Everyone had told young Artie Abrams, age 8, that going back to school after his accident would be a good thing. They told him that he'd be happy to go back. They told him that his friends would be happy to have him back.
What they failed to mention was how a room full of 8 year olds would react to seeing a member of their class return in a wheelchair after a several month-long absence. Their reaction was everything but what Artie had hoped for.
A smart and observant child, Artie had suspected that his classmates would not receive him as warmly as his mother had assured him they would, but deep down inside, he still had a bit of hope that everyone would be glad to see him.
Over the course of that first day back, most of the children stared at him. A couple of them ventured to talk to him, but even that faded when recess rolled around and they realized he couldn't really play on the playground with them anymore. Or, at least...not how he used to. And apparently no one could be bothered to try and think of things that could have included him.
He'd seen her looking at him several times that day, but thought she was probably just staring at him like everyone else. "Before," he and Quinn had been best friends, but she had never once visited him in the hospital, or after he got home, and that kind of upset him. He hoped she was just scared, and would warm up to him once she realized he was the same Artie he'd been before the accident, but part of him knew that maybe that wasn't the case.
He knew someone, probably Mrs. Anderson, had told them about what happened to him, but that didn't seem to help much.
At one point, Noah Puckerman, the class clown and a friend of Artie's from "before," had grabbed his chair and tried to push him into a wall, saying that he wanted to see if he would bounce. Mrs. Anderson had taken him out into the hall and had a chat with him, and when he came back Artie felt his apology was sincere. They had been friends before, after all, and Artie hoped that maybe they could be again.
He guessed he couldn't really blame them for their reactions, the staring, the whispers, the pushing into the wall, in Noah's case... The last time most of them had seen him he was a normal kid, but now...he was different. And, apparently "different" was a bad thing for 8 year olds.
Noah asked him if he wanted to sit with him and his friend Finn at lunch, but he said no. As much as he wanted to be included, to have friends again, he declined, saying that he would rather be alone. Noah looked confused, but said nothing. Artie hoped he'd try again the next day, because he really did want to eat with him, he just wanted to think about some things first.
As he sat, alone with his thoughts and his peanut butter sandwich, someone sat down beside him.
Quinn. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was just scared. A flood of emotions and thoughts rushed into his head.
"Can I sit here?" she asked. "You shouldn't eat your lunch all alone."
He smiled. "Yeah, of course. And I don't mind being alone, but I would rather eat lunch with you!"
They sat in a somewhat awkward silence for a few minutes, before Artie decided he should at least try to make conversation.
"I like your dress," he said.
She looked down at the pale purple dress. "Thanks. It's my favourite. I like your sweater too."
He grinned. "It's my favourite."
They made small talk for another few minutes, before Quinn said something he had not been expecting.
"Do you want to play after school?" she asked, a grin spreading across her face.
He nodded. "Maybe you can come over to my house. My mom could ask your mom if that would be ok."
"That would be fun," she said. "Artie, I'm sorry I didn't come see you at the hospital when you were sick. I was scared that you wouldn't be the same Artie, but that was stupid, because you are." She looked like she might cry.
"It's ok Quinn," he said, reassuring her. "I was sad that you didn't come, but I knew you were probably just scared. I was scared too. And I'm glad you're sitting here with me now for lunch."
She wrapped her arm around his neck, and hugged him, glad that he didn't seem to be mad at the fact that she hadn't been to see him.
They talked for a few more minutes, before she had an idea.
"We can play superheroes after school. You know, like we used to...before."
His smile faded. "Quinn...I don't think I can play superheroes anymore. Superheroes have to be able to walk to fight crime, and I...can't." He willed himself not to let the tears that were threatening to spill over onto his cheeks leave his eyes. Sometimes it still really upset him when he told people that he couldn't walk anymore.
She stared at him for a second. "Superheroes don't need to walk! You can still be one!" she said, getting out of her chair. "My mom always wraps my lunch in a napkin. Here, let me show you that you can still be one!"
He wondered what she was doing, as she moved behind him. She heard her struggling to do something, and then felt her hand on his back.
"Now you have a cape," she said, sitting back down. "And you're a superhero."
He grinned. "Do I get a superhero name?"
She nodded. "Yes, but I don't know what it is. We need to make one up!"
They thought for a moment, before she announced that they could make up a name for him later.
After lunch, he went back to his desk, and looked over at her. She was smiling.
When Artie's mom arrived to pick him up from school, she was overwhelmed with happiness when she saw Quinn standing beside her son, and that happiness just continued to grow as she and Quinn's mom made the arrangements so Quinn could go over to their house and play. She had hoped that his friends would welcome him back, and it looked like at least one had.
As she was helping Artie into the van, she asked him what that was sticking out of the back of his wheelchair.
"This?" he replied, his smile growing even wider than it was before. "This is my superhero cape!"
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: "This is my superhero cape!" plus Puck.