A Quitter Never Wins
Title: A Quitter Never Wins
Chapter: 1/1
Character: Finn/Santana
Summary: Santana goes to watch one of Finn's football games for the first time. Part of the Freshman 'Verse. (Blame my new love of Friday Night Lights. Also, katertots_78, just a little bit, for encouraging me to watch that show and to write more Football!Finn.)
Word Count: 4,300
Disclaimer: Don't own.
"You're coming, right?"
"Hmm?"
It's not that she's not paying attention, it's just that she's attempting to study for her Ethics class, which she thinks is really fucking stupid anyway, to be honest. Like, basically if you walked in the first day, sat down, and they said, "Don't be a douchebag," they'd pretty much have all the bases covered. She knows it's important stuff and she needs this class to pass, but god. It's just the most boring shit ever. And her text is written in like, eight point font and it's killing her eyes, even with her glasses on.
Finn's lying there on his back on her floor. He's not studying or really doing anything at all. He's tossing a football up and down over and over again, and if the rhythmic sound of it wasn't actually helping her focus (repetitive sounds have always been good for her and she doesn't know why, but whatever) she'd be really pissed at him for being a lazy bastard while she works away at her desk in her room.
"To the game this Saturday."
Right. She's actually never gone to one of his games, which makes her basically the worst sort of girlfriend ever. It's not that she hasn't wanted to, but his past two games have just not worked out with her schedule, and he's understood that. One of them was in Indiana and she couldn't afford to just drive out there for the game and stay over night, and he didn't ask her to. She watched on TV with Puck while Rachel baked cupcakes and decorated them like footballs because she's a psychopath. Then the game after that was on a Thursday night and she had a test the next day. When she told him that she could have sworn he was going to pout his face off, but he told her it was fine and he knew she'd get to a game before the season ended.
This Saturday they've got a game up in Akron and she's got no reason not to go. Rachel's got a rehearsal for the play she's in, but Santana and Puck are going to drive up and sit in the cheering section and like, be obnoxious in red and white and stuff.
"Yeah, I'm coming."
And she's told him this before, so she doesn't get why he's making a thing of it now. He spins the ball and tosses it up, and she watches him, listens to how the pigskin sounds when it rubs against his hands as he catches it.
"Good," he says, giving her a smile. "Wanna wear my jersey?"
She laughs and shakes her head. "No." And fuck, she probably would, if not for the fact that she went on a little shopping trip the other day with Rachel and did something stupid. "Um. I actually got something to wear."
He grins and leans up on his elbow. "You did?"
She shrugs her shoulder, but she knows he's not going to give it up until she shows him, so she rolls her eyes and gets up. It's not even a big deal. It's just a red Ohio State hoodie that she spent like sixty bucks on. It's cute, though, and actually, she'll probably get a lot of wear out of it. All her other school clothing is way more like, scholarly and not so much sports fan. But shit, if she's dating the QB, she needs to show some school spirit or they're gonna kick her out or something. Even though he's just a freshman and he's not even getting any playing time. (Which she'd never say to him, because she knows it's killing him, not playing even one minute so far this season.)
Anyway, he tells her he loves the sweater and she says she's not giving up style completely and she's wearing her black slouchy boots with her skinny jeans. He nods like he cares about that. It's nice of him to pretend.
"Hey, Finn?" she asks a while later, when her eyes are kind of starting to cross as she tries to read her text. She pulls her glasses off and sets them on her book.
"Yeah."
"What has to happen for you to get to play?" She puts it as delicately as she can, which has more to do with her tone than the words.
"QB1 has to get injured or like, really, really blow," he says, glancing up at her. "Coach says I'm playing just as good or better than Nick in practice, so." He shrugs his shoulder. She thinks she remembers Nick being second string. She can't keep all the guys' names straight, sometimes. "I'm not holding my breath."
She gives up studying in favour of lying down on top of him on the floor and kissing him for a while. It's kind of like her way of telling him she believes in him, without actually having to sound like a loser and say those words. She thinks he gets that.
... ... ...
Puck insists that they have to get pumped up for the game, and says he made a playlist for the drive, and Santana knows for a fact that he's loving every second of this. He's got on his Buckeyes sweatshirt, too, and he's like, a maniac for football, so it makes sense. She knows he used to play, too, in high school. Lord knows all he does on the weekends is watch ball, whether he's at home or at the girls' place. It drives Rachel nuts, even if she tries to pretend it doesn't.
