EX BOYFRIENDS ARE THE BEST WINGMEN!

MR SCHUESTER WAS SICK SO KURT HAD DECIDED TO GET THE GLEE CLUB A SUBSTITUTE. Delighted with this news, for the first time probably in his life, Puck had arrived early, specifically to prepare for her arrival.

Bending down, he concentrated solely on buttering the floor as Finn came in, a look of confusion covering his face. Standing up for a second, Puck was gave him a look as if it were obvious, "Kurt's got us a substitute. I'm buttering the floor." He told him before quickly getting back to what he was doing.

"Hey gigantor!" Artie called to Finn across the classroom, "we're gonna swap names, yo!"

Marching in through the door, Rachel was too busy talking to notice the butter on the floor, "did someone say something about a substit! —" she exclaimed as she fell to the floor with a loud bang. Standing up as everyone laughed at her, she straightened her hair out, "well at least i didn't fall and break my talent."

Tessa was next to come in, again unaware of Puck's antics and slipped backwards, only to be caught by Sam, who'd swiftly leapt forward from where he was talking with Quinn to catch her before she hit the floor. Helping her to her feet again, Sam gave her a smile, "you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks." She smiled through an embarrassed laugh, slowly turning red as Sam was quickly pulled away by Quinn. Throwing her head around, she gave Puck a glare, wondering why he wouldn't warn her about the buttered floor and then she remembered their break up.

Taking a seat next to Rachel, she huffed as she sat down. Turning to her with a grin, Rachel was quick to reassure her, "don't worry. They didn't tell me either." She grumbled, slumping back in her chair with her arms folded across her chest.

Across the classroom, Puck had taken a seat on the edge of the choir room, saving an empty chair next him with his bag. Watching Tessa chat to Finn, a soft smile came to his lips, but was quickly replaced by a roll of the eyes as he began attempting to catch her attention. He could tell that she was ignoring him and took a sigh of expectation as he raised his voice, "just come sit over here, Tess." He breathed out once she looked his way, "please."

"She can sit wherever she wants, Puckerman." Santana snapped, protectively, getting approving nods from the room around her.

After staring at him for a second, Tessa let out a nervous breathe and got up from the safety of sitting next to Finn and Rachel, "it's okay." She smiled at Santana, grabbing her bag and sitting carefully next to Puck.

"Thanks." He said, quietly, "look, I've been thinking a lot."

"Dangerous pass time." She interrupted in attempted banter to ease the tension.

Chuckling lightly, Puck was pleased to see her being less resistant of him and continued to try and win back a friend, "seriously, I'm sorry about what I did."

Tessa smiled, she knew Puck well enough to know that he wasn't the best at apologies and she was just happy to have one, "you're all good." She said, reaching forward to give him a slap on the arm, "just don't cheat on your next girlfriend. She might be less forgiving."

"I think it was for the best, you know." He shrugged, glancing over to where Sam and Quinn were sat together, then looking back to Tessa with a narrow smile.

"Since when do you get all sentimental?" She teased, a goofy grin appearing on her lips.

"Break ups do things to a man, Tess." He shook his head dramatically, slapping his chest before a smile appeared on his face, "I'm kidding. I'm just glad to be friends again."

"Me too." She smiled back at him.

Placing a hand on her back, he pulled her in closer to him so they could talk without being overheard from the many prying eyes around them, "and my first order of business as your friend, is helping you get blondie over there, starting with my genius plan to get you to fall into his arms...literally."

Scoffing through a laugh, Tessa rolled her eyes and jumped up from her chair, "I'm leaving now." She announced. Giving her a joking smile, Puck held his arms out as he called after her, "I'm your wingman, man!"

Throwing herself down next to Brittany, Tessa smiled to herself as she shook her head, just glad to have her friend back. Her reminiscing was quickly stopped when their substitute teacher slid, gracefully, across the butter that Puck had so carefully prepared, "that was all you had to do, Tess." She whispered to herself in frustration.

"Oh what the hell?" Artie exclaimed, looking around in confusion.

"Hola classe." She began, with a sly grin, "nothing says bienvenidos like a buttered floor. My name's Holly Holliday, what's yours?" Miss Holliday introduced herself, pointing directly at Puck, "Go."

"I'm Finn Hudson, quarterback of the football team." Puck replied, making the dopiest face he could manage.

Santana was quick to follow along, "and I'm Rachel Berry, his loud, loud girlfriend."

"I'm Mike Chang." Brittany spoke up, enthusiastically, as Mike gave her an approving nod.

"And I'm Tina Cohen-Chang." Tessa finished, hoping to get in on the fun, leaning in towards Brittany too kiss her on the cheek. Clearly having the same idea, Brittany had also gone to kiss Tessa's cheek and the two accidentally ended up planting a kiss on each other's lips. Jumping back, they both widened their eyes but kept in character, with Tessa resting her head onto Brittany's shoulder.

"Those aren't your names. You know why I know that?" Miss Holliday laughed, raising her eyebrows as Brittany instantly had the answer, "you're psychic?"

