Edit: I should have probably mentioned this when I first posted, but...me = silly. =P This is a sequel to my previous fic entitled "Unnoticed." This fic will most likely make a bit more sense if you've read that one first.
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"Artie…" Quinn drawled in between kisses. "We have to stop…"
"I know." Bringing his hand to her cheek, Artie leaned in and captured her lips once again.
"You're gonna be late for…" Her words became lost within another kiss.
"Mmhmm."
It had been fifteen hours (not that either of them were keeping track or anything) since Quinn and Artie became an official item and it had been fifteen minutes since Quinn and Artie found themselves in a kiss and stop only to kiss again cycle.
The night before (during a five hour phone call; two hours of which was spent playing the 'no, you hang up' game) they made plans to meet at their spot and discuss how they were going to make their first entrance together as a couple. Their discussion got as far as 'Hi' before Quinn found herself on his lap and the both of them found themselves dispelling any need for oxygen.
Ending the kissing spree, Quinn sighed and gently rested her forehead against his. "Enough." She tried to sound firm and in charge, but the breathlessness of her tone and the small smile playing on her features made it seem more flirtatious than unrelenting.
"One more?" Artie pleaded with a natural pout and an uneven shrug. "For good luck?"
"Hmm…" Quinn stood and smoothed the edges of her cheerleading uniform. "Just one." She held out a stern finger before leaning forward and bringing her lips dangerously close to his. Smirking devilishly, she paused mere centimeters from her goal. Teasingly, she winked before pulling back and straightening her posture. "After. You're late as it is."
With eyes wide and jaw too heavy to keep shut, Artie was well shaken. Unbeknown to him, Quinn continued to follow the Celibacy Club's motto even after she no longer fit the requirements to be a part of it.
…It's all about the teasing, not about the pleasing…
Artie released a scoff-like exhale. "Don't play me like that, woman. You know you wanna get up on this." He smiled innocently.
Arching a telling brow, Quinn brought her hands to her hips and clucked her tongue in faux irritation.
Artie smiled wider. "There's no point in trying to resist." His expression began to drop as Quinn steadily held her ground.
When his hands started fidgeting and he adjusted his glasses, Quinn decided it was time to drop the facade. The poor boy was beginning to think they weren't joking around and that she was legitimately annoyed, which made Quinn silently laugh behind her stony expression. With hands remaining at her hips and the tiniest smirk creeping into form, she bent forward at the waist and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.
Grinning, Artie took a hold of her hand and entwined their fingers together. "I-I guess it's time." His voice staggered within an uneven breath as he brought his gaze to the back entrance of the school. "Are you ready to do this?"
"Um…I…" Quinn unknowingly gripped his hand tighter as she stared fretfully at the door. It wasn't that she was scared or embarrassed necessarily. Artie was her boyfriend and she was proud of the fact. The thing that got her was the constantly stirring pot of worry housed in the pit of her butterfly infested stomach.
McKinley High School wasn't the friendliest place on the planet. The kids were cruel and the gossip they spread? Crueler. Quinn had enough pull and attitude to deal with most of the cackling jerks that populated the halls, but Artie? She had no idea how he would handle everything. The last thing she wanted was for him to be scared off.
It wasn't just the school's reaction to her, the head cheerleader, dating him, the school's resident geek, that worried her, but it was also the other side of the school's (that was the best euphemism she could think of for saying the 'un-populars') reaction to him dating her.
The two of them ran in two completely opposite social circles. So opposite, that the two groups even sat on opposite sides of the cafeteria and hung out on opposite sides of the school. And the groups ('A/V nerds' and 'Jazz weirdos' as they were called) Artie hung out with? Quinn couldn't claim she played nice with any of them or was the least bit friendly to them…ever. She didn't fit in with his crowd as much as he didn't fit in with hers.
She knew it was ridiculous to be concerned over such silly things, especially since they were happy together and if things turned for the worst, they could form their own circle. When it came down to it though, sometimes the silliest things cause the biggest wedge between two people and that was something that scared Quinn more than she'd cared to admit.
Not to mention she had no clue how the rest of glee club finding out would unfold. It didn't help that they both had history with more than one (in her case, three) other person in the group. Talk about awkward.
"I think maybe we should…not do this just yet." Artie swallowed hard as he stared on at the door feeling as panicked as Quinn was.
Releasing his hand, Quinn glared down at her boyfriend with a hardened expression. "What are you trying to say? You don't want anybody knowing about us?" Sure, Quinn had her own apprehensions concerning their coming-out, but that didn't mean she wanted him to have any. Any guy should be itching to drag her through the hallways, telling anyone and everyone that she was his and not be chickening out as Artie was doing.
"No! Not at all." He reclaimed her hand with his. "Honestly, if I wasn't so afraid I'd roll off the ledge; I'd find a way on to the roof and shout it out to anyone that came within the school's perimeters." Bringing their clasped hands closer, he placed a tender kiss on the back of her hand. "I'm a little worried that's all, about…"
"Glee club?" She finished for him as she continued to stare fretfully at the door, thankful that their spot was outside an entrance that people rarely used.
He nodded slowly. "More specifically Puck." He lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "Don't tell my girlfriend this, but…I have it on good authority that her ex could take me. As much as I want to brag to everyone who'll listen that I have the hottest girlfriend ever, I have come accustomed to breathing and would like to continue doing so."
Shaking her head, Quinn repressed the urge to giggle at Artie's wording. The more time they spent together the more she found herself adoring what she fondly referred to as 'Artie Speak.' "You don't have to worry about Puck. I can handle him."
"I know. I just think things might go smoother if everyone hears it from us instead of through the grapevine."