She's kind of fucking shocked by how big a deal it is. She knows college ball is this big thing, but it's like she's at a pro game or something. People are tailgating when she pulls in to the parking lot, and yeah, someone hands her a burger for no reason as she passes, and she eats it. She feels like, this weird sense of pride right now. People love the game and her boyfriend's a part of it. (They've never called each other these names, but she's not going to pretend their relationship is anything other than what it is.)
She picks up their tickets from will call and the girl behind the glass actually smiles at Santana, and she figures, yeah, they're likely in the 'friends and family' section. She knows Finn's mom and step-dad came in for the game, too.
Fuck, she hopes she's not sitting next to them or something. How awkward would it be to meet them without Finn there to actually make introductions? She wants to believe that if he'd sat them next to one another, he would have told her, at least.
A girl comes around and she's got face paint and she's handing out free designs or something stupid, and Puck tells Santana she should get a #5 on her cheek. She glares so hard it actually makes him hold up his hands and apologize. "I'm awesome for coming to this thing, but I'm not a fucking face painter."
When she looks around their section, she will not admit she's looking for his parents. It's just that she knows what they look like - she's seen pictures - and she wants to know where they are in relation to her. She spots them a few rows down and diagonal to her. Now she's wondering why Finn didn't seat them closer together. She figures he knows it'd be weird for him not to be there for the first meeting or whatever.
God, they're about to start this game and she's stressing over meeting his parents. She's being stupid.
She cheered in high school and she knows the rules of the game, so she can follow pretty easily, and anyway, it doesn't take a genius to know that by the end of the first quarter, they're getting beaten. The score's 17-7 for Akron and Puck's explaining to her what the Buckeyes are doing wrong, as though he's one of the like 30 coaches for the team or something. She doesn't doubt that he's got a bit of a clue, but still. All she knows is that their head coach is really fucking pissed and looks about two seconds from throwing his clipboard onto the ground or something.
She sends Puck to get them popcorn and drinks during half time because he doesn't care about the marching band and colour guard. Santana spends at least half the time he's gone subtly watching Finn's parents. His mom's got this cute OSU scarf draped around her neck and his step-dad's wearing a Buckeyes hat, which when things get intense, he pushes up, then pulls down again. People around her are talking about how their quarterback is having his worst game of the season and that if the coach wants to have any hope in hell of winning this game, he might have to pull the kid. Santana's stomach flutters. Actually, she feels like she's going to puke.
How the hell do people do this every week? Being here is way different than watching on TV. And for some reason it feels way more intense when she gets even the slightest hint of an idea in her head that Finn might actually get to put his helmet on.
She's sucked back over half her Sprite when the players come back onto the field, and the lineup hasn't changed at all. She feels a little (huge) pang of disappointment. She knows how badly Finn wants the ball, and how hard he's working to get better. The way he tells it, he's given his coach everything the guy's asked for. And actually, when she met his coach, the man was telling Finn how much he appreciated the hard work and progress.
She's kind of fucking proud of him. He's standing along the sidelines with his hands hooked into the collar of his uniform as he watches his teammates line up.
The QB throws a garbage pass that gets picked, and he practically loses it on the sidelines, throwing his helmet down. Finn's the one there next to him, grabbing him by the shirt and trying to calm him down or something. Finn swats him on the ass and Santana laughs and shakes her head.
"He's a good leader," Puck comments, off-handed. She just looks at him, and he stuffs another handful of popcorn in his mouth. "I think his teammates really like him."
She knows they do, but she's realizing just how humble Finn really is. And she can see even from where she's sitting how much he loves this game, and she feels kind of bad that they don't talk about it more. They should. It's a big part of his life, and it's not like she shuts him down when he brings it up - not at all - but she could probably talk with him a little bit more about it.
"Jesus," Puck groans. "Good thing the defense showed up to play or we'd be getting slaughtered. I don't know what the fuck's up with our offense."
Santana's kind of nervous or something, which is really dumb. It's not like she needs Puck to point out that they're losing, or that if it weren't for the defensive line, Akron'd be running up the score. The offense just can't get anything going and she's pretty sure, from what she's seen, that it's all because their QB's having a hell of a time remembering how to throw the fucking ball.
She barely even really registers what's happening as she watches it play out in front of her. The coach is waving over the QB after another botched play, and then he pats Finn on the chest and says something to him, and Finn nods. Someone hands him his helmet and he nods again at whatever the coach says. He tugs his helmet down over his head and Coach pats his head, then his ass, and he's jogging out onto the field.
"Holy shit," Puck says, kind of laughing. "Your boy's actually gonna get to touch the ball."
