YOU'RE THE WORST HUMAN SHIELD EVER!

WITH WEST SIDE STORY A HUGE SUCCESS, SECTIONALS WAS ALL THAT WAS ON ANYONE'S MIND. This only meant that the competitiveness between the New Directions and the Trouble Tones was only getting worse, with Finn and Santana leading the charge for the both teams. In an attempt to ease the tension, Mr Schue and Shelby had invited both groups to the auditorium and announced a friendly mash-off between the two groups.

Though in the end, the rivalry was only getting worse and all the New Directions wanted to do was win. Eager to find the best mashup ideas, Mr Schue had them in a brainstorming session, "the Trouble Tones have a lot of powerful voices so song selection is key. Any suggestions?"

"Avril Lavigne." Tessa whispered, nodding her head to herself as the room started shouting out band suggestions.

Leaning in towards her, Artie was quick to shut this idea down, "yeah, no."

Putting a hand to his face, Tessa pushed him right away, "shut up Artie." She hissed, quickly getting over her disappointment as Rachel shouted out the Jonas Brothers, which changed her mind rapidly, "yes the Jo Bros!"

Shaking his head as he took in all those suggestions, Finn jumped up from his seat and took a place at the front, frowning deeply at them, "no, guys, we can't use any of those bands." He insisted, "the only thing they have in common is that they've all broken up. And right now, the New Directions need to feel united."

"I like what you're saying here, Finn." Mr Schue nodded with his agreement, "it's not just about the music but where it comes from."

"Who do you think we should use?" Tina questioned through a smile.

Clearly having thought his choices through, Finn was glad for the chance to prove his skills as a leader once again with the choice of set list, "how about this? People think Hall and Oates are famous for their cool, puffy hair and that dude's banging 'stache, but they're also awesome for staying together for the long haul."

Giving a nod, Rachel flashed everyone a smile, "just like us, despite our differences."

"I think we should give the solo to the new guy." Finn continued on, turning to Rory with a supportive grin, "get him prepared for what's in store when the stakes get high. Rory, I think you'll do a great job."

Unsure, Rory began to grow nervous under the expectant beams he was getting from everyone in the room. Offering them a small smile, he shook his head quietly, "thanks Finn, but I don't think I'm ready for that honour just yet."

Spinning round on his chair, Blaine patted his knee in support, "come on, you're totally ready Rory!"

"Dude, you'll kill it. We'll all help you." Tessa motivated him, throwing Rory a thumbs up and a wide smile, "you don't need to worry. We're not gonna just throw you on stage and force you to sing, we'll be right there with you."

Pointing back at her, Finn flashed a wink her way, "exactly!" He said before moving his attention back to Rory, "so, what'd you say?"

Glancing around, Rory could see he had the complete support of all of his new friends and gave them a single nod and a grin of acceptance, "I'll do it."

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THE RIVALRY OF THE MASH OFF HAD LED TO A DODGEBALL GAME. In an attempt to grab the New Directions a win, Tessa was talking to Ryan as they entered the lunch hall together. Catching sight of the New Directions table sharing tactics before she'd arrived, she was eager to bag them another team member who had experience in playing the game.

"Come on, you're incredible at dodgeball!" She tried to persuade him, "and you love playing it."

"Yeah, with people at my level." Ryan scoffed. Turning to Tessa with a sigh as he saw the disappointment in her eyes, he gave her a small smile, "look baby, I have a reputation to keep hold of. And singing and dancing in a musical and playing dodgeball in a game between two rival glee clubs isn't part of it."

"It's one game, Ryan. Can't you do that for me?" Tessa folded her arms across her chest in an irritated fashion, "it'll be fun. I've promised Kurt and Tina I'll block for them and you can bet that Puck will use me as a human shield. You could give me a helping hand."

Shaking his head, it was clear that there was nothing Tessa could do to persuade Ryan to join in with their dodgeball game, "West Side Story was enough of a blow to my reputation. We need everything set up for next year when I'll be the quarterback, and you'll be Head Cheerio —"

Throwing her hands up into the air, Tessa cut him off, "when are you gonna learn that I don't care about that stuff?"

"And when are you gonna learn that I do?" He fought back, noticing his tone and letting out a sigh, "I'm sorry Tess, it's just not gonna happen."

Leaning down, he planted a kiss on her cheek before walking off towards the football team. Watching him walk away, Tessa rolled her eyes and threw her head back as she made her way over to the New Directions table and throwing herself down in between Rory and Quinn.

"Your boyfriend won't help us out?" Kurt rolled his eyes knowingly as Tessa shook her head, "I hate that guy."

