An authors note...I'll be spending the next few weeks scouring over my two previous stories, fixing any mistakes that I missed and make those improvements/edits I'd forgot to previously(some have already been done), updating this, as well as getting my fourth piece up, an Abrams family album of sorts. So, if any oddities or questions should arise, please feel free to contact me personally or refer to the chapter/content in question, to see if it has been updated.
This new story is a compilation of snippets that shadow the blossoming relationship hinted at, at the end of Lean on Me...a pairing I admit, I never would have imagined falling so hard for. I suppose after spending over six months writing that story, it was inevitable though. Hope you enjoy this one!
Disclaimer-Glee is the property of FOX, the creators and the writers.
Beauty and the Geek
There was really no defining moment, no immediate labeling one another, no sudden declarations. And they were determined to keep things just as they had been, while they 'tested the waters' to see where this...whatever...might lead.
Trying their best to resist the undeniable growing attraction between them, however, only succeeded in making the butterflies grow stronger, the hidden glances come more frequently, and the smiles, hold more meaning.
Unfortunately, that combined with living under the same roof only made things that much more awkward.
"You look really pretty," Artie intoned through a breathy sigh as Quinn slowly made her way down the stairs.
She froze mid step and blushed. Lowering her head demurely, she gently swished her flowing skirt before smiling back up at him. "Thanks. You look really nice too."
Her vintage-esque purple poppy skirt and lavender button down blouse was in sharp contrast to the snugger than usual fitting jeans, blue polo, and thin black suspenders he was sporting. She briefly wondered when they had swapped fashion sense. Maybe their unique styles were rubbing off on one another. That thought alone, made Quinn's grin widen.
"Okay now, lets get a picture."
"C'mon Mom?", Artie groaned as he tugged his chair around to face his mother. Quinn giggled at the amusing exchange between the two as she practically skipped the rest of the way down to Artie's side.
"What?" Alicia feigned innocence, then gestured for the two to move in closer. Quinn was the first to oblige by simply perching herself on the arm rest of Artie's chair and draping an arm over his shoulder. "I'd just like to get a shot or two of you guys. You know, to have a small memento of this day." She cleared her throat pointedly and gave a watery smile. "It's not every day that your eldest son goes on his first date."
Artie's blushed deepened and he tentatively glanced up to find Quinn staring at him curiously. "It kind of is...well technically, I guess," he admitted with a sheepish shrug, before quickly turning away.
Quinn couldn't help but smile at that. Which was a good thing, considering how rapidly the flash of Alicia's camera was flickering around them. She leaned more comfortably into him, with her cheek resting against his temple so she could easily whisper in response, "Good. I'm glad it's with me, then."
So was Artie, only he was pretty sure that Quinn had absolutely no idea just how much. Her reply had taken him by such surprise that he almost missed the adoring look she was giving him before she sprang to her feet to silently declare this photo op, officially over.
Taking only a few small steps to her left, Quinn crossed the distance to where Mr. Abrams was standing, smiling as he cradled a sweet pink bundle of joy in his arms. "Don't hesitate to call if she gives you a hard time."
"How bad could she be," Art chuckled as he glanced down at a contently lounging Caroline, "she's not even two months old yet?"
Quinn let out a soft giggle before retorting shyly, "You know what I mean."
Art nodded playfully, then turned to regard his son. "Only if you promise to get the young lady here home before curfew," he warned teasingly and threw a pointed glance back in Quinn's direction. It was a small, sweet gesture that any good father would make prior to his daughters impending date...and it made Quinn feel really special.
Not to mention it made Artie look utterly adorable. "Yessir," he quickly returned with a mock salute.
"And be very careful driving tonight," Alicia nervously heeded a warning of her own. "They're calling for some rain later."
"We will," Artie promised, adding that brilliant smile for good measure. He knew those words were just empty assurances, and considering their accident took place in the middle of the day and on relatively dry pavement, his mother was bound to be a frantic mess later that night...but he'd try anything if it meant lessening her anxiety even just a tiny bit.
The small nod and appreciative smile that followed, confirmed he had.
"And no kissing," Abbey chimed in a second later.
An embarrassed flush tinged Artie's cheeks. "Abbs," he gasped under his breath.
"What?" she immediately countered with an innocent shrug and an equally disgusted look, "It's gross."