She'd be pissed if he wasn't just as fucking happy as she is. They look at one another, and then people start cheering around them, so she jumps up out of her seat and shouts, "Go Finn!" as loudly as she can as she claps her hands, and hell no, she doesn't give a fuck if the enthusiasm comes from nowhere.
She does, however, see Finn's step-dad turn around and smile, then say something to Finn's mom. Something flares in her stomach at that, too, but whatever. She's a little busy cheering on her quarterback boyfriend.
They stay standing, practically the whole section does, as Finn breaks the huddle and the players line up. Santana has her hands clasped in front of her and she's almost rocking on her heels. She feels like she might be sick. "C'mon, baby," she says under her breath, and really ignores Puck right after. He's probably got a dumb look on his face and she doesn't want to see it.
The play looks pretty simple, but it works. Finn passes the ball off to whoever number 30 is, and the guy manages to gain 15 yards, and the fans actually have something to cheer for. The next play, Finn finds an open man down field and airs out a pass to put them within 20 yards of a touchdown.
Someone behind her yells, "Let's go number 5!" and Santana turns around, just as a laugh bubbles up from her stomach, and Puck, for whatever reason, grabs her hand.
She knows the chances of them wining this game aren't that bad, with the score 23-16, and even if they lose Finn has a shot at making the score look a little prettier, anyway.
She honestly doesn't think anyone screams louder than her when one of the players - it really doesn't matter who - runs the ball into the end zone. Finn's step-dad turns around and looks at her again when she yells Finn's name with her hands cupped around her mouth. Whatever. This is fun. Puck brings his fingers to his mouth to produce one of those annoying whistles she usually hates.
The defense shuts down the other team again, and Santana can tell Akron is frustrated.
Her fucking kick ass boyfriend capitalizes on that. He gets hit hard just after releasing the ball, but he's up again in time to watch his teammate get pushed out of bounds just inside the 20 yard line. She honestly feels like she's holding her breath as soon as the ball's snapped. Finn looks around for someone to pass to, but everyone's covered. Apparently Akron's defense has gotten their heads out of their asses again.
So Finn just starts running, and some huge asshole catches Finn's ankles and trips him, and she gasps, but she sees that he's still got his hand on the ball and it's definitely in the end zone. Santana cheers as loudly as everyone else, and hugs Puck, and then, fuck, turns back towards the field to make sure Finn's actually getting up off the ground. He's already up and being accosted by his teammates.
"Wait, wait!" Santana looks at Puck and god, she can't believe they're having this much fun. "What now?"
Puck laughs. "They go for the two-point conversion and the win, unless they want to settle for the tie."
"What if they don't get it, though?" She knows the answer and Puck looks at her like she's an idiot. "Fuck."
It's kind of insane how badly she wants them to win this game. It's not that she didn't care before, it's just that she cares a hell of a lot more now that her boyfriend is actually playing.
She grabs Puck's hand because she needs something to squeeze, and then the woman standing next to her grabs the other one, and Santana looks around and sees that just about everyone in this section is holding hands with one another. She bets there'll be a breeze when they all actually start breathing again.
Her heart can't take this crap.
The clock's ticking down and Finn gets the ball and backs up, and she wants to tell him he's going the wrong fucking way, but then one of his players is open and he's throwing the ball.
She doesn't even really register that they've won, really, only Puck's hugging her so hard and yelling in her ear and people around her are freaking the fuck out. No one's rushing the field, which she's kind of happy about, honestly. In her opinion, it'd be really dumb. They took way too long to beat a team they should have had from the start, and had to use their backup QB to do it because their starter blew so hard he got pulled. It's not exactly an upset.
But she and Puck do go down to the sidelines, and Finn muscles his way out of the crowd of his teammates and jogs over to her. He's sweaty and disgusting and his helmet hair is just really, really awful, but she puts her hands on his face and leans up to kiss him anyway. He puts his hand on the small of her back as his other holds his helmet, and laughs against her lips.
"You were so, so good, Finn," she tells him, because it's true.
Then Puck ruins the moment and smacks Finn on the pads. "Nice work, Hudson."
"Thanks," Finn breathes out. He's still high on adrenaline, she can tell. "I can't believe...I mean, there's like, no way I should have gotten put in."
"But you did," Santana says, obviously without having to. He puts his gross sweaty hand on her cheek and it doesn't even really bother her, the sweat or the affection.
"I told you that was her. I knew it."
"Shh." Santana turns around and sees Finn's parents right behind her. His mom's beaming at him. "Honey, you were just amazing!"
Finn laughs and Santana moves aside so he can see his parents. "Thanks, mom." He gives her a quick hug and then shakes his step-dad's hand. "This is Santana, my girlfriend, and this is my friend, Puck."
