike notices Santana's eyes take on a slightly glassy and unfocused look; a look he's seen many times when playing football.

Coach Beiste walks out of the office with a look of annoyance on her face, "I can't reach your parents Santana. Maybe we should call an ambulance."

"It's okay Coach, I can take her." Mike said bringing Beiste's attention to him.

"Alright Chang, you get her there safely and I'm explain the situation to both of your teachers." She said and Mike nods.

"Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital." Mike says helping Santana walk down the hall.

"My head is killing me." Santana mumbles from beside him.

"Okay, we'll get the doctors to look at that too but I need you to stay awake."

The ride to the hospital was tense. Mike was too nervous to turn the radio on so the silence was filled with Santana's strangled breathing. Glancing over, Mike saw Santana's eyes droop close before she snapped them open and tried to stay awake; he pressed a little harder on the gas pedal. A small voice in the back of his mind was telling him that he was breaking about five traffic laws but Santana's pain filled whimpers made him ignore it.

Pulling in front of the emergency room, Mike quickly, and as carefully as he could, lead Santana into the emergency room. An attendant takes one look at Santana, who's wheezing and crying, and quickly admits her. Mike sits down in the nearest chair in the waiting room and lets out a shaky breath of relief. He couldn't believe this was happening, what would posses Santana to do something as reckless as challenge Lauren? It just didn't make any sense. Mike briefly entertained the thought that his helping Artie with his performance prompted this recent bought of recklessness. He quickly stopped that path of thought; Mike couldn't bear the thought of possibly causing Santana to feel so low that she would put herself in danger.

Since he had to stop himself from constantly looking at the clock every two minutes, Mike had lost track of how much time he spent waiting for word of Santana's condition. Looking at the clock, Mike realized that two hours had passed and he suppressed the urge to go up the nurse and beg for information on Santana. Mike shifted uncomfortably in his chair and fumbled around with some nearby magazines; school should be ending in another hour.

"Mike Chang I presume?" A voice from above brought Mike from his musings.

Looking over Mike saw a doctor standing next to him, "Yeah, that's me."

"Hi, I'm Dr. Shaw. Your friend is going to be alright. Fortunately her ribs aren't broken but only bruised. We've given her medication for the pain but she does have a mild concussion and we're going to keep her overnight just to be safe." She explained.

"Can I see her?" Mike asked.

"Sure follow me."

Mike quickly gets up and follows the doctor towards Santana's room. She knocked on the door to alert Santana that she was no longer alone before leaving the two of them alone. They were completely silent as Mike walked over and looked Santana over. It didn't matter if the doctor said Santana was going to be okay, he had to see it for himself.

"Mike…" Santana said quietly, breaking the silence.

Mike let out a strangled sigh, "You really scared me."

"I'm sorry."

"Why did you have to start that fight?" Mike asked angrily; he didn't like to think what would happen if Coach hadn't stepped in.

"She was trying to steal my man." Santana tried defending.

"Really? How long are you going to keep this up? Is it even worth it? I mean you're lying in the hospital right now! Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that all of what you're putting yourself through is worth it?!" Mike snapped. Santana opened and closed her mouth before staying silent.

"What would've happened if Coach Beiste hadn't stopped things? Lauren is one of the top wrestlers in the division, what the fuck possessed you to start a fight with her and think you could win? You just…" Mike wiped angrily at the tears that made their way down his face. Hearing a sob from Santana caused to calm down a little.

Taking a deep breath Mike looked over to his friend. Santana had her hand to her mouth to muffle her cries, her face showing shame and regret. Mike felt his heart clench, he couldn't stand seeing Santana cry but he had to hold his ground; she had to realize just how dangerous things could've gotten.

Mike grabbed Santana's hand, causing her to look at him, "I was terrified, seeing you hurt like that was one of the most terrifying things I've ever experienced. I wish you wouldn't do things to put yourself in danger like that."

"I-I just wanted someone. I'm tired of being alone and Puck… he was always my backup plan." Santana replied quietly once she got her crying under control and Mike sighs in response.

"I just want to be normal; I can't… be that way." Santana continues.

Mike turns to her, "And what way would that be?"

"You know." Santana said as she shifted uncomfortably and looked away. Mike could see her inner conflict written clearly on her face. At least they were making progress… again.

"I think we need more descriptive words for this conversation to move forward." Mike replied trying to inch Santana a little closer to coming to terms with her feelings. Santana swallowed and Mike could see her nervously eye the open door. He quickly got up and closed the door, cutting off various noises from the hallway.