Somberly, she nodded in agreement. It was what she wanted. She wanted to put off their grand entrance, but a part of her felt a little hurt that Artie wanted to wait as well, no matter how much his reasoning made sense. What? She was a girl; she reserved the right to be complicated and wishy-washy. It came with the territory of being who she was.
"Hey." He squeezed her hand, well aware of what was going on in the inner workings of Quinn's mind. "After we tell them, you're gonna have an impossible time keeping me from bragging about us. Now, give your man some sugar." Smiling, Artie tugged Quinn down to him and placed a not so chaste kiss on her lips.
In full uniform, Artie waited on the field for Coach Beiste to arrive. He began zoning out, staring over at the sidelines and thinking about how awesome the next game would be with his cheerleader girlfriend cheering for him. Secretly, he hoped that she would have the Cheerios create a new cheer using his name, kind of like the ones they do for the quarterback and those of them who weren't the team's battering ram.
"Hey man, you gotta do make-ups too?" Sam called out to Artie as he jogged up. "Sweet. I hate doing these alone."
Adjusting his glasses, Artie felt a swell of awkwardness coming on. Sam was one of those specific glee clubbers Artie was nervous about telling. Yeah, he wanted to throw it in the perfect blond's perfect face that he, a not so perfect geek, got the perfect girl, but as far as Artie remembered, wing men weren't supposed to move in on the girl in question. Making out with Quinn was probably not what Sam meant when he asked Artie to put in a good word.
"So...you're, like, really good friends with Quinn, right?" Sam questioned as he pulled his arm across his chest in a stretch. "You think you could talk to her? Cause I'm starting to get the feeling she's blowing me off or something."
Artie took to staring at his lap in an attempt to bar the glowing smile that was threatening to form at what was most likely a highly inappropriate moment. "Wh-what makes you say that?"
"She texted me last night saying she wasn't going to the dance with me, which kinda blows. Then I tried calling her and every time it went straight to voicemail."
"M-maybe she wants some space?" Artie stammered out as he struggled to maintain composure. Quinn was already his, damn it.
"I don't know." Sam shrugged as he threw on his helmet. "Maybe she's playing hard to get or something. I just gotta try harder. I mean look at me, she's gonna say yes eventually, right?" He plastered on an over confident smirk that was clearly visible even through the helmet.
Slouching forward, Artie's emotions started bubbling. He didn't want Sam trying harder. He wanted Sam to back up off his woman. "I'm going with Quinn." Unable to hold it in any longer (even though it had been less than ten minutes since he and Quinn agreed to keep things quiet), he blurted it out completely unintentionally…sort of unintentionally.
Sam removed his helmet and looked down at Artie with a dumbfounded expression. "What? You mean like going-going or like going-going?"
Artie straightened in pride. "Quinn and mine's friendship has blossomed beyond mere platonic adoration into something more of the romantic sort and I would appreciate it if you would...step off." With that, he turned his chair and wheeled himself towards the track where he was set to do laps.
With his mouth slung open, Sam stood there looking entirely deflated. "So not cool..."
Artie sat hunched over his desk, skimming through his biology text book, as the familiar sound of keds squeaking approached.
"This seat taken?" Quinn breathed.
Artie looked up at her with a disinterested expression. "I was saving it for my girlfriend. Quinn Fabray? You might have heard of her. She's only the prettiest coolest girl in this school."
"Really?" She took the seat next to him as she suddenly came to appreciate the beauty of not having assigned seats. Leaning over, she whispered in a gossipy tone. "From what I heard, she's quite the B-I-T-C-H."
He chuckled. "Who be spreading these lies? I may have to have a word with them."
"It's nice to know chivalry isn't dead."
They smiled flirtatiously at one another until Artie noticed Sam walk into the classroom. Diverting his gaze, Artie drummed his thumbs against his text book. "Uh, I have to tell you something."
Pursing her lips, Quinn tilted her head and raised a suspicious brow. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"I-it's not a big deal. Really." His entire upper body began fidgeting as he refused to meet her in the eyes. "I sort of might have told Sam...about us."
Quinn sighed, but didn't say anything.
"I know we agreed to keep things on the down low, but I couldn't help myself. Are you mad?" He glanced over to her with wide innocent eyes. "It sort of just came out." He shrugged.
Smiling, she hid her face in her hands and shook her head. "I told that frizzy haired blogger guy." She laughed within a deep exhale.
His eyes widened. "What now?"
"Quinn Fabray!" Jacob Ben Israel chased after the blond cheerleader as she made her way down the hall. "What is your response to the rumors that you chose a cripple over the starting quarterback as your dish d'jour?"
Quinn turned on a heel and scowled. "That 'cripple' has a name." With a flip of her pony tail, she continued on her way.
"What about the rumors that you turned on your own and are now playing for team misfit?" He continued to stick that disgusting smelling microphone in her face.
"Shoo fly." She flicked her wrist. "Buzz away now."
"So it is true that you in fact are getting hot and steamy with one Artie Abrams? How does that even work? Can he…well, you know?" Jacob was proving to be not only annoying, but relentless.
Rolling her eyes, Quinn came to a sudden halt. "You want a story, huh?" She huffed and forcefully yanked the microphone closer before staring directly into the camera. "Me and Artie? Yeah, we're dating. Live with it."
Artie dropped his jaw in awe. "I can't believe you did that."
Biting her lip, Quinn grinned. "We're quite the pair, aren't we?"
"Yeah…" He placed his hand over hers. "We are."
A/N: Ugh, I really shouldn't be starting yet another story, but damn it, Kevin is too addictive. Hehe...I'mma try and throw a bit more fluff (which I suck at writing) in between the drama and angst this time so please bear with me =P
btw: if anyone read the description, linked it with the title, and recognized them as lyrics. I totally love you! =) It's from Jason Mraz's "Happy Endings"
Thanks for reading!