She chats with his parents for a few minutes, still reeling from the win and the fact that he just called her his girlfriend for the first time. She really shouldn't care this fucking much about either, but this is kind of, weirdly, the best day she's had in a while, and she can't stop smiling like an idiot, even when Puck notices and nudges her in the shoulder. Finn's teammates are leaving the field and his coach calls his name. She knows there's a bunch of post-game stuff he's got to do, so she squeezes his hand and then he kisses her, which, yeah, she wants, but was kind of avoiding doing again in front of his parents right now.
She hugs him, anyway, and leans up to speak in his ear quietly enough that only he can hear her. "You are getting fucked so hard the next time we see one another."
"Jesus, San," he says, his hand squeezing her hip. "Football thing does it for you, huh?"
She looks up at him and his eyes are all dark and sweat's dripping off his face. He shouldn't look as hot as he does when his hair's so fucking bad. "I like winners."
He laughs and steps away from her, then says goodbye to them all and jogs off to join his teammates.
Carole and Burt offer for Santana and Puck to join them for dinner, but Puck's got plans with Rachel later and Santana's the one who drove, so she can't stay. Carole says they'll see one another soon anyhow, and Santana doesn't really get how the woman knows that, but figures it's probably true regardless.
Then she gets hugged as they're saying goodbye, and when they're walking away, Puck looks at her from the corner of his eye and asks, "What the fuck just happened?"
She just laughs and shakes her head because she really doesn't know or care.
... ... ...
Yes, she kicked Rachel the fuck out of the apartment when Finn called her and asked if she wanted to hang out. (Cute that he tried to make it sound like something other than, "So, when can I come over so you can fuck me into a coma?") And anyway, Puck spends an awful lot of time at the girls' place, and for fuck's sake, Rachel can go to his for once, even if he doesn't really like his roommate. Fuck it. She's not asking for a lot here.
Santana likes that Finn knows he doesn't have to do anything stupid, like dress up for her or try too hard. That shit just really annoys her. The fact that he can show up in a Buckeyes tee shirt and a pair of jeans just tells her how comfortable they are with one another.
Also, she hauls him into her apartment and kisses him as he's pushing the door closed, so it's not like he's going to get to keep his clothes on for long anyway.
He makes a weird noise when she pushes him back onto her bed, and it makes her wonder, sort of, but she's busy pulling her tank top over her head, and then Finn's grabbing at her hips and pulling her closer to him, and she straddles his legs and pushes at his shirt.
When she takes it off him, she kind of gasps without really meaning to. Across his bicep, there's an angry red mark, possibly from his pads or his jersey or something, and right under his chest, he's scraped up and scabbed over, and it freaks her out a little bit.
"Finn."
"I'm fine." She gives him a look. What an idiot. He's all banged up, and that is not fine. "It's just like, paying the price."
"Is that what your coach tells you?" she asks, hands on her hips. "You're..."
"It's just a scrape." He laughs a bit and that doesn't put her at ease. "C'mere."
"I'm..."
"Santana." There's something in his voice, like this confidence she really never gets to see. "Come here." She doesn't really move, so he pulls her against him, then rolls them so he's hovering over her, and she really only remembers she's shirtless when he covers her breast with his hand. "I didn't think you were the girl who got scared because her boyfriend played."
"I'm not scared," she says, but she's being pretty quiet. "Is it that crazy that I don't want you to be hurt?" He shakes his head and nips at her lips, and she doesn't know when this became about him comforting her instead of her screwing him. She's confused. "Can I blow you now, or..."
He laughs and presses against her. "Yeah."
She didn't really mean she wanted permission. "Thanks for the generosity." He chuckles at himself and rolls onto his back again, and once she's got his pants and boxers off and he's really dying for her, she narrows her eyes at him. "Don't let this shit go to your head. Just because you play ball doesn't mean you can like, do whatever the fuck you want and I'll still be around."
"Santana."
"I'm serious, okay? I don't give a shit that you're like, the big man on campus, and..." He slips his hand into her hair and tugs her closer, presses his lips against hers and moans when her hand sits on his hip to steady herself.
"I know," he says, panting a little. "I've always played, you know. It's not like I'm a different person just because I played in a game we happened to win, or whatever."
"Good."
He gets this dirty grin on his face and says, "So, can you blow me now, or..."
She laughs and hits him, but fuck, that was kind of really super hot. Anyway, he stops laughing at his joke when she gives him what he wants. What they both want.
And so what if she kisses the marks on his body in the process of getting him off? He doesn't say anything about it, and she's not going to either.
