Piper sat beside Brittany, listening contently as the blonde told her all about Lord Tubbington's latest adventure, but she stopped, as soon as Artie wheeled himself into the choir room, covered head to toe in deep red slushy.

"Oh, my God, Artie!" Tina gasped, as she rushed over to her best friend, as Piper reached for her towel in her bag before going over to Artie as well.

"It was awful." He shivered, when Piper started to clean him off a bit.

"That's it!" Finn yelled, suddenly getting up, all angry. "Screw rehearsal! This ends here and now."

Following their quarterback, all the football guys stood up as well, ready to walk out of the room.

"We're gonna go all Thunderdome on those guys." Puck said, but before they could properly leave, the rest of the football team walked inside.

"So this is what the ladies lounge looks like on the inside." One of them mocked

"This is the choir room." Sam corrected him, rather angrily. "Now, put up your fists because you and I are going to do some dancing."

"No, I got this, Sam." Finn said, placing a hand in front of Sam as if to stop him from pouncing on the boys.

"Coach Beiste told us to come." Karofsky said, and just the sound of his voice brought a chill to Piper's body. "Where is she?"

Focusing on cleaning off Artie, Piper tried to ignore the fact that Karofsky was in the same room as her after being actively trying to avoid him for so long. She looked up, however, when coach Beiste walked into the room with Mr. Schue.

"Everyone, have a seat." She said.

"You, too, guys." Mr. Schue said, causing all the kids to sit down, even if the football guys and the glee kids clearly stayed in different sides of the room. "All right, New Directions, let's give a warm welcome to the newest members of Glee Club."

At that, everyone started shouting angrily over one another and as Piper took a second to look at Karofsky across the room, she suddenly felt her head spinning a bit. Noticing her distress, Mercedes reached a hand over to place it against Piper's leg before turning to look at Mr. Schue

"Oh, hell to the no, Mr. Shue!" She yelled, over everyone as Mr. Schue sighed.

"Hey! Come on!" He pleaded as everyone continued to shout their disagreements. "Guys! Hey!"

"Are you serious?" Finn spat angrily. These are the guys that made Kurt transfer."

"And there's no way that I'm sharing the choir room with a known homophobe." Rachel said.

"Karofsky and Azimio have been harassing Piper and Kurt since last year." Quinn added completely unafraid of pointing fingers.

When Karofsky sent Piper a glare, though, the girl felt her breath getting caught in her throat.

"I don't disagree with you guys." Mr. Schue said then, as Piper slouched a bit in her seat trying to look as small as she possibly could. "But I talked to Coach Beiste about it, and she and I both agreed that the kind of bullying that David does is born out of ignorance. Having him in here, as difficult as it may be for us, is an opportunity to show him and the rest of the guys that being in Glee Club is kind of cool... Find some common ground."

"All of you are going to be in this Glee Club for one week." Coach Beiste told the football guys as they all gasped. "No exceptions."

"She's bluffing..." Karofsky scoffed. "Next week is the championship game. Without us, she has no team."

"With you, I have no team!" The coach argued. "You guys have gotta find a way to come together or we're going to get our asses kicked from here until Tuesday finds a saddlebag full of buckwheat."

"If I have to stay, I'm not singing no show tunes." Azimio spoke up. "That is the music of my oppressors."

"Do you even have any idea what we do in here?" Finn asked.

"No." Mr. Schue said. "None of them do. We have to show them. Rachel, Puck, haven't you guys been working on something? Why don't you give it a whirl?"

"Fine." Rachel scoffed then, standing up as Puck followed her close. "As offended as I am by their presence here, I won't let anything get in the way of a performance."

And as Puck and Rachel performed Need you now, Piper found herself flinching away from Brittany when the girl reached over to her afraid that even the slightest of physical touches between the two girls could set off Karofsky. She could see Brittany was a bit confused at her behavior, but she managed to avoid her eyes the whole time, clapping a bit for the duo when they were done along with everyone else.

"The girl with the mohawk had a really nice voice." Azimio mocked, as everyone turned to Puck expecting a reaction out of him.

"Yeah, man." Puck smiled fakely, before taking the guitar off of his shoulders. "That's good."