"As you were saying?" Mike prompted as he sat back down.

Santana stayed quiet for a few moments, "I can't be…g-…I-I can't like girls."

Mike could see how much Santana struggled just to say the word 'gay' and it saddened him. It was horrible to think that someone could be so afraid to be themselves because of others.

"My parents would kill me, so-so I choose to be straight." Santana continued.

Mike's brow furrowed, "Santana, your sexuality isn't something you can choose."

"Sure it is and I've chosen to be straight." Santana replied confidently as she folded her arms.

"But are you happy? Mike asked. The silence enveloped them once again and Mike watched as Santana's face fell at his question. Santana frowned and stared uncomfortably at her lap and Mike had a strong urge to wrap her up in his arms and make all her sadness and confusion go away. Mike hated that the world was so crappy and that Santana had to go through this; he just wanted her to be happy.

Before Mike could speak again, someone knocked on the door before opening it. He turned to see a tall male doctor come into the room and frown at the both of them.

"Hi daddy." Santana greeted nervously. Mike's eyes widened; that was her father? The guy was huge.

"Santana." Mr. Lopez greeted stoically before turning his attention to Mike.

"Daddy this is Mike. Mike this is my dad." Santana introduced.

Mike jumped up nervously and shook his hand, "It's nice to meet you sir."

"Likewise, now if you don't mind, I'd like to speak to my daughter alone." Mr. Lopez replied and Mike could tell when he was being dismissed.

"Sure, I'll see you later Santana." Mike said as he left the room as quickly as he could without looking suspicious. Santana's father was all types of intimidating; he did not want to be on that man's bad side. Looking down at his phone, Mike saw that he still had a few minutes before school let out and would be able to make it back in time for glee.

By the time Mike made it to the school glee had already started. Since he was already late, Mike didn't put too much effort into rushing to the choir room. Walking down the hallway, Mike makes a stop at this locker to get his stuff for the weekend as he reflected over the past few hours. He did wonder how Santana was doing after her talk with her father and made a mental note to text her later. Around him Mike could hear people still gossiping about the fight earlier and it only served to further sour his mood.

Mike stops outside the choir room and looks in. Rachel is in the middle of a performance and he waits patiently outside the door for her to end. He could tell it must have been a fun little number as everyone started to sing and dance along. They all looked so happy, lost in their own little world away from the harsh realities of life and in that moment Mike wished he was in there and today's whole situation never happened. When the song is over Mike takes a deep breath before entering the room, wincing slightly as everyone's attention is directed towards him.

"Mike where have you been? You're late." Rachel asked.

"Yeah man, you totally missed me telling everyone how my girl Lauren laid the smack down on Lopez." Puck boasted. Mike couldn't believe his ears, Puck was actually proud of someone he knew getting hurt?

"Wait, you were there?" Mike asked.

"Yup, front row seats. You should've seen the look on Santana's face when shit got real." Puck laughed and Lauren brushed imaginary dust off her shoulders.

"You didn't think to put a stop to things?" Mike asked as his eyes narrowed. He could feel his anger bubbling to the surface and Mike took a deep breath to calm down.

"Why would I? Lauren can handle herself in a fight. She didn't need any help." Puck shrugged and Mike clenched and unclenched his hands to keep back the urge to lash out; he's had enough violence for today.

"I was talking about Santana-" Mike started but was cut off by Lauren.

"Look she started it and I finished it."

"Honestly Mike, if Santana can't back herself maybe she shouldn't start fights." Rachel added as a few others nodded.

"Damn straight." Lauren agreed.

"It was just a little harmless little fight." Puck stated with a shrug.

Mike chuckled darkly, "Yeah, so harmless that I had to take Santana to the hospital."

"What?!" Brittany yelled out before the room broke out in chaos.

Mike fell face first into his bed and made no attempt to move; glee was a disaster. After calming down a hysterical Brittany, Mike calmly explained what happened. To everyone's shock Brittany rounded on Puck and ripped him a new asshole for not stopping the fight when it got serious.

A vibration from his pocket lets Mike know that he has a call. After lazily fishing out his phone and looking at the caller ID, he sees that it's Santana.

"Hello?" Mike says.

"I'm assuming from the mass influx of concerned calls you told everyone?" Santana said instead of a greeting.

Mike sat up, "Yeah, you missed Brittany tearing into Puck for not stepping in and stopping things."

