A/N: Because angst is fun? Take this as sort of a lead-in to the speculation of future episodes. No real spoilers.

"Don't forget, no regrets, except maybe one. Made a deal, not to feel. God that was dumb." ~Thanks That was Fun, BNL

The familiar ding of a new facebook chat filled my silent room. My eyes stayed on the blank page before me, my fingers twisting my pen nervously. Who in the world would be IMing me now? A glance at my watch said it was after 2 in the morning. My concentration shot, I flopped over in bed and turned towards the laptop on the nightstand next to me. It was Tina, 'Hey.'

I pulled myself up in bed and scooted the laptop over to my lap. I smiled as I typed, 'what are you doing up?'

'Can't sleep. I'm worried about Mercedes,' she responded.

'Me too. I still can't believe she thought we were food!'

'LOL. Want to talk?'

'Can't. My parents will hear.' No matter how I tried to muffle my voice, my mom always seemed to hear. Sometimes I swore they had one of those nanny cams hidden in one of my ancient sci-fi novels, because my mom always seemed to know exactly what I was doing.

'Wow. They need to BTFA a bit.' I could almost imagine the sly smile creeping across her face.

'T! They care about me.'

'My parents wouldn't care.'

I didn't know what to say to this. There had been a time when I thought I knew exactly why her parents thought she wasn't good enough. It was times like those that I thanked my lucky stars that my parents accepted me for who I was and somehow managed to look past my disability... something that I could never do. There were brief moments when I thought I was OK with it. When we practiced Proud Mary and everybody was finally equal... When I realized that Tina liked me despite the chair... but it had all come crashing down. Those hoochy girls had stolen our number, my number. Tina had been lying.

And honestly, I still wasn't so sure I forgave her for it. She could be normal now and, as I so bluntly told her, she might as well dress normal. I would never ever try to be different and I didn't understand why she wanted to stand out. I always felt like I should look presentable; make up for what my appearance so obviously lacked. I'd told her she didn't have to change, but as I stared at her dark profile picture on the computer screen before me; I wasn't so sure.

'Artie?' She finally sent.

'Yeah, still here.' I had no advice for her. Why should I help her? She could be whoever she wanted... and I could never change. If she was upset with her parents, maybe she should at least try to please them. It was like she wanted to be contrary...

'Are you excited for the assembly tomorrow?' She finally changed the subject.

'Kinda nervous for them, you know?' I was almost positive that Mrs. Sylvester was playing them to gain the upper hand, but they both seemed really happy to finally get to sing. I wasn't going to say anything.

'Yeah.' A minute later she added, 'I better go to bed. Try to get some sleep.'

'Thanks. See ya.'

'Good night.' Tina sent and I closed out the chat. I probably should have laid down myself, but I went on youtube and watched videos of little kids smiling up from their wheelchairs. The raw pain and regret somehow made me feel alive.

The assembly was, well, beautiful. It was amazing, getting to see my friend sing the song she so rightfully deserved. I knew a lot of people could sympathize with what she'd said; myself included. I didn't dare raise my hand and admit to it, but I felt insecure all the time... and looking down next to me, I was surprised to see Tina raise her hand in answer to those questions. And as I sat entranced, listening to those lyrics, something suddenly hit me.

Tina was beautiful. Of course she was attractive no matter how she dressed, but there was so much more to be discovered. Underneath that tough exterior, there was a scared, vulnerable girl. She had hidden behind her voice for a long time and still hid behind what she wore, but really, she just wanted to be accepted. She'd been almost too quick to forgive me last week. Who was I to push her away?

She obviously liked me; she'd kissed me even after I'd acted like a jerk and gave her lip service as an apology. Really, I had just wanted to get back on her good side in hopes of getting some action. But now? I looked at her and knew she was special. She did things her own way and she wasn't ashamed of who she was... and I was.

She was always there to help me out. Usually I hated this kind of treatment, but she did it so quietly, so naturally that I never even really noticed before. She really accepted me for who I was. And it was about time that I accepted who she was.

That afternoon, I sat watching the club practice our newest choreography. Usually, I tried to find a place for myself near the end of practice and usually, I was OK with this. I watched as Finn twirled Rachel around in front and Jesse took his place next to Tina. Everybody had a partner. Our choreography had gotten a lot more complicated lately and there was even less that I could do. Sighing, I looked down at the crumpled sheet music in my hands. There wasn't even a guitar solo in the song. Well, I never liked this song anyway.

"Hey, Artie, you OK?" I looked up at Mr. Schue.

"Yeah, fine, thanks." I brushed him off, trying not to meet his eyes. I stared beyond him, at Tina dancing with that cheater, Jesse St. James. She was smiling, enjoying herself. Some new, unwelcome emotion was slowly filling my soul. Tina looked up at me suddenly, almost missing her next step. She sent me a shy smile.

Yes, I was ready to see things from her perspective. I had never been so angry, so jealous in my life. It was time to play dirty and finally show the world my dark side. The world could blame my new, dark girlfriend.