And as Puck launched himself at Azimio, all hell broke loose, causing all the glee kids and the football guys to start yelling at each other and exchanging threats and punches. Sitting at the back of the room, rubbing her temples with a quiet groan. That was about to be a long week.

***

"No frickin' way!" Azimio protested as soon as Mr. Schue explained their situation to them.

"We don't have a choice." The teacher said. "Sue pulled the Cheerios from the game, so if we don't do it, there's no halftime show."

At that, Piper frowned, turning to look at Brittany as the girl shrugged, clearly unaware of that fact.

"And this is a problem because?"

"It's not a problem." Mr. Schue answered Lauren's question. "It's an opportunity."

"Opportunity to humiliate ourselves." One of the football guys said.

"Hey!" Coach Beiste exclaimed. "The whole point of this week was to bring you guys together; to bring the school together."

"Wait..." Azimio said. "So you want us to play the first half, change into some sequin ball gowns, and then go out and do the halftime show at our own championship game?"

"Yes." Coach Beiste nodded.

"It's the championship game!" Karofsky scoffed. "This is a crazy town. Crazy."

"What about the Cheerios in Glee Club?" Finn asked.

"They have a choice." Mr. Schue said. "Us, or the Cheerios competition."

"Well, obviously, Quinn is gonna choose the Cheerios, I mean..."

"Well, that's not fair." Finn was, surprisingly, the one to come up in Quinn's defense against Rachel. At that, Piper frowned, confused. What was going on there? "You don't know what she's gonna choose."

"I think the cheerleading competition is gonna be a lot of fun, but if you go, you're gonna miss out on us doing the most iconic song of all time." Mr. Schue announced, as all the glee kids perked up in their seats. "The Super Bowl of pop anthems: Thriller."

At that, Piper opened a smile, turning to Brittany as her girlfriend smiled back at her, even though she could see she was still torn about the whole Cheerios competition thing. So, in spite of her fears, Piper reached a hand over to Brittany, grabbing her hand in hers in hopes of offering her some comfort.

"Yeah, remember a few years ago when that Philippine prison did that mega performance of Thriller and put it on YouTube?" Mr. Schue continued, as Brittany leaned over to rest her head against Piper's shoulders. "In the four months it took to rehearse that number, prisoner-on-prisoner crime dropped 80%. Doing that, together, as a team, created a unity within that prison. And that's what I'm looking to do here."

"I mean, don't get me wrong, you know... I'm big on Michael and everything but isn't that kind of what they're expecting us to do?" Mercedes asked.

"Which is why we're gonna mash it together with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' equally spooky single Heads Will Roll." Mr. Schue said, as the kids all cheered again, Piper turning around in her seat to flash Mercedes as smile.

"Who's Yeah Yeah Yeah?" Azimio asked quietly.

"All right, New Directions, Titans..." Coach Beiste said. "We're going to Zombie Camp."

***

Brittany had been avoiding this conversation for a while now, aware that Piper might get mad at her for what she had to tell her, but now, she couldn't really avoid it, so approaching her girlfriend quietly as she stood alone by her locker, Brittany stood beside her in silence until Piper turned around.

"Oh my God, Britt..." She gasped in surprise before chuckling a bit. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I thought heart attacks happened from loving too much." The blonde frowned, as Piper sighed. "I wrote a paper on it for my Bio class."

"Hum, sure." Piper shook her head then, with a smile already used to Brittany's insanities by now. "Yeah, sure, Britt. But, hum, anyway... Don't you have class now?"

"Yeah, but Mrs. Goodie told me to take a break because she didn't want to hear me trying to answer her questions anymore." Brittany shrugged. "And I, hum... I needed to talk to you."

"Okay?"

"I'm staying in the Cheerios."

"What?" Piper frowned then, closing her locker as she turned to look at Brittany, confused. "I thought you liked glee club."

"I do." Brittany pouted, noticing the disappointed look in Piper's eyes. "But... Quinn and Santana said we need to stay in the Cheerios."

"But, wait..." Piper shook her head quietly. "Wasn't coach Sylvester wanting to shoot you out of a canon?"

"Quinn said it would be okay."

"Quinn said what?"

"Look, I didn't want to make you mad." Brittany said, causing Piper to shake her head a bit

"I'm not mad, Brittany, I just... I just don't understand." She frowned. "You're putting your life at risk and for what? Didn't you like Zombie Camp?"