Santana laughed before he heard her hiss in pain, "Damn, I would've paid to see that."

"Yeah, but other than that are you okay?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, my dad was pissed. Things are already shitty between us and this didn't help." Santana replied and Mike could hear the sadness in her voice.

"I'm sure things will get better Santana." Mike said hoping his words would give her some comfort.

Santana chuckled before sighing, "You sound like one of those videos."

"You've been watching 'It gets better' videos?" Mike asked in confusion. It was suddenly very silent and Mike had to check to make sure the line hadn't disconnected.

"Santana? You still there?"

"…yes." The silence stretched between them as Mike struggled to figure out how to handle the situation.

"Did it help?" He opted to ask instead of drawing attention to Santana's admission.

"A little." Santana replied and Mike could hear her shifting around.

"Mike?' Santana sounded the most unsure he's ever heard her sound.

"I-I'm…" She started and Mike licked his lips in anticipation.

"I-I think I'm-" Santana tries again before her voice breaks and fails her. Mike could feel his palms become sweaty once he realizes what Santana's trying to do.

Santana sighs and Mike can hear her choke back a sob, "I can't."

"It's okay. I'm here. Whenever you're ready I'm here." Santana no longer attempts to hold back her sobs and Mike spends the rest of their phone call saying comforting words until Santana cries herself to sleep.

Mike awoke that morning feeling as well rested as he cold given his previous evening. He couldn't believe that Santana nearly came out to him. Mike couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face; it didn't matter that Santana couldn't say the words, at least she wanted to. Mike rolled out of bed and loaded up his 'Call of Duty', he was determined to not do anything constructive today. About an hour into his playtime Mike heard a knock on his door.

Pausing the game he looked over, "Hey mom."

Mrs. Chang stood in the doorway already dressed for the day, "Breakfast is ready."

"Okay." Mike gets up and follows his mother to the kitchen where his father was already seated. He greeted his father before grabbing a plate.

"So how has your week been?" Mr. Chang asked.

"I don't really know how to describe it. Santana got into a fight yesterday."

Mrs. Chang gasped, "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, they kept her overnight because of her concussion."

"Wait, 'they' as in Santana had to be admitted?" Mr. Chang asked.

Mike nodded, "Lauren threw her across the hall into the lockers a few times. Fortunately she only bruised her ribs instead of breaking them."

"That poor girl." Mrs. Chang commented before moving onto another topic. Mike had just finished eating when he heard his phone start ringing from his room.

Bounding up to his room he answered it, "Hello?"

"'Sup danceman, how's it going?" Santana greeted happily.

"What?"

"Or you know pop n' fresh, whatever you want." Santana stated.

Mike smiled; at least she was in a better mood, "Are you out of the hospital yet?"

"Yeah, although now I'm stuck with my mother as she goes on her daily shopping trip." Santana replied sourly.

"You're walking around? Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"I'm sitting on a bench. At least it's better than sitting in the car but all I wanna do is sleep." Santana replied.

"How long do you think she's gonna take?" Mike asked.

"She's only on her first store. I'll say I got another three hours. Hey maybe I'll even get up and go on a shopping spree myself." Santana joked.

Mike chuckled, "Just stay there, I'll come get you."

"Mike you don't have to. They've got me on some pretty good painkillers so I'm not in pain." Santana resisted.

"Look you need to rest. I'm coming to get you and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer." Mike stated as he gathered some clothes.

Santana laughed, "Fine, I'll just be sitting here."

Mike walked through the mall carefully keeping an eye out for Santana. He couldn't believe that Mrs. Lopez would just ignore Santana's condition in order to shop. If he was being honest with himself, Mike didn't really expect Mrs. Lopez to suddenly become doting mother of the year. Out of the corner of his eye Mike sees Santana sitting on a bench a few feet away staring at people. Santana catches sight of him and smiles as he walks over.

"We really should stop meeting like this." Santana joked.

"Is this your way of saying you don't want to see me again?" Mike joked back. Santana smiled in response before she looked off to the side and her smile slowly faded.

"What's wrong?" Mike frowned.

"That's Quinn and Finn." Santana said as she pointed to his left. Mike turned and saw Quinn walking alongside Finn who had his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Maybe they're just hanging out, like us." Mike defended and Santana scoffed.

"Sure and my name is Mary-Ann."

Mike opened his mouth to further defend them but his protest died in his throat as Finn bent down and kissed Quinn. Mike closed his mouth and swallowed. Beside him he heard a quiet click and he turend to see Santana taking a picture.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked as Santana's fingers moved over her phone furiously.

