Quinn grabbed the roll of wrapping paper out of her car, and headed towards the Abrams family's front door. She had stopped on the way over to grab some matching ribbon, and was a bit later than she'd told Artie she'd be arriving.
As she was about to knock on the door, it opened, catching her off guard.
"Oh, hi Quinn," Artie said, moving out of the way so she could enter. "I was just...going to see if the mailman had already been here," he muttered, pointing at the mail box.
She grinned. "It's 9:30. The mailman doesn't come until at least 11. Were you waiting for me?"
"No, the mail..." he started. "Fine, I was waiting for you. You're not usually late, and-is that kitten wrapping paper?"
"It is!" she said, as he closed the door. "You didn't already buy it, did you?"
"Um...no," he said, averting his eyes. "Ok, yes. But I'm glad you got more, because I totally forgot about Mom's gigantic gift, and that'll probably take almost a whole roll."
"I also got matching ribbon," she said, holding up the bag in her left hand. "You didn't get that, did you?"
"We need ribbon?" he said, glancing at the bag. "I was just going to slap some paper on stuff and write a little gift tag. But I guess ribbon would look nicer."
"Yeah, ribbon usually does look nicer," she said, taking off her coat.
"I thought we could do it on the dining room table...more space," he said, leading the way into the dining room.
Quinn surveyed the room. He had laid out a couple pairs of scissors, some gift tags, pens, and tape. "Looks like we're in business!"
Artie rolled up to the table. "I made a plan so we can make the most out of each roll of wrapping paper. I've laid out the gifts according to the plan, and we just have to follow it."
Quinn grinned. "You made a plan? Between this, and your strategic cookie plan, I think you've been spending too much time with Rachel."
He shook his head. "I've always made plans for stuff...I just usually don't share them. And it's not like I storyboarded out the wrapping...I just thought it might work better that way."
She laughed. "Suuuure. I bet if I go in your room right now, and open the file labelled 'strategic plans,' I will find one for this."
His eyes widened. "How did you know about that?"
Quinn stared at him. "You seriously have that file?"
Artie burst out laughing. "Gotcha!"
"Hold this ribbon," she said, after gently tapping him on the head with the role of wrapping paper in her hand. "I want to tie a nice bow."
Finally, they got down to the last two gifts. Michael's books, and Beth's collage.
Artie held the books for a second, before stating, "I think we should disguise these somehow. There HAS to be a box around here that we can put them in."
Quinn looked at their supplies. "Do you think we have enough paper for that? Why don't we wrap the collage first, and see what's left? I think we should just wrap that on your bed. It will be WAY easier than dragging it out here, wrapping it, and dragging it back. I don't think we should put it under the tree yet...there isn't really space. Maybe you can get Michael or your dad to help you get it out here on Christmas morning."
"That works," he said. "Oh, speaking of Christmas morning...do you and your mom have plans? We usually have this brunch thing here with my grandparents, and Mom said I should ask if you guys want to come?"
Getting up and grabbing the supplies they would need to wrap the collage, she thought for a second. "I don't think we have plans. Let me ask my mom, and I'll let you know tomorrow. Is that too late?"
He grinned. "Well, a bit, but we'll just make do, I guess."
She laughed. "How would you need to make do for that?"
"I was just kidding!" he said. "Of course that's fine. And I don't know...that just sounded right at the time. Let's go get this baby wrapped, so we can get ready to go meet Rachel and Martin."
Once they were in Artie's room, Quinn pulled the collage out from under the bed, pleased to see that the sheet was wrapped around it exactly how they'd left it. "Can you help me get it on the bed?" she said, standing it up. "Oh...wait. We should probably lay the paper down first."
She spread the roll of paper across the bed, and then they centered the frame on it.
"We're going to have to wrap it twice," she said, looking at the frame. "It's too wide. The paper won't cover all the way around."
"That's fine," Artie said, looking at what was left on the roll. "There should be enough."
"Here," Quinn said, climbing up onto the bed. "Let me get behind it. I think that'll be easier, just until we've got the paper all where we want it."
"Don't fall behind the bed," he said, reaching out to grab a pair of scissors to trim the paper. "It doesn't go all the way to the wall...that's Linds's favourite hide and seek hiding place, and it's not like it matters to me if the bed goes to the wall...I'm never back there."
"I can see that," she said, "there's like a two foot gap here."
"I just thought I'd warn you...I'm pretty much useless if you get stuck back there."
She grinned. "You could always throw me a rope and haul me out if that happens."
He looked around. "I could throw you a...ribbon. That's all I've got. Please don't get stuck back there, because I don't think this would hold your weight. Not that I think you weigh a lot...but I doubt this ribbon could even hold the weight of a hamster. It's pretty thin."
"Artie, a hamster?" She burst out laughing.
"I was trying to think of something super light that might need to be hauled out from somewhere...I don't know where this is going," he said, putting the scissors back down. "Anyway, don't fall back there."
As they finished taping up the edges of the wrapping paper, Quinn studied the large package.
"I think we should wrap it back in the sheet so the paper doesn't rip when we put it under the bed," she said, picking up the sheet off the floor. "And then you can put the ribbon on it just before it goes out there."
