Author's Note: I'm just cranking these out...but not as often or as much as someone else! :P lol Read and review!
Prompt: fool, turn, live, halfway, undo
Living and Forgiving
"I can't believe I had to find out from Santana. I feel like such a fool."
Staring at him with her wide, unblinking and watering eyes, Brittany whispered, "I didn't think we would go out to eat…and I'm full too."
Shaking his head, Artie began to turn around but Brittany stopped him. "Wait! Artie!" Grabbing his handle bars, she spun him so he was again facing her. "I've never said no before…"
Trembling, he shot back, "You should've said no this time. Mainly because you have a boyfriend!"
"I'm…I'm sorry, Artie," she mumbled, appearing crestfallen. "I really like you and I didn't mean to-"
"You can't undo it, Brittany." Without another word, he left his girlfriend, now ex, behind, wheeling as fast as he could go. Once he reached the locker room, where he knew no one would be, he broke down, burying his face in his hands. He should've expected it. He should've known. Tina had found someone better than him, Brittany had cheated him. Maybe he was doomed to always having failed relationships.
"Are you okay?"
With a start, he raised his eyes. "Quinn? What are you doing here?"
Nodding towards Sam's locker, Quinn told him, "I was dropping some cookies off in Sam's locker."
"You made him cookies? That's nice." Artie was trying to keep his tone even but it was difficult.
Raising both eyebrows, Quinn didn't comment on the shaky quality of his voice. "Made? No. Bought. What's wrong, Artie?"
At the concern in her voice, he shrugged. "Nothing."
Taking a seat on the bench next to him, she touched the back of one of his hands with her fingers. "I don't believe you."
He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek for a long time before blurting out, "Brittany cheated on me."
Sitting up straighter, Quinn withdrew her fingers from his hand. "Oh."
"Santana told me," he went on, in a rush of words. "And when I confronted Brittany, she said she had never said no before but that she really liked me. But how could she really like me if she cheated on me?"
It seemed as if Quinn wasn't going to answer him but then she did, in an almost whisper. "She made a mistake, Artie. I don't think Brittany always understands things, not that it's an excuse. But even if she did understand, does cheating make her a horrible person or make her like you any less?" Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, it occurred to Artie that Quinn was speaking from personal experience. "My grandpa always said that we only live once and in our lives, we will make mistakes and we can either learn from them and grow because of them or let them destroy us and our happiness. I know Brittany's the one who made the mistake here but I think you have the same option, Artie. If you let it, her mistake can destroy you and the happiness you shared with her." Pausing, Quinn tilted her head down and looked at him through her lowered lashes, a hesitation that led Artie to believe that she wasn't sure if she wanted to say more.
"You don't have to continue, Quinn-"
"No," she interrupted. "I want to." She took a deep breath, crossed her arms over chest, as if to protect herself, then went on. "I cheated, Artie, as you well know, on someone I loved. And Finn wasn't able to forgive me for that. But I think he could have but he wasn't invested in our relationship enough…or something. I guess what I mean is, I think people can recover from even the biggest mistakes and forgive each other if they really feel motivated to do so. It might take time, lots of time and discussions, but I'm sure you could work things out with Brittany, if you wanted to."
He thought about what she said then thought about it some more. "I guess so…but what if I'm not invested enough in my relationship with Brittany? I like her but…I'm not sure if I like her enough to put in the effort to fix this."
"That's something you need to figure out yourself, Artie." Standing, she headed towards the door but he caught her hand before she had made it halfway there.
"Thanks, Quinn. For talking to me. For…sharing all that with me. It must've been hard."
"It…actually felt almost…easy to share it with you," she admitted, lightly squeezing his hand. "Maybe we're kindred spirits?"
Laughing a little, he squeezed her hand back then released it. "Maybe."
Later that week, the day before his scheduled long talk with Brittany, Artie found a container of cookies in his locker with a note that read, "Here's to living and forgiving and figuring things out. - Q."
Smiling, he reached in and pulled one out, taking a bite. As soon as the cookie crumbled in his mouth, he knew, without a doubt, that it was homemade.