"Defending Sam's honor." She replied as she sat her phone down and looked towards Finn and Quinn. Mike turns back to the two and watches as they part and pull their phones out. Quinn looks up frantically before zeroing in on their location and storming over.

"What the hell is this Santana?" Quinn growls.

"What does it look like Blondie?" Santana replies smugly and Quinn frowns.

"It's not what it looks like." Quinn starts trying to explain.

"You know, they say a picture is worth a thousand words but all that one is saying is 'cheater'. So this is how things are gonna go down, you woman up and tell Sam how you clearly didn't learn your lesson with Puck or I will." Santana threatens and Mike could see Quinn flinch at the mention of Puck's name. A part of him was curious as to what was going on with Quinn but a larger part of him was upset that she was cheating on his friend.

"Fine." Quinn sighed out dejectedly before she grabbed Finn and left.

"I can't believe her." Santana grumbled.

"Come on, let's get you home." Mike said and helped Santana to the car. The ride was spent in a comfortable silence and it wasn't long before Mike pulled into Santana's driveway. The silence was starting to become awkward when Mike felt something being tossed into his lap. Looking down he saw a pill bottle and looked at Santana with confusion.

Santana looked down and fiddled with her hands, "I still don't trust myself. I mean there's enough in there to drop an elephant, what if I'm tempted again?"

Santana looked up and Mike could see the fear clearly written in her face. Mike grabbed the bottle and looked over with determination, "Don't worry I'll help you."

Santana smiled and Mike felt like he did the right thing.

Monday, Valentine's Day, and love was in the air. Mike walked into the school and noticed the halls were covered in decorations. All around him he could see people coupled up and showing their love for each other in very cliché ways. Mike tried not to think about Tina but he couldn't help but wonder what if would be like to spend Valentine's with a very special someone. Mike sighed and followed Santana down the hall to her locker.

"Are you sure you should be in school today?" Mike asked full of concern.

"I'm fine, according to my father anyways. He came home long enough to clear me for school and then left. He's spending even less time at home now since he found out about the affair. Half the time I think he's moved out then I see him at home and everything's just awkward." Santana explained.

"Oh man." Mike shook his head.

"I rather not talk about it though."

"Okay. Are you gonna need help with your books after class?" Mike changes the subject as he shifts both their bookbags.

"No, Brittany can help but I can manage. The last thing I want to do is make you late for all your classes."

"I don't mind really. I just don't want you making your injuries worse." Mike said.

Santana smiled, "It's okay, I just won't put my stuff on the floor."

They stopped at Santana's locker to get her things for the day. Mike really hated that Santana was in school today; she should be resting. He could clearly see how she was struggling to pretend she wasn't in pain. Why couldn't her parents let her take a day off?

"Awww look at that, the perfect loving boyfriend. Can I get a few words from the school's 'It' couple?" Jacob asks.

Mike turns to see Jacob and his camera man standing next to them nearly close enough to be considered breaching their personal space. Mike seriously wanted to slap his microphone out of his hand and throw it down the hallway; so many of his recent life problems have popped up because of this gossip hound.

"Go away Jewfro I'm not in the mood." Santana snaps. Mike places a hand on her shoulder and she calms down.

"Look Jacob, just leave." It wasn't until the boy left that Mike realized exactly what Jacob said. Mike nearly slapped himself; the whole school thought they were dating, a rumor that he didn't refute. Mike groans.

"I really can't stand that little cretin." Santana says as she continues to riffle through her locker.

"Did you not hear what he just said?" Mike asked.

Santana looks at him in surprise, "No, was it important?"

"He asked for an interview from the 'It' couple. We didn't exactly set him straight on that little fact." Mike explained.

Santana rolls her eyes, "So go correct him." The bell rings and Mike sighs; it was going to be impossible to get to Jacob before he updated his blog. Mike shakes his head and follows Santana to her class.

Mike was correct about his original assumption; Jacob had updated his blog by homeroom and Mike had to deal with all of the gossip and congratulations that he received. Mike was already annoyed with the day and it wasn't even halfway done. Mike heads to the cafeteria and walks over to his usual table. He's met with the sight of a miserable Santana picks miserably at the plate before her.

"Is everything alright?" Mike asks while sitting down.

"No, my painkillers wore off and I'm really starting to feel all the moving around I did today." Santana answers as she takes a fortify breath to keep from crying.