Chapter: 1/1
Character: Finn/Santana
Summary: Santana goes to watch one of Finn's football games for the first time. Part of the Freshman 'Verse. (Blame my new love of Friday Night Lights. Also, katertots_78, just a little bit, for encouraging me to watch that show and to write more Football!Finn.)
Word Count: 4,300
Disclaimer: Don't own.
"You're coming, right?"
"Hmm?"
It's not that she's not paying attention, it's just that she's attempting to study for her Ethics class, which she thinks is really fucking stupid anyway, to be honest. Like, basically if you walked in the first day, sat down, and they said, "Don't be a douchebag," they'd pretty much have all the bases covered. She knows it's important stuff and she needs this class to pass, but god. It's just the most boring shit ever. And her text is written in like, eight point font and it's killing her eyes, even with her glasses on.
Finn's lying there on his back on her floor. He's not studying or really doing anything at all. He's tossing a football up and down over and over again, and if the rhythmic sound of it wasn't actually helping her focus (repetitive sounds have always been good for her and she doesn't know why, but whatever) she'd be really pissed at him for being a lazy bastard while she works away at her desk in her room.
"To the game this Saturday."
Right. She's actually never gone to one of his games, which makes her basically the worst sort of girlfriend ever. It's not that she hasn't wanted to, but his past two games have just not worked out with her schedule, and he's understood that. One of them was in Indiana and she couldn't afford to just drive out there for the game and stay over night, and he didn't ask her to. She watched on TV with Puck while Rachel baked cupcakes and decorated them like footballs because she's a psychopath. Then the game after that was on a Thursday night and she had a test the next day. When she told him that she could have sworn he was going to pout his face off, but he told her it was fine and he knew she'd get to a game before the season ended.
This Saturday they've got a game up in Akron and she's got no reason not to go. Rachel's got a rehearsal for the play she's in, but Santana and Puck are going to drive up and sit in the cheering section and like, be obnoxious in red and white and stuff.
"Yeah, I'm coming."
And she's told him this before, so she doesn't get why he's making a thing of it now. He spins the ball and tosses it up, and she watches him, listens to how the pigskin sounds when it rubs against his hands as he catches it.
"Good," he says, giving her a smile. "Wanna wear my jersey?"
She laughs and shakes her head. "No." And fuck, she probably would, if not for the fact that she went on a little shopping trip the other day with Rachel and did something stupid. "Um. I actually got something to wear."
He grins and leans up on his elbow. "You did?"
She shrugs her shoulder, but she knows he's not going to give it up until she shows him, so she rolls her eyes and gets up. It's not even a big deal. It's just a red Ohio State hoodie that she spent like sixty bucks on. It's cute, though, and actually, she'll probably get a lot of wear out of it. All her other school clothing is way more like, scholarly and not so much sports fan. But shit, if she's dating the QB, she needs to show some school spirit or they're gonna kick her out or something. Even though he's just a freshman and he's not even getting any playing time. (Which she'd never say to him, because she knows it's killing him, not playing even one minute so far this season.)
Anyway, he tells her he loves the sweater and she says she's not giving up style completely and she's wearing her black slouchy boots with her skinny jeans. He nods like he cares about that. It's nice of him to pretend.
"Hey, Finn?" she asks a while later, when her eyes are kind of starting to cross as she tries to read her text. She pulls her glasses off and sets them on her book.
"Yeah."
"What has to happen for you to get to play?" She puts it as delicately as she can, which has more to do with her tone than the words.
"QB1 has to get injured or like, really, really blow," he says, glancing up at her. "Coach says I'm playing just as good or better than Nick in practice, so." He shrugs his shoulder. She thinks she remembers Nick being second string. She can't keep all the guys' names straight, sometimes. "I'm not holding my breath."
She gives up studying in favour of lying down on top of him on the floor and kissing him for a while. It's kind of like her way of telling him she believes in him, without actually having to sound like a loser and say those words. She thinks he gets that.
... ... ...
Puck insists that they have to get pumped up for the game, and says he made a playlist for the drive, and Santana knows for a fact that he's loving every second of this. He's got on his Buckeyes sweatshirt, too, and he's like, a maniac for football, so it makes sense. She knows he used to play, too, in high school. Lord knows all he does on the weekends is watch ball, whether he's at home or at the girls' place. It drives Rachel nuts, even if she tries to pretend it doesn't.