"Yes, but... But I..."

"Look, Britt, I can't make this decision for you, okay? But neither can Quinn or Santana." She said, as the blonde frowned, clearly confused. "It's your choice what you do and I'll back you up, no matter what you decide. But it needs to come from you, okay?"

"I just don't want you to be mad at me, P..." Brittany mumbled. "I really like you."

"I really like you too, Britt." Piper smiled at her, stepping forward to take Brittany's hand in hers. "And I'm not mad."

"Promise?" Brittany asked, as Piper nodded.

"I promise."

"Okay." The blonde smiled then. "Can I have more time to think about it, then? I might ask Lord Tubbington for advice."

"Sure you can, honey." Piper nodded with a fond smile. "And talk it out with Lord Tubbington. He just kicked his nicotine addiction, right? I'm sure he's going through a lot too."

Brittany nodded then, leaning down to press a kiss to Piper's cheek. Squeezing her hand in hers again, Brittany skipped off as Piper sighed, leaning against her locker and hoping Brittany would end up making the right decision.

***

So Brittany had made up her mind and, even though Piper wasn't entirely sure it had been her decision alone, there wasn't much she could do. If Brittany chose the Cheerios, then Piper needed to let her. Weirdly, though, Piper did miss having Brittany there with her during glee meetings and she certainly hoped the having her, Quinn and Santana leave the club didn't push them all away from her. Especially not Quinn.

She was a bit bummed out about the whole thing, if she was being honest, but, as she walked out of her arts class that afternoon, she barely had had the time to think about it before Karofsky walked up to her and back her up against the lockers.

"Our little secret..." He said, trapping the girl in front of him as he placed his two fists just beside her head. "Still a secret, right?"

"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" She said, her eyes already watering as she trembled in fear.

"And your best gay friend?"

"He didn't either!"

"Hum." Karofsky hummed at her then, looking around for a second to make sure they were still alone. "You talk to him?"

"W-what?" She frowned, confused, flinching a bit when Karofsky punched the locker near her head.

"Answer me!"

"Yes!" She cried out. "Yes, I talk to him. Everyday still."

"And he..."

"What's the point of this?" Piper asked, then, not really in the mood to talk about Kurt to Karofsky of all people. "I thought we were in the same team now. I thought you were enjoying glee club!"

"Don't be stupid, lesbo." Karofsky spat. "I... I never enjoyed glee club and I was forced to leave the football team because of it so, no... We're not in the same team. And just a reminder... If you tell anyone..."

"I know!" Piper sobbed a bit. "Now, leave me alone!"

"You tell anyone, I'll mess you up." He threatened, grabbing Piper's wrist tightly as she whimpered, in fear.

"Okay!" She cried. "Leave me alone!"

"Step away from her Karofsky."

At the new voice, both the kids turned to see no one other than Sam Evans standing there, at the end of the hallway. Karofsky was quick to obey then, letting go of Piper and stepping back from her, glaring at Sam before turning back around to glare at Piper.

"You got lucky this time, Lesbo." He spat at her, before walking off.

As soon as he was out of sight, Piper let out a sob as she leaned against the lockers crying quietly for a second and jumping a bit when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry." Sam stepped back then. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine." Piper smiled at him, wiping her tears away. "Thank you, by the way."

"You know, it's true. When I got into the fight with Karofsky, it was just because of Kurt." Sam said, as Piper frowned at him a bit. "I didn't think of you. None of us did. And that wasn't nice. So I apologize. But, hum... Someone did ask me to keep an eye on you. Especially after Kurt left."

"Who asked you to keep an eye on me?" Piper frowned, confused as Sam just shrugged with a smile.

"Someone did." He said. "And, honestly, I'm glad they did."

"Well..." Piper shrugged. "I am too."

At that, Sam nodded, smiling a bit at the girl as he watched her taking in a few deep breaths.

"Are you okay, though?" He asked. "Did he hurt you?"

"Not really." Piper said. "He just terrified me a bit."

"I'm sorry." Sam frowned, genuinely as Piper just smiled. "But come on. Let's go to the cafeteria so I can buy you something to eat."

"Hum, actually, I... I'm not hungry." Piper found herself mumbling before she could even process what was happening.