"Why didn't you tell me? Here." Mike says as he quickly pulls out her required dose and hands it to her. Santana swallows the pills down in silence.

"You have to tell me when your medicine wears off so I can give you more." Mike reprimands lightly.

"I thought I could make it through my last class." Santana says quietly.

"It's okay but you don't have to suffer unnecessarily. I don't mind getting a break from class. Matter of fact, how about I just leave you with a few at the beginning of school and then you can take them if you need them?" Mike compromises and Santana nods with a smile. Santana opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Sam who angrily sat down at the table.

''I can't believe her." Sam growled out angrily.

"Who?" Mike asked.

"Quinn, she just told me that she and Finn kissed. I can't believe she would break my trust like that. I knew something was going on between them." Sam ranted. Mike just sat there in silence; at least Quinn told him some of the truth. Santana huffed from beside him and Mike knew that she was holding back. Mike was happy and a little proud of her for not telling Sam out of spite; maybe she learned her lesson too.

"Thanks guys." Sam said after a moment.

"For what?" Santana asked.

"For not immediately bashing Quinn, even though you wanted to."

"B-" Santana started.

"No, don't deny it Santana, I saw it in your face. I'm angry and upset with Quinn but I still care about her you know." Sam stated and Mike nodded; he knew exactly how Sam felt. Mike looked down as he felt a twinge of longing for Tina; he missed her greatly. They continued through lunch on a slightly better note when all of their phones went off. Mike pulled out his phone and saw he had a text from Kurt.

"Hey did you just get a text from Kurt?" Sam asked.

"Inviting us to a warbler performance? Yeah." Mike answered.

"How in the ever loving hell did he get my number?" Santana asked in confusion. Mike looks away guiltily as Santana stares at him.

"You gave Kurt my number!" Santana accused.

"He was leaving." Mike used in way of defense and Santana continued to glare at him.

"So we're going right?" Sam asked in an attempt to diffuse the situation before him.

Santana snorts, "I don't know about you two but I'm not."

"Why not?" Mike asks.

"Why? So the entire world can know that I'm single and don't have a date on Valentine's Day? I'll pass."

"But it's Kurt." Mike argues and Santana rolls her eyes.

"We could always go together." Sam states.

Santana crosses her arms and huffs, "Fine, I'll go." Mike and Sam smile at each other as Santana grumbles into her lunch.

Mike couldn't wait for glee to finish. It was starting to become uncomfortable the closer it got to Tina's turn to sing. Mike really didn't want to see how this would turn out and silently curses Mr. Shue for not thinking this week's lesson through. He silently braces himself as Tina makes her way to the front and starts to sing. She doesn't get through half the song before she breaks down in tears. Mike hesitates before Santana pushes him out of his seat.

"Go to her." Santana whispers. Mike nods and runs over to Tina to comfort her and lead her out of the room. He leads her down the hall further away from the choir room so that they could have a little privacy.

"I'm sorry." Tina says as she calms down.

"It's okay." Mike replies awkwardly.

"It's just- it's really hard to sing a love song knowing we're not together anymore." Tina explains.

Mike puts his hands in his pocket, "You broke up with me."

"And I really regret that. It's just Santana-"

"Has nothing to do with this." Mike interrupted.

"Doesn't she? Santana is known for getting in between couples." Tina argues.

"Only she didn't, you did Tina, you broke us up not Santana." Mike states trying to stay calm. The argument was always the same. Why couldn't Tina understand that it's her jealousy and trust issues that broke them up and not Santana?

Tina deflates, "I know and I really regret it. You have to believe me." Mike shuffles uncomfortably and stays silent; he didn't expect that response.

"It was really suspicious you know?" Tina says suddenly.

"What was?"

"You two becoming friends, I mean she acted like you didn't even exist and then the next thing I know, you're the best of friends and defending her." Tina explains.

Mike shrugs, "She was going through a hard time and really needed a friend, I stepped up."

"But she has Brittany." Tina stated.

"Didn't you notice they had a falling out? They just started getting somewhat near the way they used to be." Mike said incredulously.

"What? When did that happen?" Tina asks completely shocked at the revelation.

"I'm not sure, around the time Brittany started dating Artie I think."

"I… wow, I didn't notice." Tina sighs, "I just got so jealous seeing you give another girl attention."

"I figured all the gossip didn't help either." Mike said trying to lighten the mood.

Tina smiled slightly, "Yeah, I suppose it didn't." Her smile dropped and she became serious, "I really want us to try again."