She's kind of fucking shocked by how big a deal it is. She knows college ball is this big thing, but it's like she's at a pro game or something. People are tailgating when she pulls in to the parking lot, and yeah, someone hands her a burger for no reason as she passes, and she eats it. She feels like, this weird sense of pride right now. People love the game and her boyfriend's a part of it. (They've never called each other these names, but she's not going to pretend their relationship is anything other than what it is.)
She picks up their tickets from will call and the girl behind the glass actually smiles at Santana, and she figures, yeah, they're likely in the 'friends and family' section. She knows Finn's mom and step-dad came in for the game, too.
Fuck, she hopes she's not sitting next to them or something. How awkward would it be to meet them without Finn there to actually make introductions? She wants to believe that if he'd sat them next to one another, he would have told her, at least.
A girl comes around and she's got face paint and she's handing out free designs or something stupid, and Puck tells Santana she should get a #5 on her cheek. She glares so hard it actually makes him hold up his hands and apologize. "I'm awesome for coming to this thing, but I'm not a fucking face painter."
When she looks around their section, she will not admit she's looking for his parents. It's just that she knows what they look like - she's seen pictures - and she wants to know where they are in relation to her. She spots them a few rows down and diagonal to her. Now she's wondering why Finn didn't seat them closer together. She figures he knows it'd be weird for him not to be there for the first meeting or whatever.
God, they're about to start this game and she's stressing over meeting his parents. She's being stupid.
She cheered in high school and she knows the rules of the game, so she can follow pretty easily, and anyway, it doesn't take a genius to know that by the end of the first quarter, they're getting beaten. The score's 17-7 for Akron and Puck's explaining to her what the Buckeyes are doing wrong, as though he's one of the like 30 coaches for the team or something. She doesn't doubt that he's got a bit of a clue, but still. All she knows is that their head coach is really fucking pissed and looks about two seconds from throwing his clipboard onto the ground or something.
She sends Puck to get them popcorn and drinks during half time because he doesn't care about the marching band and colour guard. Santana spends at least half the time he's gone subtly watching Finn's parents. His mom's got this cute OSU scarf draped around her neck and his step-dad's wearing a Buckeyes hat, which when things get intense, he pushes up, then pulls down again. People around her are talking about how their quarterback is having his worst game of the season and that if the coach wants to have any hope in hell of winning this game, he might have to pull the kid. Santana's stomach flutters. Actually, she feels like she's going to puke.
How the hell do people do this every week? Being here is way different than watching on TV. And for some reason it feels way more intense when she gets even the slightest hint of an idea in her head that Finn might actually get to put his helmet on.
She's sucked back over half her Sprite when the players come back onto the field, and the lineup hasn't changed at all. She feels a little (huge) pang of disappointment. She knows how badly Finn wants the ball, and how hard he's working to get better. The way he tells it, he's given his coach everything the guy's asked for. And actually, when she met his coach, the man was telling Finn how much he appreciated the hard work and progress.
She's kind of fucking proud of him. He's standing along the sidelines with his hands hooked into the collar of his uniform as he watches his teammates line up.
The QB throws a garbage pass that gets picked, and he practically loses it on the sidelines, throwing his helmet down. Finn's the one there next to him, grabbing him by the shirt and trying to calm him down or something. Finn swats him on the ass and Santana laughs and shakes her head.
"He's a good leader," Puck comments, off-handed. She just looks at him, and he stuffs another handful of popcorn in his mouth. "I think his teammates really like him."
She knows they do, but she's realizing just how humble Finn really is. And she can see even from where she's sitting how much he loves this game, and she feels kind of bad that they don't talk about it more. They should. It's a big part of his life, and it's not like she shuts him down when he brings it up - not at all - but she could probably talk with him a little bit more about it.
"Jesus," Puck groans. "Good thing the defense showed up to play or we'd be getting slaughtered. I don't know what the fuck's up with our offense."
Santana's kind of nervous or something, which is really dumb. It's not like she needs Puck to point out that they're losing, or that if it weren't for the defensive line, Akron'd be running up the score. The offense just can't get anything going and she's pretty sure, from what she's seen, that it's all because their QB's having a hell of a time remembering how to throw the fucking ball.
She barely even really registers what's happening as she watches it play out in front of her. The coach is waving over the QB after another botched play, and then he pats Finn on the chest and says something to him, and Finn nods. Someone hands him his helmet and he nods again at whatever the coach says. He tugs his helmet down over his head and Coach pats his head, then his ass, and he's jogging out onto the field.
"Holy shit," Puck says, kind of laughing. "Your boy's actually gonna get to touch the ball."