Artie turned even redder and tried to avoid looking over at Quinn, but the way she was looking at him made it difficult. A suggestive smile began spreading across her lips, and...hold up, did she just wink?.
"I mean, he's my brother and you're our Quinn, and...," Abbey paused to glance between the pair, who were currently busy staring at one another. Shaking her head, she heaved a dramatic sigh and threw her hands up in the air, "...this is all just way too weird for me."
"Well, I guess that would be our cue to leave," Quinn quipped just as Abbey disappeared from view.
"Yeah, sure," Artie replied distractedly at first, but quickly recovered. He gave an encouraging grin as he looked up at his parents. "At least she seems to be over the disappointment of not being able to go with us this time."
Art shot Alicia a pointed glance, before ushering Artie and Quinn to the door. "You kids have fun tonight," he reminded playfully.
"Oh, we fully intend to," Quinn sang over her shoulder. That look she had from before, returned, and it made Artie's stomach flutter in anticipation...which was a very welcomed change from the way it was nervously flip-flopping an hour ago.
There was a quick exchange of hugs at the door. Artie figured it was okay to let his mom linger in their embrace a little longer that was actually necessary, since she did the same thing to Quinn. A sweet kiss to Caroline's forehead from her and a tickle to the bottom of her bare feet from him, and they were on their way.
Or so Artie thought.
A tug on the handle of his chair caused him to spin around and glance up at Quinn, who was absolutely beaming. "Look at how cute they are," she cooed.
His gaze followed hers to the front porch where his parents were still standing in the doorway. Art with Caroline in one arm and his other draped around Alicia's shoulder, her head nestled against his chest.
Artie was just about to respond with an indifferent 'I guess' when Quinn suddenly took off up the lawn, her cell phone aimed and ready. "Say cheese," she declared and snapped the adorable picture before either of them knew what was happening. For as photo happy as Alicia could get sometimes, she was terribly camera shy when it came to being the subject of a picture.
With a giggle and a wave, Quinn jogged back over to Artie and grinned satisfactorily. "Now we're ready."
...
The awkwardness of the situation didn't really settle in until the pair were in the van and on their way across town. Silence fell over them, save for whatever melody was playing on the radio at the moment, and lasted until they reached their destination.
In fact, the first words of the night spoken, were their drink orders...to the MaƮtre d'.
"Pretty nice, huh?" Artie finally broke the silence, after nearly draining his glass of iced tea in only one sip.
"Yeah it is, really nice," Quinn agreed, smiling sweetly at him. "And not very incestuous at all."
"Excuse me?" Artie sputtered, thankfully without spitting his drink across the table.
"What Abbey said back home," she answered, trying hard not to laugh at his response. "I mean it's kind of understandable...from an eight year-olds perspective. I guess she kind of views me as a sister figure...so for me to be kissing her brother..."
"I thought you'd like it."
"Thought I'd like what?" Quinn queried, a teasing grin slowly spreading across her lips. "Kissing you?"
"Oh, um...I...," Quinn almost felt bad about reducing him to a blushing stammering mess, but it just made him look so much more freaking adorable than he already was. She watched as Artie cleared his throat. "Um, the restaurant," he continued softly. "You told me once you liked French things."
Only then did she actually did start feeling bad.
Quinn could feel the tiny itch of tears forming behind her eyes. "Artie, that was months ago," she gasped incredulously.
"Aside from the fact that I have a remakably good memory, you got really excited talking about it." He paused to smile up at her. "How your dads family is of French descent. How much you love French culture, like art, ballet, fashion, the food..."
A single tear made it's way down her cheek. "Oh God Quinn, I'm so sorry. I should've never brought up your dad..."
"Don't be silly Artie," she returned with a soft chuckle as she wiped away the stray tears. Maybe her hormones weren't completely under control yet, but this had absolutely nothing to do with her father. "It wasn't that," she insisted, then took a moment to really look at him. She wanted to make sure she got her point across. "It's just...I've never been with someone so considerate."
A look of surprise flashed across Artie's face, so Quinn took the time to explain. "I mean Finn's idea of going all out on a date, was going to Ruby Tuesday's instead of Bob Evans. And Puck, if it didn't come out of a box or bag, then he didn't eat it."