Mike felt his own mood somber and looked to the ground as he gathered his thoughts. Did he really want to get back with Tina? That didn't seem like the right question; of course he did but was he ready?

"Mike?" Tina question as the silence continued on.

"I do want to try again, I really do." Mike said slowly.

"I feel a 'but' in there somewhere."

"Are we ready?" Mike asked looking up. "Our problems are still problems. We haven't solved anything. I'm not going to stop being friends with Santana. I'm still going to hang out, each lunch and help her out when she needs it. Nothing's going to change, so I need to know if you're ready for that."

Tina hesitates, "I can't say I won't have my moments of jealousy but I'm willing to try, that's all I can give you now."

"We would have to go slow. I can't go through what we went through again, the constant arguing and the distrust. It really hurt me to know you didn't trust me." Mike says.

"We'll take things as slow as you need. I'm willing to prove that I'm serious about this." Tina replies.

"Okay."

"Okay? Really?" Tina asks excitedly.

"Yeah." Mike chuckles as Tina excitedly jumps into his arms and kisses him. The kiss quickly heats up and Mike can't believe how much he missed something as simple as a kiss. Mike could've kissed Tina forever but they were interrupted by a throat clearing beside them. Mike separated from Tina and looked over to see Santana beside them.

"I see congratulations are in order, I guess the two of you are going to Kurt's little thing together."

"Oh, I-" Mike starts completely flustered but stops when Santana holds up her hand. She walks between them and faces Tina.

"Listen up girl Chang and listen good 'cuz Imma only say it once. Mike's my boy so if you hurt him or dump his ass in the cold like you did last time, Imma go beyond Lima Heights and they'll never find your body. You got that?"Santana says menacingly as she steps further into Tina's personal space causing her to take a step back.

Tina nods frantically, "Y-yeah, I understand."

Santana smiles brightly, "Good." She turns to Mike, "I'll meet you by the car.

"Wait, give me your bag."

"It's not that heavy." Santana replies but Mike can see the pain that she's trying to hide.

"Just humor me okay?" Mike asks and Santana hesitates before handing her bag to him.

"Just don't forget about me while you're playing tonsil hockey okay?" Santana jokes.

Mike chuckles, "Sure, I'll be out soon." Santana huffs, the deep breath making her wince, before she continues down the hall.

"I thought you said she was fine? Why can't she carry her own bag?" Tina asked.

"Bruised ribs take a few weeks to heal. She's well enough to attend school but she's still in a lot of pain, her meds only do so much." Mike explains as the walk to his locker and he starts to gather his things.

"Oh, you weren't kidding about helping her out. You know about her medication?"

"I kinda have to; I'm in charge of them." Mike says distractedly before he realizes what he's said and freezes.

"What?" Tina asks as her brow furrows in confusion.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. I'll see you at Breadstix tonight." Mike says while closing his locker. He kisses Tina on the cheek and makes his way out of the school.

Mike quickly makes his way to the car where Santana is lazily staring out into the distance. He takes a moment to notice how peaceful she looks when she thinks she's alone.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Mike says breaking the silence and opening up the car.

"Just thinking about you and Tina getting back together." Santana answers and Mike does a double take; he didn't expect to be the current object of her thoughts.

"You aren't mad are you?" Mike asks.

"No, I'm really happy for you. You haven't been able to keep that goofy smile off your face for more than a minute." Santana smirks and Mike chuckled, "I'm just worried she'll hurt you again."

Mike nodded as he pulled out of the parking lot and started making their way to Breadstix, "I'm worried about that too but she's trying to make things work. Plus I think you scared her enough to not try anything funny." Mike replied and Santana laughed.

The outing to Breadstix was going beautifully. Not only did Mike get to spend the evening with Tina, he also got to see Kurt. He hadn't realized how much he missed Kurt until he was standing in front of him. The Warbler's performance was good and Mike even had a small chuckle at the offended look on Santana's face when the one warbler sang to her; even if the lyrics he sang were in poor taste. As Mike finished up his food, he looked over and saw that Santana had joined Sam at his table and was currently laughing at something he said. Everyone was happy and enjoying themselves; the night couldn't have been more perfect.

Well, I won't write a whole paragraph of excuses but I had the worse case of writer's block that I've ever had in my life and I also fell out of love with Glee (I don't even watch it anymore). Thanks to everyone who sent out reviews that stabbed me in the heart with guilt and motivated my get off my ass and try to get though the block. As always, until next time.