Noticing Tessa's irritation after her talk with her boyfriend, Santana narrowed her eyes at him, licking her lips before deciding to push away her pride and shove her way in between Rory and Tessa at the New Directions table, "before you losers say anything, the Trouble Tones are still ready to crush you but I wants to talk to my girl here."

The two glee clubs had meant Tessa and Santana hadn't talked so much so Tessa was delighted to be sitting with her best friend at lunch, "what'd you wanna talk about?"

"Why do you always date douchebags after you lose someone you really liked?" She questioned, flatly.

"I don't do that." Tessa scoffed with a laugh.

"Yes you do." Tina chipped in from the other side of her, earning herself a single nod from Santana. Listening in from across the table, Puck furrowed his eyebrows as he thought things over, "wait, Tess dated me after Matt."

Pointing over his way, Santana didn't even look at him, "point proven." She said, causing Puck to slump back into his seat, pouting, "though right now, you'd be a much better choice than Mr I'm-So-Cool McJerkface."

Silently celebrating, Puck gained a subtle high five from Artie as he sat up straighter in his seat once again, "yeah, I am a better choice. I'm awesome."

Waving her hands around, Tessa was completely conflicted as the group were eager to tell her everything they hated about her boyfriend, "I have tried to get him to stop being such a jerk to everyone." She muttered, quietly, "he's all worried about his reputation, that's all."

"We just want you to aim higher." Santana told her, with a meaningful smile. With a quick glance towards Kurt, she saw his nod and sighed before trying to give Tessa the harsh truth, "look, truth is if you ever decided to take that uniform off, he'd drop you quicker than Sam disappeared. You deserve someone who loves Tess Tess. Not Cheerios Tess."

"It was you who told me to give Ryan a chance." Tessa chuckled, lightly.

Folding her arms in response, Santana raised an eyebrow, "well I was wrong." She admitted, throwing a glare over to where Ryan was sitting, "he must've blocked my Mexican psychic third eye somehow." Thumping Tessa on the back, Santana got up from her seat, "just wanted you to know that we all hate your boyfriend and that I'm gonna destroy you all at dodgeball."

"I love you too Santana." Tessa laughed, managing to catch hold of her hand and give it a squeeze before she had chance to run off. Sitting back in her chair, she let out a loud sigh and glanced over towards where Ryan was sat. With everyone's words playing round her head, she was unsure of how she felt anymore.

　　　　　　　　☆

NORMAL DODGEBALL WAS SCARY, BUT DODGEBALL AGAINST SANTANA WAS TERRIFYING. After mentally preparing herself for the competition, Tessa had bounced over to Quinn and Tina as they all put matching pigtails in their hair.

Nervously looking over Quinn's shoulder towards the Trouble Tones and clocking onto Santana's fierce expression, Tina was getting more and more anxious. Looking up towards Tessa, she gave her a pleading pout, "you promise you'll block for me, right?"

Taking Tina's face in her hands, Tessa gave her a reassuring grin, "I'll protect you with my life Queen T. Those dodgeballs ain't got nothing on me."

Holding a hand over her heart, Tina flashed her a wink, amusing Quinn, "you actually enjoy dodgeball, Tess?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Tessa began bouncing up and down on the spot, "sometimes, I guess. But I wouldn't choose to play it against Santana. She's the only person I'll admit to being a little bit scared of."

"We're gonna die." Tina sighed, slumping into Quinn's shoulder, hopelessly.

"The only time we don't have an argument through song, we have to have one through dodgeball — typical." Quinn agreed with a roll of her eyes, holding out both arms for Tessa to pull her up as Finn called them all over for a pep talk before the game started.

Keeping her arms wrapped around Quinn as they prepared themselves, Tessa let out a long breathe of air before she had to become human shield for half of the glee club. Breaking free from Quinn's arms she caught sight of Mike and held both of her hands up for an enthusiastic high five as Finn blew the whistle loudly signalling for the start of the game.

Rushing to the line of balls, Tessa managed to grab hold of two of them, throwing one over to Blaine and keeping the other in her grasp. Wiggling her eyebrows at him, she took a shot, smacking one of the Cheerios right in the stomach. Celebrating with a quick hug from Blaine, Tessa rushed to the back, to fulfil her duties of protecting Tina.

As she'd suspected, Puck had dived behind Tessa with his balls, pushing her to the front where he could duck behind her and attack the other team without getting hit himself. Smirking at the sight, Santana moved forward, spinning a ball around her fingers and giving Tessa a smug wave before sending the ball flying towards her.

