Authors note: So this is my first glee fanfiction, so be nice please! Artie is so adorable, and he's by far my favourite character but he gets hardly any attention on the show, which brought me to fanfiction! Yay! And I totally ship Quartie, so yup.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE. I WISH I DID, BUT I DON'T.
I do not agree with any of the opinions expressed by characters like Puck and Karofsky, and I'm sure, neither do the actors that portray these characters on the show. It's all here to build the atmosphere, and I apologise if I offend anyone.
You could say that their first meeting wasn't exactly ideal. It was the first day of the year, and they were both starting eighth grade. Although she wasn't head cheerleader-yet-it was obvious that Quinn was going to be popular. The petite blonde had been accepted into the 'popular crowd' almost instantly. It seemed that they could sense she would be one of them, without even knowing that she was a cheerleader.
Artie had only seen her once in the halls, and it was already clear to him that she was out of his league. He was surprised that she even spoke to him that day, even if it was the first and last time she did before she joined Glee club. Well, apart from tormenting him with the rest of the cheerleaders and the football team, of course. It wasn't just the chair. He still wore sweater vests, he was obsessed with Star Trek, and he read Stephen King books all the time. He wasn't exactly popular material.
So when she actually spoke to him, stood up to him even, was a surprise to say the least. It wasn't like being thrown into the dumpster was anything new to him-in fact, it was a regular occurrence. It happened nearly every day at school. But someone actually caring was something that had never happened before. Usually people just looked at him with pity and walked off, or laughed, and stayed to watch, or help. He wasn't sure which reaction he hated the most, but he tried not to linger on it.
As usual, Puck and the rest of the football team (or football team to be, since tryouts hadn't happened yet, but everyone knew that it was the same team every year) were waiting for Artie as he came out the back of the school, the only entrance or exit with a ramp for him to get out of. It meant that not only did it mean that he was closer to the dumpster to be thrown in, there wasn't really anywhere to hide from the jocks. They knew there was no other way for him to get out, and they had nowhere to be, so even if he left later than everyone else, he couldn't avoid them.
This time was no different. Although it was the first day of a new school year, they carried on their little tradition, not stopping as Artie had hoped. His heart sunk the minute he saw them waiting in front of the dumpster. "Look who we have here" said Puck, walking towards Artie with a smirk on his face. "It's our little cripple. We missed you, didn't we boys?"
"Oh yeah" said David Karofsky. Him and Puck were clearly the ring leaders of the group. "What's life when we can't throw our favourite freak in a dumpster everyday?"
"Well, at least we didn't have to see his face" Puck said, laughing. The rest of the boys laughed alo ng with him, which only seemed to encourage him.
Before Artie knew it, Karofsky was behind him, tipping him out of his chair. As he landed on the hard cement floor he instinctively started to protect his hands and face at the same time, which didn't work very well. He couldn't imagine what he would do without his hands since he relied on them for almost everything. But them someone was grabbing them, and, he assumed, his legs, and carrying him over to the dumpster. He quietly sighed to himself. He loved school, just not this part. Well, the only part of it he actually loved was the learning part. He didn't have any friends, as most people seemed to be put off by the chair.
Just as he was about to be thrown in to the dumpster, a strong voice rang out. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" the person exclaimed. Artie twisted his head around enough to see the blonde girl who had been hanging around with the jocks and cheerleaders all day. He was shocked that she was actually doing something, but hey, he wasn't complaining.
"Quinn?" Puck asked. "What are you doing?"
"What are you doing?" she cried. "What did he ever do to you?"
"Well, it's more the fact that he exists than anything he's really done." Karofsky told her. "Besides, what do you care? He's just a worthless cripple!"
They guys holding his arms and legs dropped them, unsure of what was going to happen.
Quinn quickly glanced over to Artie, and then to his chair, several feet away.
"The kid can't even walk and you're still doing this to him?" she asked, almost shouting now. "How's he supposed to get out? Or back into his wheelchair?"
And here came the pity, the sympathetic glances that Artie had always hated. He wasn't that worse off than everyone else. So what if he had to do some things a bit differently? He was used to it. It didn't bother him, he didn't feel sorry for himself, so why should everyone else?
"He's always managed to do it before" Puck sniggered.
"You've done this to him more than once?"
"Every day for two years" Puck told her proudly. "Gonna be three this year. On the anniversary, we plan to tape him to the flag pole."
Oh, crap Artie thought.
"You are disgusting. I can't believe that you'd do this! I thought you were a nice guy."
At this, Artie couldn't help but snigger. Puck? A nice guy? Never. Unfortunately though, this attracted the attention of both Quinn and Puck.
"You say something, Cripple?" Puck snarled.
"Err, no, nothing." Artie stammered.
"That's what I thought." Puck smirked.
"Throw him in, she's not gonna stop us." Karofsky told the boys who had previously been holding him.
That was the first time they had done it in front of someone else, and it was humiliating to say the least. Sure, they'd done heaps of other stuff to him in front of everyone. They were constantly tipping him out of his chair in the corridors, but it was the first time anyone had witnessed this. Artie lay in the dumpster, which was surprisingly full for the first day, but also not as full as it usually was, which he knew was going to make it harder to get out, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. He could hear the footballers laughing and running off.
"Don't worry Quinn" Karofsky told her. "If you're a cheerleader, you'll soon be helping us."
Artie sighed. Now came the embarrassment of having Quinn stare at him sympathetically as he tried to climb out of the dumpster, stare at his limp, lifeless legs as he dragged himself into his chair. It wasn't like he minded being in a wheelchair that much. He didn't exactly enjoy it, but after nearly six years he was used to it. He was just kind of self conscious about people looking at what it took for him to do simple things like getting into his chair.
Slowly, he pulled himself up using the side of the dumpster, and holding on the best he could with one arm he pulled one leg over the side, then the other. Letting himself hang for a couple of seconds he dropped onto the floor. Letting himself fall was the only way that he could get down. Quinn rushed forwards.
"Oh my gosh, are you ok?" she asked, slightly panicked.
"I'm fine" Artie reassured her. "It's not as though it hasn't happened before."
"Do you need any help?" She asked.
"I'm fine" Artie repeated, sitting up and leaning. "But could you maybe grab my chair for me?"
"Or course!" she said, pushing it over to him.
Artie pulled himself into it, and slowly started arranging his legs on the footrests. He quickly glanced up at Quinn, and sure enough, there was the look of pity in her eyes that he had seen so many times before. Sighing, he wheeled over and grabbed his bag from where it fell of his chair. He shyly looked up at Quinn, resting his hands in his lap.
"Thanks for standing up for me" he said.
"That's ok. Are you sure you're ok?" she asked.
"Completely. It's not the first time it's happened. You get used to it."
Awkward silence engulfed them for a few minutes before Artie broke it. "Well, I'd better get home, or my mom will start to worry."
"Yeah, I should go to" said Quinn. "Well, bye."
"Yeah, bye."
As they left in separate directions, neither of them would have guessed that that was the last time they would ever have an actual conversation until they were sixteen.