A/N: I've returned! Sorry for the long absence. I took four vacations this summer. I've deleted one project in favor of starting this. DO NOT READ THIS AT ALL IF YOU DON'T WANT SEASON 2 SPOILERS! Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm basing it largely around things I've heard/want to be true. I may or may not have disregarded certain spoilers because I think Ryan Murphy is lying. ^_^

Join La Rose Bleue's ArTina Ficathon, guys! I will be participating, and I'm so stoked for this. For more information, see Rose's profile.

Finn

At lot can change in one summer.

The parking lot was already full of cars by the time I arrived, which meant that I had to park by the football field and walk clear across the lot to get to school. Even though I was running late, I trudged slowly, in no hurry to begin junior year. Who really cares about being a junior? I wouldn't be skipping off to school until I was a senior. Anyway, it doesn't matter if you're late on the first day of school. You can always pretend you got lost on your way to your first class.

A black Toyota Yaris nearly ran me down as I crossed the lot. I jumped back and watched the driver jerk his car into a handicapped space. Deciding I was annoyed enough to give the driver a piece of my mind, I crossed my arms in front of my body and waited for the driver to get out. I had enough on my plate, with football two-a-days and a class called Chemistry on my schedule this year. The last thing I needed was to be mowed down in the parking lot. I was still Finn Hudson, dammit, and I didn't take that crap from anyone.

The door swung open, and I watched as the metal frame of a wheelchair came out first. The driver had leaned his seat all the way back to get the bulky thing out first, then he took out a wheel and began attaching it to the chair. I circled around to get a better look at the driver, Artie Abrams, as he reconstructed the chair beside the car. Since when did Artie drive? And upon a closer look, since when did Artie look like that?

He was wearing a tight fitting black shirt, jeans that were ripped and faded, and dark shades. No more sweater vests. No more nerdy suspenders. I stared on as he attached the other wheel and then added the seat. It took an amazingly long time, and it looked like Artie was going to be late like me. Since when was Artie ever late to class? He remained oblivious to my presence as I stared.

Laughter rang out behind me. I turned to see Tina, getting a ride to class on Mike Chang's back, as they strode by Artie's vehicle. Artie looked up then, removing his shades, and shot daggers at them with his eyes. Tina, in turn, stopped giggling long enough to take in the look she was getting from Artie. The whole thing happened in a split second, and if I'd blinked, I would have missed it. Tina and Mike kept on going as if nothing had happened, and Artie realized that he had an audience.

"Finn!" he said, greeting me as if I hadn't just seen him get the cold shoulder from the girl who had been by his side all last year. I had no idea they'd even broken up. I immediately felt guilty for not talking to Artie for so long. "Hey, man, did you have a good summer?"

He pulled out a sturdy looking piece of plastic and used to shimmy from the driver's seat into his wheelchair. I was still kind of distracted, watching him arrange his feet into the foot rests. That took some talent, that move. He made it look easy.

"I did," I finally reported, finding my voice again. "Rachel's dads invited me to Jersey shore and we spent two weeks at their beach house. But that was pretty much the only vacation I had. I already miss sleeping in."

"I don't really sleep in," Artie commented, shutting his car door and using the automatic locks that made me jealous. I didn't have automatic locks or power windows. It was always kind of embarrassing to crank down the window whenever Rachel and I went for a ride. "I spent most of my summer with my aunt in Columbus. They have an adaptive driving program there. That's how I finally got my license."

"You look… different," I said. "But congratulations, man."

"I feel different," he remarked, grabbing his wheels and giving them a push that sent him rolling down the slight decline of the pavement. "Hope you have a great first day. I'll see you later."

Something else was different besides his new look, new car, and the lack of Tina's presence behind his chair, but I couldn't quite place it. But before I could think about it much longer, someone tapped my shoulder and I turned to find Rachel beaming at me. "We'd better get going! I took the liberty of changing my schedule to match yours."

"Cool," I said, grinning and giving her a kiss. Last year, I would have probably thought Rachel was being clingy, but this year was different. This year, I really liked the idea of having Rachel in every class. Plus, she could make sure I didn't flunk. Maybe I could copy off her, if worse came to worst.

"Ms. Pillsbury is the best," she added, grabbing my hand and interlocking her fingers. Summer hadn't changed Rachel a bit, a fact that made me happy. We'd had a rough start, but we were still going strong.

I'm not a fan of change myself. It was why moving in with Kurt and his dad had been so hard at first. That had improved, and I was going to be getting the garage for my bedroom, once the conversion was done. It had been Kurt's idea. He didn't care for my late-night XBox habits or my dirty laundry on the floor. The crush he'd had on me was long gone, now that we were almost stepbrothers. Our parents were officially engaged, and they'd announced it to us last week at dinner. The living arrangements would be permanent. The wedding was a month away. I was still getting used the idea.

Kurt was the first person I spotted when I entered the school with Rachel. He was standing awfully close to some guy with spiky blond hair, their heads close together, engrossed in conversation. There was definitely a violation of personal space taking place. Straight dudes just didn't stand that close to other dudes. Did I miss something? As far as I knew, Kurt didn't have a boyfriend. As far as I knew, Kurt was the only gay guy in Allen County.

He didn't even see me pass by. A few lockers down, Mercedes stared straight ahead wearing an expression I couldn't read. When I walked by her and smiled, she forced a tight smile on her face. It appeared she'd given up on waiting for Kurt as she took her books out of her locker and left without giving him a second look. Another glance at Kurt told me he hadn't even noticed.

"Hey, Hudson, how's it hanging?" Puck approached, greeting me with a fist bump, his other arm slung around a smug Santana. I hadn't seen much of Puck that summer, with the exception of football practice. Our friendship never really did recover after all the drama with Quinn. When we did see each other, we'd been too busy sweating and puking to have a decent conversation. I didn't hate him any more. I just didn't really know who he was.

"Hey, dude," I replied, returning the friendly first bump. I gave Santana an awkward little nod and she sneered at me. I hated, hated the fact that this was the girl who had my virginity, and that it wasn't Rachel. I hated that Santana would always be able to gloat about it, and that I was just a mere one night stand. She said I should be grateful that she'd been willing to teach me how to be a real man. I wished I hadn't been so driven by my jealously, hadn't allowed myself to stoop that low. Jesse St. James was ancient history. Rachel had heard that he moved to L.A. after graduation. Good riddance.

A locked slammed behind us and Brittany stalked past us, her feet hitting the ground hard as she went. She wasn't her usual self, gliding on air and smiling as if her whole world was made of rainbows and fuzzy ducks. She looked positively pissed off, and I was sure it had everything to do with Santana and Puck. Speaking of which, those two didn't linger to talk. Santana practically dragged Puck in the opposite direction, without looking back.

I sighed and turned to Rachel. "I have only one stable thing in my life right now," I told her, tapping her nose gently. "And that is you. Thank you for being an amazing girlfriend." She kissed me then, and all was right with the world.

Well, no actually, things were pretty screwed up with all of our friends. But I could still pretend, right?