As she ducked down just in time, Puck wasn't prepared for a ball to smack him right in the face, "you're the worst human shield ever." He pouted at her as he walked off to the side.

Chasing after another ball, Tessa caught hold of it with a mischievous grin, throwing it towards Sugar and managing to hit her on the arm. Spinning round in celebration, she was just in time to catch Tina in a fit of confidence, running forward and sending a ball sailing right into Santana. Cheering for her friend, Tessa held out her hands for a high five, "Mike! Your girlfriend's awesome!"

"I know!" He shouted back with a wink, dodging a ball that came his way.

Beginning to feel outnumbered as more of the New Directions were being hit out, Tessa and Tina glanced at each other nervously, scrambling around to find a ball. Finding one each, they made their way to the front together to whip them over to the other side but their confidence was quickly shot as Santana sent a dodgeball flying so it smacked Tessa right across her face.

Handing her ball towards an eager Blaine, Tessa saw Tina's eyes widened with fear and gave her a good luck pat on the back as she made her way off to the side of the pitch to join the others who were out. Standing still out of fear, Tina was eventually smacked to life with a dodgeball to the face, pouting as she walked over to be pulled into a group hug with Tessa, Mike and Quinn.

Eventually, only Finn was left on the New Directions team, trying his hardest until Santana hit him right in the face. Smiling despite his defeat, Finn stood forward to congratulate the Trouble Tones, who were already bouncing up and down in victory.

Rushing forward, Rory had the brightest smile on his face after the game of dodgeball, "boy, oh, boy, that was a cracker!"

Maybe because they were excited about winning, the girls on the Trouble Tones happened to take things too far, throwing all their balls as hard as they could at him, laughing as they did so as they watched him fall to the floor.

Running straight over, Kurt knelt down besides him in an attempt to shield him with his arms, as Tessa took a stand in front of him, in the hopes of protecting them both from any harm, "guys, that's enough." She said calmly, giving them a stern look.

"For gods sake he's bleeding!" Kurt exclaimed, angrily, "maybe that's how others treat us around here but we don't do this to each other. We're better than this."

"Calm down, grandma." Santana scoffed, folding her arms over her chest.

"This game's over." Kurt announced, throwing the Cheerios a dirty look before linking his arm in Tessa's and leading Rory out of the gym, all with a newfound disliking for dodgeball.

　　　　　           ☆

THE NEW DIRECTIONS' MASH UP OF 'I CANT GO FOR THAT' AND 'YOU MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE' HAD GONE GREAT. Now, the Trouble Tones were getting ready to perform and as Tessa rushed to the auditorium, trying to make sure she wasn't any later than she already was, she caught sight of Santana sitting all by herself.

Frowning, she tentatively made her way towards her and sat down on the box opposite her, getting to see that she'd clearly been crying, "do you want me to stay?" She asked, quietly, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.

Nodding her head, Santana decided it was best to stay silent, biting her lip to prevent herself from crying with her show makeup on. Sitting in silence, just glad to have her with her, Santana reached out and took Tessa's hand, just looking for that little bit of comfort.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Tessa whispered, softly.

"Someone overheard me talking with Finn." She told her, taking in a shaky breathe, "and now everyone's gonna know."

Not needed any more of an explanation than that, Tessa knew exactly what Santana was talking about — her sexuality — and instantly felt her expression soften as she took her in her arms and held her tightly. Melting into the hug, Santana squeezed her eyes shut, feeling safe in the arms of someone she trusted and loved so much and despite feeling completely alone, with a simple hug, she felt so loved.

Holding her at arms length, Tessa was desperate to try and lift her spirits and make sure she knew she'd always have her, no matter what, "I can't imagine what you're feeling right now. But I can promise you that I'm right here for you. I love you so much, Santana Lopez. And I swear I always will, okay?" Brushing away a tear that'd fallen down her cheek, Tessa gave her a soft smile, "I know how hard this is for you. And I'm proud of you and will support you however you want to deal with this."

"Thank you." Santana whispered, "I love you too."

Giving her shoulders a light shake to make her smile, Tessa booped her nose as she stood up from her seat as she saw the rest of the Trouble Tones gathering ready to go out on stage, "now go out there and kill this mash up. Take in all that spotlight you truly deserve like the star you are."

With a single nod, Santana threw her arms around Tessa one last time, squeezing her tightly before taking a deep breathe to compose herself, making her way towards Mercedes, Brittany and the rest of the Trouble Tones, ready to blow everyone away with their mash up.