She'd be pissed if he wasn't just as fucking happy as she is. They look at one another, and then people start cheering around them, so she jumps up out of her seat and shouts, "Go Finn!" as loudly as she can as she claps her hands, and hell no, she doesn't give a fuck if the enthusiasm comes from nowhere.
She does, however, see Finn's step-dad turn around and smile, then say something to Finn's mom. Something flares in her stomach at that, too, but whatever. She's a little busy cheering on her quarterback boyfriend.
They stay standing, practically the whole section does, as Finn breaks the huddle and the players line up. Santana has her hands clasped in front of her and she's almost rocking on her heels. She feels like she might be sick. "C'mon, baby," she says under her breath, and really ignores Puck right after. He's probably got a dumb look on his face and she doesn't want to see it.
The play looks pretty simple, but it works. Finn passes the ball off to whoever number 30 is, and the guy manages to gain 15 yards, and the fans actually have something to cheer for. The next play, Finn finds an open man down field and airs out a pass to put them within 20 yards of a touchdown.
Someone behind her yells, "Let's go number 5!" and Santana turns around, just as a laugh bubbles up from her stomach, and Puck, for whatever reason, grabs her hand.
She knows the chances of them wining this game aren't that bad, with the score 23-16, and even if they lose Finn has a shot at making the score look a little prettier, anyway.
She honestly doesn't think anyone screams louder than her when one of the players - it really doesn't matter who - runs the ball into the end zone. Finn's step-dad turns around and looks at her again when she yells Finn's name with her hands cupped around her mouth. Whatever. This is fun. Puck brings his fingers to his mouth to produce one of those annoying whistles she usually hates.
The defense shuts down the other team again, and Santana can tell Akron is frustrated.
Her fucking kick ass boyfriend capitalizes on that. He gets hit hard just after releasing the ball, but he's up again in time to watch his teammate get pushed out of bounds just inside the 20 yard line. She honestly feels like she's holding her breath as soon as the ball's snapped. Finn looks around for someone to pass to, but everyone's covered. Apparently Akron's defense has gotten their heads out of their asses again.
So Finn just starts running, and some huge asshole catches Finn's ankles and trips him, and she gasps, but she sees that he's still got his hand on the ball and it's definitely in the end zone. Santana cheers as loudly as everyone else, and hugs Puck, and then, fuck, turns back towards the field to make sure Finn's actually getting up off the ground. He's already up and being accosted by his teammates.
"Wait, wait!" Santana looks at Puck and god, she can't believe they're having this much fun. "What now?"
Puck laughs. "They go for the two-point conversion and the win, unless they want to settle for the tie."
"What if they don't get it, though?" She knows the answer and Puck looks at her like she's an idiot. "Fuck."
It's kind of insane how badly she wants them to win this game. It's not that she didn't care before, it's just that she cares a hell of a lot more now that her boyfriend is actually playing.
She grabs Puck's hand because she needs something to squeeze, and then the woman standing next to her grabs the other one, and Santana looks around and sees that just about everyone in this section is holding hands with one another. She bets there'll be a breeze when they all actually start breathing again.
Her heart can't take this crap.
The clock's ticking down and Finn gets the ball and backs up, and she wants to tell him he's going the wrong fucking way, but then one of his players is open and he's throwing the ball.
She doesn't even really register that they've won, really, only Puck's hugging her so hard and yelling in her ear and people around her are freaking the fuck out. No one's rushing the field, which she's kind of happy about, honestly. In her opinion, it'd be really dumb. They took way too long to beat a team they should have had from the start, and had to use their backup QB to do it because their starter blew so hard he got pulled. It's not exactly an upset.
But she and Puck do go down to the sidelines, and Finn muscles his way out of the crowd of his teammates and jogs over to her. He's sweaty and disgusting and his helmet hair is just really, really awful, but she puts her hands on his face and leans up to kiss him anyway. He puts his hand on the small of her back as his other holds his helmet, and laughs against her lips.
"You were so, so good, Finn," she tells him, because it's true.
Then Puck ruins the moment and smacks Finn on the pads. "Nice work, Hudson."
"Thanks," Finn breathes out. He's still high on adrenaline, she can tell. "I can't believe...I mean, there's like, no way I should have gotten put in."
"But you did," Santana says, obviously without having to. He puts his gross sweaty hand on her cheek and it doesn't even really bother her, the sweat or the affection.
"I told you that was her. I knew it."
"Shh." Santana turns around and sees Finn's parents right behind her. His mom's beaming at him. "Honey, you were just amazing!"
Finn laughs and Santana moves aside so he can see his parents. "Thanks, mom." He gives her a quick hug and then shakes his step-dad's hand. "This is Santana, my girlfriend, and this is my friend, Puck."