Artie tried not to let his expression falter while Quinn talked about her past beaus. She was with him now. Even though in the back of his mind, he was still worried about what he could possibly have to offer her..."You deserve better."
This gesture struck her harder than the first, but no tears came. Instead, Quinn broke out into a wide smile and blushed. "I guess I have to get used to thinking that."
Her hand lightly grazed his, and he realized, much to his dismay, that he still had his gloves on. Giving him the time to take care of that, Quinn confessed. "You know, I've never had authentic French food." Artie looked up at her and smiled. "I mean the closest I've come, is eating baked Brie during the holidays and indulging in the occasional chocolate fondue."
"Well that's still more than me," he quipped as he twisted around to stuff his gloves in the side pocket of his backpack. "The only foods I've had are the fries, the toast and the salad dressing...none of which I think are actually French."
Quinn began to giggle, but turned self-conscious and promptly stopped herself.
"What's wrong?" Artie leaned forward to ask.
"I don't know...," she gave a slight shrug and looked around."...it just feels like every body's watching us."
Artie lowered his head and frowned. "Yeah, sorry about that."
It didn't take long for Quinn to realize what Artie was implying. "That's not it. We've been out dozens of times together and your chair has never been an issue." She leaned toward him this time and whispered, "I think it's because we're the youngest people in here."
The only part of Artie that moved were his eyes, scanning over the room. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the dinning area under the age of thirty. "I guess we are." He turned his attention back to her and twisted his lips contemplatively. "But that's okay right? If you're uncomfortable, we can go somewhere else."
"No," she insisted, smiling. "It kind of makes me feel all mature and important.
Artie was just about to return the gesture when out of nowhere, a waiter appeared at the table and thrust two menus into their faces. "I assume you two will not be needing the wine menu tonight. Our specials are located inside the front cover. I'll return momentarily to take your order."
"Maybe you can give that guy a lesson in maturity," Artie muttered under his breath as he watched the waiter walk away. But gauging by the expression on Quinn's face when he turned back around, she didn't find that very amusing. Artie was beginning to think this evening was turning into one big, fat, epic failure. "What's wrong now?"
"Nothing," she returned with a dismissive shrug and a forced smile. He obviously wasn't convinced. Chewing on her bottom lip, Quinn tentatively glanced back down at her menu, then up at him. "Have you seen the prices," she whispered incredulously, even the salads were ridiculously expensive.
Artie gave an indifferent shrug, "That's okay, I have money."
Quinn smirked. "Yeah, but if we keep this up, you're going to go broke by our third date," she playfully pointed out.
"We're going to have a third date?" Artie cringed at this bout of word vomit. He really had to start working harder on keeping his thoughts to himself. "I mean...," he faltered again and sighed apologetically, "Sorry. I'm kinda new at this."
Quinn reached out for his hand, this time weaving her fingers through his. Ignoring his unnecessary apology, she smiled brightly, "Well if we split something tonight, we can probably make it to a fifth date," and quipped innocently. He responded with an a little nod and shy grin that absolutely melted her heart.
There was a few minutes of silence that followed before Quinn spoke again. "Please don't take this the wrong way Artie," she stopped, hesitating slightly. His expression turned confused so she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "As much as I appreciate this gesture, I want you to know that you don't have to do this all the time." This pause was to gauge his reaction, which hadn't changed at all. Quinn began running her fingers over his. She really loved the feel of his hands. "I'm perfectly okay with hanging out on the couch at home, ordering take out and watching a movie."
Artie turned skeptical. "Even with my parents always hovering around, my brothers moodiness, and my sister constantly interrupting us?"
With an ever widening smile, Quinn nodded. She loved it all. "Or how you're always okay with having to plan things around Caroline's schedule," she countered and watched as Artie gave his own nod of acceptance. "Just because we're dating, doesn't mean the friendship part of our relationship has to change any."
Artie regarded her words for a second. "But I still get to kiss you, right?"
Quinn giggled out loud and didn't care who heard her this time. "Like right now? In public?" she teased playfully. His eager nod made her smirk widen. "What would Abbey say about that?"
Artie shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "I guess what she doesn't know, won't hurt her," he countered innocently.
Slowly leaning forward, a bit awkwardly at first, Artie Abrams did the one thing he'd been waiting years to do...he finally kissed Quinn Fabray.
