This is a little one shot between Quinn and Artie because they were supposed to be ballad partners in the last ep andwe didn't see any of it! I like Quinn now, so I'm nice to her :) Just so you know, I don't see them as anything more, not even friends - they just got stuck together for this assignment. Also Tina/artie all the way please.

Let me know what you think :)

When he'd asked her to practice, he knew there was no way she could say no. Sure she was Quinn Fabray, but he couldn't walk. Sometimes there were advantages. Rarely though.

He waited for her in the choir room, strumming his guitar casually as if he was some rock star musician. He was trying but he couldn't get last week out of his head. Tina – he couldn't get his head around what had happened. And he definitely couldn't look her in the eye as if nothing had. He was relieved that they hadn't been partners for this ballad thing, even though he'd spent most of last night when he couldn't sleep trying to decide what he would sing if they were.

"Artie?" he heard a knock on the door and saw Quinn wave from across the room.

"Hey!" he tried to sound casual, but really there was no getting around the huge elephants in the room. She was Quinn Fabray, pregnant or not that still stood for something. And he had never been alone with her.

She moved towards him, her summer dress moving around her legs and sat hesitantly on the piano bench next to him.

"Do your hands get sore? I mean, last week when we did... it kinda hurt." She points to his wheels and he kind of wants to laugh. But doesn't.

"You get used to it. Besides, that's what these are for. " he holds up his gloved hands, moving his fingers. She smiles.

He doesn't. It reminded him of what happened with Tina, and besides, it's a lie. You don't really get used to it. You just don't have a choice.

And she, with all her own drama, notices that his smile is a little too fake, his voice a little too shakey.

"Are you okay?" she asks. It would be so easy to lie.

But he doesn't. He looks around the room, then at the floor before meeting her eye, "What would you do if you thought you knew something about someone, then found out they lied about it. And now you're not sure if you know them anymore."

It didn't really even make sense in his head, but he didn't really care.

She furrows her brow, then looks down. He's not sure if she's looking at the floor, or her stomach. He's about to say it doean't matter, when she looks up, moving her blonde hair out of her face and shaking her head.

"I don't know what I would do. But, " she smooths her dress down against her legs and pulls her cardigan closer around her. She was blinking a lot, which he's noticed she does when she's sad or being honest. "If I was the one that lied, I think it's because I was scared that if you knew the truth you wouldn't like me as much. Maybe I just didn't want to hurt you. But ended up doing that anyway."

She sighs loudly and shakes her head and takes her time looking around the room so that she could avoid his gaze. Which was definitely focused on her.

"Sometimes you just can't win." He muses, pulling his guitar back into his lap.

She tries to stifle a chuckle, but fails. And finally looks at him again, "It's like that song The Long and Winding Road, isn't it?"

He raises an eyebrow, "You know The Beatles?!"

"Don't look so surprised," she laughs, "Why leave me standing here, let me know the way..."

He sings along gently, smiling at this girl who has surprised him to no end. And she was right: everything he thought about lead to one place. Lie or no lie, he couldn't forget her, he couldn't avoid her. He didn't want to. And maybe, for some unknown reason, she didn't want to either.