At that, Sam smiled a bit, realizing, in that moment, that Quinn's concern for the girl wasn't unfunded.

"Come on, Snow." He told her gently. "Let's go grab something to eat."

Piper sighed then, knowing, as soon as she looked into Sam's eyes, that he wouldn't be letting her go any time soon. So, she relented.

"I thought you didn't like me." She admitted, falling into pace with Sam as the two of them walked side by side down the hallway.

"I'm jealous of you most of the time, I'm not gonna lie." He shrugged as Piper frowned a bit at him. "But you're going through a lot right now and you don't need to go through it all alone. So, I'm hereby offering you my services. As a friend."

Piper chuckled then, shaking her head before turning around to look at Sam.

"You know what?" She asked, as Sam just smiled at her. "I might just take up on that offer."

***

"Now, I don't want to sound cocky or anything, but you guys better be pulling out all the stops for Regionals." Blaine said, as he, Kurt, Mercedes, Piper and Rachel reunited in the Lima Bean. "Because the number we just rehearsed is so off-the-hook, it's dangerous."

"Seriously." Kurt nodded in agreement, sitting at the table the girls had gotten after having picked up his coffee with Blaine. "People should wear protective headgear when they're watching it."

Blaine watched then as Kurt pushed a small cup of coffee toward Piper only to have the girl decline it with a scrunched up nose. Noticing the sour mood from the two other girls as well, Blaine offered them a small smile.

"Guys, we're kidding." He said.

"Yeah, well, it's just hard to laugh right now with everything going on at McKinley." Mercedes sighed. "I mean, look at us, the stars of two rival show choirs sitting down to coffee... Our school is so messed up, we can't even keep our own football team together."

"It's so sad, you guys." Rachel nodded, as Kurt offered Piper a piece of his brownie, knowing how much she liked them only to have her refuse it as well. "Coach Beiste and Mr. Shue were so close to getting everyone at the school together."

"Why hasn't Finn told me anything about this?" Kurt asked, lifting his eyes from Piper for a second to look at Rachel instead as Mercedes took over looking after their friend and getting her to eat. "I mean, we live together. I mean, I bring him a glass of warm milk every night, just in the hopes that we'll have a little lady-chat."

"Warm milk?" Blaine asked, with a small smile at Kurt. "Really?"

"It's delicious." Kurt defended himself, chuckling a bit when Piper smiled just barely.

"Finn's too proud to complain." Rachel said. "He feels like he has to be strong for everyone, but I know it's just killing him inside. I hope he realizes that, you know, if he and I were still together, I could make him feel a lot better, you know?"

At that, everyone turned to look at her.

"Let it go, Rachel." Kurt shook his head then, as Piper just sighed, running her finger over the cap of her drink that she still hadn't touched.

"I just wish that there was a way that we could help." She shrugged.

"And the worst part is how bummed the guys are." Mercedes added. "I mean, they already suffer enough abuse just being in Glee. I really think winning the game could have eased some of the pressure, at least for a little while."

"Wait, so the whole team quit?" Blaine asked.

"Everybody not in Glee." Rachel said. "I mean, you can't play football with five guys."

"And one of them is in a wheelchair." Piper added.

"Yeah, Coach Beiste put up a sign-up sheet for people to join." Mercedes said. "I think they'll take anyone at this point."

"Well, the good news is, you actually only need four more guys." Blaine said, and, at that, Piper frowned, lifting her head up to look at him, far more alert to the conversation now that she was before. "High school regulations actually let you play a couple guys short, if you want to. But if they figure out a way to make it work, you can bet that we'll definitely be there to cheer them on."

"Totally. Blaine and I love football." Kurt said, snapping Piper out of her thoughts to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, Blaine loves football. I love scarves."

At that, they all laughed as Piper smirked at her friend.

"Well, that makes more sense."

***

"Why can't we just let them back on the team, just for this game?" Sam asked, clearly upset as the glee kids all got together that afternoon after coach Beiste told them no one had signed up for the football team.

"No." The coach said, firmly. "We carry this thing through, even if it means having to forfeit the game."

"I can't believe this is it." Finn sighed and, at that, all the girls exchanged a glance.

When Rachel and Mercedes nodded at her, Piper spoke up.