"I really think we shouldn't be together," he said to her, his face hard.
She didn't understand. "But...why? I thought we were happy. I thought you were happy?"
"I've never been happier," he said, his face softening slightly, "but I just don't think we should be together."
Confused, she said, "Why?"
"We just shouldn't," he said. "We're not right for each other."
Tears pooled in her eyes at this statement. "But I love you, and I thought you loved me."
"Quinn, I love you more than you could possibly know. I just...you deserve better." Any attempts to maintain the stone-like features he had practiced for this conversation went right out the window.
His words stung. She always suspected that he thought she deserved "better than him." Whatever that meant. In her eyes, there was nothing better than him.
"Artie, you need to stop thinking that. I love you, and I know you love me. I don't deserve better than you, because there is nothing better than you."
He looked into her eyes, and then looked away, fearing that his eyes would give him away. He loved her, but she did deserve someone that could take better care of her than he could.
"You deserve someone that's whole. Someone that can take care of you. Someone better than me," he said, turning towards the door. "I can never be everything that someone like you should have."
The tears that had been flooding her eyes spilled over onto her cheeks. "Artie, someone like me needs someone like you. Or, more specifically, I need you. I don't want anybody else."
He turned, a weary expression on his face. "Quinn, I can't do this to you. We can't stay together. In ten years, I don't want you to have regrets because I was there holding you down. That's not going to happen, because I'm going to stop it before we could ever get to that point."
She nodded. "You're right. That's not happening. But not because you "hold me down." Because I have no regrets. Not now, and not in ten years."
"It would be different if I could walk, but I can't, and that isn't going to change anytime soon..." he trailed off, turning back towards the door. "I'm sorry."
Quinn got up from her place on the bed, and walked over to where he was. She grabbed the handles of his chair, and turned him around to face her.
"Now, you listen to me," she said, taking his face in her hands and looking into his eyes. "I love you exactly how you are. I don't need you to change to be what you think I want you to be. I want you to be healthy, and happy, and I thought we were both of those things. Don't throw this away, Artie."
"Quinn..." he started, but she cut him off.
"I know you think I want you to be able to walk, and yes...I do, but not for the reasons you think. If your being able to walk made you happier, and healthier, then it would be great. But if you think your being able to walk would make me love you more because you'd be able to take better care of me, whatever that means, or that it would change our relationship and how we feel about each other, then you're wrong. I don't care that you can't walk. I wouldn't care if you couldn't move at all, because I would still love you exactly like I do right now."
He sat, staring into her eyes.
"Quinn..." he tried again, but she cut him off for the second time.
"And I know that we have problems sometimes, but everyone does. Those problems have nothing to do with the fact that I don't think you're good enough for me. They have nothing to do with the fact that you can't walk. Those problems are just a normal part of having a relationship."
He nodded.
"I know," he said, quietly. "Quinn...I love you. I didn't know it was possible for one person to love another as much as I love you."
She bit her lip, holding back tears. She had already shed more than she thought was humanly possible, but apparently the well supplying her tear ducts was bottomless.
He pulled her into his lap, and they sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Artie," she said, finally, "I didn't know it was possible for one person to love another as much as I love you either. We can make this work. I know we can."
A small grin spread across his face. "I hope so," he said, "because the thought of losing you is too much for me to deal with right now. Or...ever, actually."
She grinned, too. "Just promise me that you'll stop thinking about this. Every time those thoughts pop into your head, I want you to beat them down with the knowledge that I love you exactly how you are."
"I promise," he said, taking her hand.
"I know we've talked about it, but I haven't actually asked this question, so...Quinn, will you marry me? I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
She nodded, a single tear falling from her eye. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too."
A/N: QUARTIE FICATHON NOW IN PROGRESS! All the fics that have been posted so far are AMAZING, and anyone reading this should go read them all!
Or...better yet...join us and write some! Details can be found in the Quinn/Artie Forum, or you can PM me!
And yes...you guessed it...that is what this was written for! I have plans to write a LOT of Quartie over the next four weeks, so stay tuned!
This fic was written for a prompt in the Forum: "I love you exactly how you are. I don't need you to change to be what you think I want you to be."