Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 50th cycle. Now cycle 51!

"Matters of Trust"
Artie/Lucy (OC)
Artie/Lucy series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

He had never needed to ask, and neither had she: their break was unbroken, she was his girlfriend, and he was her boyfriend. Just to know it and feel it was enough to make their hearts frenzied. It was a breath they had been missing, knocking them off rhythm from the moment Lucy had walked away from him in the nurse's office. Now they couldn't be more on beat.

The rest of that day they were so prone to smiling that those who saw them must have thought they'd hooked up in some class, closet or office somewhere. By the end of it, they'd been prompted by the Glee Club to set the record straight. If anything, telling them they'd made up had disappointed them, lacking in sensationalism.

With the day done, they had left together, and he accepted her invitation to come over for dinner, once he'd been promised he wasn't going to get in trouble with her parents. Before they could get on their way though, he stopped her, asked her to go sit on a nearby bench. Once she did, he wheeled up next to her.

"Something wrong?" she asked, and he shook his head. "But it is something…"

"Why now? What changed?" he asked, had been waiting to ask. She paused.

"Why I… we got back together?" she asked slowly, and he nodded, and she breathed out. "I never… I never wanted us to be broken up in the first place…" she started.

"But you broke up with me…"

"Didn't want to," she picked her sentence back up, "But I had to, for myself and for both of us, because after what happened with Grant, I just… I didn't trust you anymore." She had to be honest with him, even if she didn't want to hurt him. And hearing it, she could see he had not taken it without a blow. "Not completely. And after what I went through before, complete trust is a must for me. Being apart, I hoped, would give me back that part I'd lost."

"And… it did?" Artie asked.

"You did, today," she nodded. He looked like he was trying to remember what he could have done that was so special, but he didn't see it. "This is going to sound a bit… off," she warned.

"I get it," he promised.

"You were just so scared," she told him, and he wasn't following. "When you saw those pictures from the party, you thought something had gone on between us… I probably would have thought the same thing, if I didn't actually remember. You… When you told me about it, you looked like… You thought you'd gone too far, didn't you? Like you'd taken advantage of me?" she asked, and his eyes veered aside, still troubled by the thought of it. But still she was right, and he didn't hide from that. "That's when… That's when I knew," she told him. "You wouldn't hurt me, not if you could help it, so much so that… the thought that you might have… it scared you. I should have trusted you all along; I know that I can," she told him. He didn't know what to say, but when he did find words, they were a question.

"Why were you crying then? In the bathroom earlier?" he asked. Now he'd hit on a sensitive subject.

"I guess I wasn't sure what to do with it… What if it was too late, what if… I'd just been an idiot for letting you go, and now we'd missed our shot…"

"I've never hidden wanting us to get back together, I mean not really…"

"I know, I still couldn't help it… All this time we lost, being miserable," she shook her head. "And the worst part is I let Grant get in my head and make me start to doubt you…"

"It's in the past now…" he looked to her with a reassuring smile, which she returned. She stood, indicating for him to follow her along.

"Come on, I have a feeling someone will be happy to see you."

That someone was young Stella Collins, who had made no effort to hide how she missed Artie being around, direct as she'd ever been. When they arrived, it was almost impossible for Artie to get around, as she would follow them about. Neither minded really; Stella had always been part of this in one way or another. On that night, Artie and Lucy had known that the upcoming weekend though would be all theirs, dedicated to reconnecting, making up for lost time.

This was the one, his exception to the rule. His previous track record with girlfriends had concerned him, thinking of what might happen if he and Lucy ever became something, and with recent events he wasn't being proven wrong. Only today his luck had turned. He didn't know what the future held for them, didn't want to assume it would all be smooth sailing, but after today they'd never been stronger.

Even now that they were back as a couple, part of him felt he should prove himself, telling her and showing her he wouldn't let her down again. The feeling would recede eventually, returning their confidence in one another, and then the past would remain done, leaving space for them to grow together.

THE END

A/N: This is (more than likely) the final installment in this series... :)

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!