He nodded, and they wrapped the collage back up and stowed it safely under the bed.
"We don't have to leave for almost an hour," he said. "We still have time for..." he trailed off, nodding towards the bed.
She grinned. "We should probably move these scissors first...that could be dangerous."
Once they were settled on his bed, she turned to him.
It looked as though she was about to kiss him, so Artie leaned in.
She moved closer, and then stopped. "I forgot to ask you...what happened to Artie-Wan KenAbrams. Were you serious about that?"
His face reddened. "Um...maybe. Can we talk about this later? I kind of want to kiss you now."
She kissed him, and then whispered into his ear, "I guess I don't need a poster of Artie-Wan, because I've got the real deal."
He grinned, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her closer. He could always show her the poster another day.
They stayed there, just holding each other for what seemed like only a few minutes.
"We're going to be late," Quinn said, sitting up suddenly. "Did we fall asleep?"
Artie turned slightly, so that he was at a better angle to see her face. "Um...oops."
She grinned. "We're late, and all you can say is oops?"
"Yeah. The idea of staying here on my bed with you is much better than the idea of going out to coffee with Rachel and Martin. Can we just stay here?"
She laughed. "No. You're the one who said we'd go, so we're going. Get up...you need to put on something other than that sweater before we go in public."
He grinned, looking down at his sweater. "You don't like elves?"
"Not when they look like those!" she said, throwing a sweater she had pulled from his closet at him. "Here, this one is nice. I like the snowflakes. Oh, and we forgot to wrap Michael's present, so you're going to have to do that later."
As Artie was changing his sweater, Quinn went to put on her shoes. She was just about ready, when Artie joined her.
"Your coat, madam," he said, holding out her jacket.
"Thank you, kind sir," she said, curtseying slightly. "But I believe the correct term is mademoiselle."
"If we're going to be anal about things, then I believe you weren't supposed to curtsey when I handed you your coat," he said, a smile spreading across his face. "Let's go. We shouldn't be too late."
As they entered the cafe, Quinn scanned it, looking for Martin or Rachel. She didn't have to look very hard, because Martin was almost a head taller than everyone else sitting around them.
As they made their way over to the table, Rachel jumped up and started waving frantically at them. Quinn wondered if she thought that they hadn't seen them, but chose to just wave back instead of saying anything.
"Quinn, Artie, I'm so glad you could join us today!" Rachel gushed, moving a chair out of the way so that Artie could sit at the table next to Martin. Quinn sat down across from him, while Rachel sat back down in her seat facing Martin.
"We're glad that you asked us!" Quinn said, reaching over and grabbing the coffee menu. Studying it for a second, she asked Artie if the usual would work, and, when he nodded, she got up to order their drinks.
When Quinn was gone, Rachel turned to Artie. "Have you finished your holiday shopping? As you know I'm Jewish and don't celebrate Christmas, but since Martin does we have decided to get each other gifts this year. Of course, I am not going to tell you what I've got for him, because he's sitting right here, but I can tell you that he will be suitably delighted."
Artie tried not to laugh. He often found it difficult to hold his laughter back when Rachel spoke, and was glad that she interpreted his frequently large smiles as agreeing with her or encouraging her, rather than making fun of her. It was never his intention to make fun of her, but sometimes he just got far too amused by what was coming out of her mouth.
"Yeah, I have it done. We wrapped everything this morning," he said, "I just haven't wrapped Quinn's yet. I think I'm going to do that tomorrow."
Rachel nodded.
"What did you get her?" Martin asked, looking over his shoulder to make sure that Quinn wasn't on her way back to the table.
"I have a scarf for her," he said, "and I need to get her something else, but I don't know what!"
"Arthur!" Rachel piped up, a bit louder than Artie would have liked. "I don't think a scarf is a very romantic Christmas present!"
He grinned at the use of his full name. "Not even if I made it myself?" he whispered, leaning in closer to the pair. "Don't tell anyone, ok?"
Rachel grinned. "This is excellent! I can't wait to see."
Martin nodded in agreement, and then shifted his eyes, signaling that Quinn was on her way back.
"Here you go, one peppermint mocha," she said, placing the cup in front of Artie and taking her seat. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Oh, just what we're doing on Christmas break," Rachel said a bit too quickly. "Oh...I need the washroom. Quinn, would you like to accompany me?"
Quinn nodded, and the girls left the table.
Martin turned to Artie. "Artie, man, you have to help me. I don't know anything about this whole dating thing. What does tier 1 mean?"
Artie stared at him. "What are you talking about?"
Martin stared back. "She said we're on dating tier 1. From what I gather, that means we're not allowed to hold hands in public, but we are allowed to be seen together. Or something. I don't know. She also said something about not wanting everyone to think she was on the rebound from Finn because that would make me look like she was using me. And then she said something about it taking a few weeks before we can escalate to tier 2."
Artie wasn't sure what to say. "I don't know what this whole tier thing is. It must be...I don't even know. Some Rachel thing?"
Martin shrugged. "That's kind of what I thought. I mean, I was pretty sure that, if this was something everyone did, I would have heard about it from someone, somewhere. Can you ask Quinn?"