"I know this because I recently watched a video of you guys performing at regionals, where you came last. Maybe because the songs were about thirty years old but —"

"Those songs are classics." Finn interjected, a frown on his face as he began to defend the songs.

Turning round to face him, Miss Holliday gave him a truthful smile, "those songs are amazing. But they sound like somebody else's favourite, not yours. Just saying."

"She speaks the truth." Brittany marvelled with wide eyes.

Beginning to pace around the classroom, Holly was quick to let the group know what she was all about, "I'm not your average run of the mill substitute teacher. I want you guys to do things that you want to do, I want you to have fun in our fabulous but fleeting time together. How about we have class outside today?"

"It's raining outside." Mercedes pointed out.

"I love going outside in the rain." Tessa remarked, clapping her hands together.

Smiling towards both parties, Miss Holliday was glad for some enthusiasm, "well you can go outside on the way to Taco Bell!"

The mentioning of Taco Bell instantly got everyone, except Rachel, cheering and ready to have fun with their surprisingly chilled substitute teacher.

"Should we toke up some medical grade marijuana? I wish!" She suggested next.

At this point, Rachel had had enough and sat forward in her chair to protest, "okay, no! We can't just goof off all day, we have to write a set list for sectionals."

Turning round in her chair, Tessa have Rachel an encouraging grin so she wouldn't ruin the fun, "come on, you need to have fun once in a while, Rach."

Much to the group's dismay, Miss Holliday's smile faded, "no she's right. What songs would you like to do?" She questioned, a smug smile coming back to her lips as they just blinked back at her without an answer, "oh, we don't get asked that question much, do we?"

"Mr Schue never listens to what I have to say." Puck said, sadly, "I wanna do Forget You by Cee Lo."

Clicking her fingers, Miss Holliday was keen show her interest in his idea, shouting out enthusiastically, "Cee Lo! That's what I'm talking about!"

"What would you know about Cee Lo? You're like forty." Santana mocked, with her signature smirk.

"Top forties sweet cheeks." Miss Holliday cooed, turning round to the band with a flick of her hair, "hit it!"

[SONG- FORGET YOU, SANG BY HOLLY HOLLIDAY]

Soon, everyone except Rachel, who was sulking, was up dancing with Miss Holliday. After a failed attempt to get Rachel to enjoy herself, Tessa and Kurt shrugged their shoulders, grabbing onto each other's hands and dancing together.

　　　　　　　　☆

TESSA WAS THE MOST EXCITED SHE'D BEEN IN A WHILE AS SHE WAITED WITH MERCEDES AND KURT AT THE LIMA BEAN. After Mercedes found herself getting bored third wheeling Kurt and his new friend, they'd invited Tessa along to keep her company at the same time as introducing her to the guy she'd been so excited to meet.

Rearranging the positioning of her jacket for what seemed to Kurt and Mercedes to be the hundredth time, Tessa looked up through a frown, "do you think he'll like me?"

"He's gonna love you!" Kurt assured her, as Mercedes giggled under her breathe, "since when do you get nervous about meeting new people?"

As Tessa looked away shyly, mumbling inaudibly, Kurt and Mercedes exchanged a knowing glance. Her confidence had been shot, and they didn't know whether it was something that went down with Puck or just something in her mind, but they hoped that having Blaine Anderson as a new friend would bring it back.

Finally, Blaine had arrived, a beaming smile on his face as he greeted Kurt with a hug. Leaning into Tessa's side, Mercedes let out a sigh of relief, "thank god your here this time to stop me from having weird fantasies."

"What?" Tessa questioned in a whisper, turning to give her a look for answers as she held up her hands in defeat, "I'll explain later."

After a moment Blaine's eyes locked with Tessa's across the table, and the smile on his face grew, "you must be Tessa." He grinned, holding out a hand for her to shake, "I'm Blaine. Cool last name by the way."

"Thanks!" She said, excitedly, "you're just cool in general."

"Cool last name for a cool girl." Mercedes pitched in, thumping her on the back, forcing her to sit up in her seat to gain a bit of confidence.

Tilting his head to the side, Blaine let out a chuckle, "huh, it does fit her, doesn't it?" He stated, getting up from his chair, "I'm gonna go grab us some napkins and all that, I'll be back."

Waving him a quick goodbye, Tessa immediately leant right in the middle of the table, "I love him. Please marry this guy."

"Believe me, I would if he asked." Kurt whispered, quickly joining Mercedes on shushing himself as Blaine appeared once again.

Attempting to make conversation, Tessa swirled her coffee round and looked up as she used her finger to have a taste of the cream on top, "Um, if you could be a superhero what would your power be?" She asked, cringing at herself until Blaine began enthusiastically answering.

"Nightbird." He whispered, eyes wide with excitement, "the nocturnal avenger."

After a while of talking, Tessa and Blaine were getting on better than they could've expected, seeming to click straight away. Sitting back in her seat, Mercedes could hold back her smile of amusement at the enthusiasm in their voices as they engaged in a conversation that all four of the members of the group could take part in. And by the end of the afternoon, Tessa found herself walking away from the Lima Bean, laughing with a new friend by her side.