She chats with his parents for a few minutes, still reeling from the win and the fact that he just called her his girlfriend for the first time. She really shouldn't care this fucking much about either, but this is kind of, weirdly, the best day she's had in a while, and she can't stop smiling like an idiot, even when Puck notices and nudges her in the shoulder. Finn's teammates are leaving the field and his coach calls his name. She knows there's a bunch of post-game stuff he's got to do, so she squeezes his hand and then he kisses her, which, yeah, she wants, but was kind of avoiding doing again in front of his parents right now.
She hugs him, anyway, and leans up to speak in his ear quietly enough that only he can hear her. "You are getting fucked so hard the next time we see one another."
"Jesus, San," he says, his hand squeezing her hip. "Football thing does it for you, huh?"
She looks up at him and his eyes are all dark and sweat's dripping off his face. He shouldn't look as hot as he does when his hair's so fucking bad. "I like winners."
He laughs and steps away from her, then says goodbye to them all and jogs off to join his teammates.
Carole and Burt offer for Santana and Puck to join them for dinner, but Puck's got plans with Rachel later and Santana's the one who drove, so she can't stay. Carole says they'll see one another soon anyhow, and Santana doesn't really get how the woman knows that, but figures it's probably true regardless.
Then she gets hugged as they're saying goodbye, and when they're walking away, Puck looks at her from the corner of his eye and asks, "What the fuck just happened?"
She just laughs and shakes her head because she really doesn't know or care.
... ... ...
Yes, she kicked Rachel the fuck out of the apartment when Finn called her and asked if she wanted to hang out. (Cute that he tried to make it sound like something other than, "So, when can I come over so you can fuck me into a coma?") And anyway, Puck spends an awful lot of time at the girls' place, and for fuck's sake, Rachel can go to his for once, even if he doesn't really like his roommate. Fuck it. She's not asking for a lot here.
Santana likes that Finn knows he doesn't have to do anything stupid, like dress up for her or try too hard. That shit just really annoys her. The fact that he can show up in a Buckeyes tee shirt and a pair of jeans just tells her how comfortable they are with one another.
Also, she hauls him into her apartment and kisses him as he's pushing the door closed, so it's not like he's going to get to keep his clothes on for long anyway.
He makes a weird noise when she pushes him back onto her bed, and it makes her wonder, sort of, but she's busy pulling her tank top over her head, and then Finn's grabbing at her hips and pulling her closer to him, and she straddles his legs and pushes at his shirt.
When she takes it off him, she kind of gasps without really meaning to. Across his bicep, there's an angry red mark, possibly from his pads or his jersey or something, and right under his chest, he's scraped up and scabbed over, and it freaks her out a little bit.
"Finn."
"I'm fine." She gives him a look. What an idiot. He's all banged up, and that is not fine. "It's just like, paying the price."
"Is that what your coach tells you?" she asks, hands on her hips. "You're..."
"It's just a scrape." He laughs a bit and that doesn't put her at ease. "C'mere."
"I'm..."
"Santana." There's something in his voice, like this confidence she really never gets to see. "Come here." She doesn't really move, so he pulls her against him, then rolls them so he's hovering over her, and she really only remembers she's shirtless when he covers her breast with his hand. "I didn't think you were the girl who got scared because her boyfriend played."
"I'm not scared," she says, but she's being pretty quiet. "Is it that crazy that I don't want you to be hurt?" He shakes his head and nips at her lips, and she doesn't know when this became about him comforting her instead of her screwing him. She's confused. "Can I blow you now, or..."
He laughs and presses against her. "Yeah."
She didn't really mean she wanted permission. "Thanks for the generosity." He chuckles at himself and rolls onto his back again, and once she's got his pants and boxers off and he's really dying for her, she narrows her eyes at him. "Don't let this shit go to your head. Just because you play ball doesn't mean you can like, do whatever the fuck you want and I'll still be around."
"Santana."
"I'm serious, okay? I don't give a shit that you're like, the big man on campus, and..." He slips his hand into her hair and tugs her closer, presses his lips against hers and moans when her hand sits on his hip to steady herself.
"I know," he says, panting a little. "I've always played, you know. It's not like I'm a different person just because I played in a game we happened to win, or whatever."
"Good."
He gets this dirty grin on his face and says, "So, can you blow me now, or..."
She laughs and hits him, but fuck, that was kind of really super hot. Anyway, he stops laughing at his joke when she gives him what he wants. What they both want.
And so what if she kisses the marks on his body in the process of getting him off? He doesn't say anything about it, and she's not going to either.