He nodded. "Let me see what I can do. Or, maybe we can get her to talk about it now. Shhh, they're on their way back."
"So," Artie started, once Quinn and Rachel had taken their seats. "Now that you two are dating, we should do that double date thing. Right?"
Quinn watched him for a moment, wondering what he was up to. From the look on Martin's face, he was clearly confused about something, and she wondered if Artie's question had something to do with that.
Rachel nodded. "It may be best to wait until we have taken our relationship to the next level before we go on double dates," she said, "as we are simply on tier 1 at this point."
Quinn's eyes widened slightly, and she had to be careful not to choke on the coffee that was in her mouth. "Tier 1?" What did that mean?
"Tier 1?" she asked Rachel, a confused look on her face.
"Yes, it's all part of my new system, which I'm sure will one day be patented as the Rachel Berry Dating System," she began, putting her cup on the table. "I thought perhaps people might get the wrong idea if Martin and I were to be fully dating so quickly after Finn and I...ended things, so I made a system. Right now we are on tier 1. This means that, while neither of us is seeing other people except each other, we are not technically dating. Martin, I have a diagram for you, in case this new and wonderful system may seem confusing," she said, pulling a sheet of paper out of her purse.
Martin unfolded the paper, staring at it. She had made him a very detailed flow chart, complete with neon pink borders and gold stars.
"See," she began, pointing at the paper, "on tier 1, we go out for things like coffee, but we don't hold hands or have any other public displays of affection. People may think we are just friends, because our romance is not broadcast to everyone. When we are in a private place, there may be minimal kissing, and hand holding. You may call me any of the nicknames on the list that I have attached as an appendix here, in case you have lost the original list I gave you a few days ago. Once you submit your list of approved nicknames to me, I shall call you by one or more of them as well."
Artie stared at her. She had to be kidding...right?
Martin looked like he didn't know what to say. He kind of wished she had given him this information when the two of them were alone, but then again...Artie probably would never have believed him if he had tried to describe it to him, so he was kind of glad he was there to witness it.
And Quinn? She just sat there, not knowing what to say.
"So, what does tier 2 involve?" Artie asked, unsure as to whether or not he wanted the answer.
Rachel grinned. "On tier 2, which I assume we will reach in two to two and a half weeks, we are allowed to do almost everything except have sexual relations. That doesn't occur until tier 3."
At the mention of "sexual relations," Martin almost choked on his hot chocolate. He studied the chart she had given him, and, sure enough, on tier 3 there was a big "SEXUAL RELATIONS."
Quinn still didn't know what to say, but everyone was looking at her, so she decided she needed to say something.
"That sounds like a good plan," she said. "You guys don't want to rush into anything. I'm sure no one thinks that Martin is just your rebound."
Rachel smiled. "I certainly hope not, because that would just not be true!"
"I'm glad of that," Martin said, putting the papers down in front of him. "Could we please stop talking about...sexual relations in the middle of the cafe?" His face was redder than the small poinsettia sitting on the table between them.
Artie nodded in agreement. "Maybe we could all go to the movies sometime," he said.
"Or we could go out to dinner," Quinn added, looking over at Rachel, who was smiling very widely, and then at Martin, who looked like he wasn't sure if he should be smiling or looking worried. She couldn't blame him. If she had had the Rachel Berry Dating System thrown down in front of herself, she would probably have had a similar expression on her face as he had.
The four talked for about an hour, before Rachel announced that they should be going because she wanted to stop and get something to cook for dinner. She had invited Martin over to meet her dads, because apparently that was part of tier 1, and he had agreed.
After they had left, Artie turned to Quinn. "Aren't you glad we don't follow the Rachel Berry Dating System?" he asked, a grin spreading across his face. "Although, when we get to tier 3, can you let me know?"
Quinn burst out laughing. "I was totally going to say something similar. Are you in my head again?"
He grinned wider. "I'm in ur brainz, stealin' your thoughts."
She widened her eyes in mock horror. "I'm trying to be serious here, and you're quoting LOLcats?"
He blushed slightly. "I've been waiting for MONTHS to say that to someone!"
She laughed. They finished up their drinks, and then headed out to the car.
As Quinn walked Artie to his door, she bent over to envelope him in a hug, placing a kiss on his lips.
"I love you. See you tomorrow?" she asked, straightening her coat and preparing to leave.
"Of course," he said. "I love you too!"
As she started walking away, she turned back to him.
"Oh, and Artie...just so we're clear. Whenever you're reading for tier 3, let me know. I'm good to go."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed! This was quite fun to write...and I hope it was as much fun to read!
I'm going to be writing the one where they give each other their gifts over the next couple of days, so I can post it on Christmas. I'm hoping to have it done and in the document manager waiting to be uploaded by Thursday night...I really don't want to work on it on the 24th, because I have family stuff.
Review if you read this! Remember...reviews are like Christmas presents for those fanfic authors that celebrate Christmas!
Spread the Quartie love! Join us in the forum, and the community! PM me if you can't find either of those things.
Happy Holidays!