Author's Note: Thank you so much to Troubadette for setting up this amazing ficathon. I had a lot of fun writing this =) Special thanks to Miss Maggie for being awesome and letting me bounce some ideas off her.
This one is for sapphirerubys: "Set during Vitamin D, Artie meets Tina/ Tina meets Artie when one (or both) is still on their vitamins."
I hope you enjoy this! =)
Tina blames Baskin Robbins.
It's what got her into this mess in the first place. Well, that and Mrs. Schuester's brilliant idea that wasn't so brilliant after all.
But, mostly Baskin Robbins.
It was a Wednesday afternoon that should have been like any other. Artie's dad usually worked late Wednesday and Thursday afternoons leaving him to wait in the library. Since he also gave Tina a ride, that meant they waited together. Usually, they would pretend to do homework while Tina doodled and Artie captioned her drawings, or they shared music on their iPods.
But that Wednesday was different.
Tina was different.
Her usual clothes, often black, sometimes ripped and occasionally ruffly was replaced with a 60s style dress that was a pale optimistic yellow. Its flared sleeves flounced whenever Tina moved her arms, the short skirt fluttered around her legs with her every movement.
Tina herself, usually shy, introverted, quiet even among friends-was not.
Case in point, Artie was shushing her. Now Tina never had to be shushed. If anything, all her report cards said essentially the same thing:
"Tina Cohen-Chang does well in class, but needs to participate more in discussions."
But there she was, pushing Artie's chair at breakneck speed laughing her head off while Artie himself had his armrests in a death grip and was frantically trying to get her to be quiet.
She acquiesced only because she vaguely realized that yes, they were in the library.
"Oooh! I loooove l-l-libraries!" Tina exclaimed, eyes darting back and forth between the books and the display case of globes.
Artie looked up at her with nervous and amused blue eyes and she smiled back. Tina felt awesome.
Everything was interesting, everything was cool, and there were pretty colors everywhere.
She saw Artie wave to the new librarian who waved back and smiled when she caught sight of Tina.
"Ms. Baer, this is Tina. Tina, Ms. Baer," Artie said.
"M-ms. Baer? Is that r-r-really your name?" Tina asked excitedly.
Ms. Baer nodded.
"Ms. Baer! L-l-like a bear! Rawwr!" Tina exclaimed making claw hands at Artie. Artie raised his eyebrows and glanced at Ms. Baer shrugging.
Ms. Baer looked at them dubiously over her glasses, the weird hyper girl with the colorful hair and her friend who looked at her with equal parts adoration and exasperation.
Tina mistook the look as a stern reprimand and frowned exaggeratedly.
"We'll b-be q-q-quieter," she promised. "Or at least Artie w-w-will. Ooh look! Magazines!" she exclaimed, scurrying off to a rack of old Time magazines.
When Artie caught up to her he spoke in a low conspiratorial tone, "I think the librarian thinks you're uh…on something."
Tina shrugged and continued flipping through her magazine. She tucked a bunch under her arm and took them back to their quiet corner in the film section.
"Tina, I have to ask you something," Artie ventured hesitantly, pulling up to their table.
"Hmm," Tina hummed disinterestedly. She flipped through the pages settling on an advertisement for grape Kool-Aid. "D-d-do you l-like purple?" she asked running her fingers through strands of her hair.
"Tina, focus," Artie admonished, placing a hand on her arm.
"I like purple. Maybe I'll do p-purple hair n-n-next. Purple is like, not quite b-b-blue and not quite p-pink," Tina turned back to look at her friend. "Or I-I can keep the b-blue. It's pretty—like the color of your eyes." Artie blushed. "Or pink," Tina giggled.
"Tina!" Artie exclaimed, taking the magazines away from her and ignoring her tiny frown. "I need you listen to me very carefully. Did you—did you meet with Mrs. Schuester?"
Tina nodded rapidly, smiling.
"Did the girl's team take something?" Artie asked, panic creeping into his voice.
"W-we did. But d-don't pretend y-y-you didn't, Artie Abrams!" Tina wagged a finger at him. Then she waggled all of her fingers at herself, and sniggered. "Look, I'm C-C-Cthulhu!" Tina exclaimed wiggling her fingers over her mouth.
"Well, crap," Artie stated frowning.
"I'm not m-m-mad at you," Tina said cheerfully. "We all just wanted to w-w-win. Anyways, I have a v-v-very important question," she said, her voice low and serious. She placed her hand on Artie's and looked solemnly into his eyes.
"Do you like my headband?"
"Um," Artie answered cleverly.
"Mercedes helped me pick it out. Anyways, d-does it l-l-look stupid?" Tina asked, rolling her eyes upward as if she could see the headband. She crossed her legs and bit her lip in an effort not to grin when she caught Artie averting his eyes from her rising hemline.
"Uh, it looks good, Tee. You, um, you look nice. Really nice."
"Aww, th-th-thank you! You looked p-p-pretty good out there too," Tina said, looking at Artie with a smirk. "I mean, th-that l-l-leather j-jacket? Yes, p-please."
Artie's eyes widened as he pulled the collar of his dress shirt away from his neck nervously. "Thank…you?"
"You should w-w-wear it m-more often," Tina said casually, then winked at him.
Artie sat stock still. Not that this wasn't awesome but…was he being Punk'd?
"Anyways, what's y-your favorite Disney movie?" Tina asked chirpily.
"What?" Artie asked, confused. Mental whiplash actually hurt, it turned out.
Tina sighed exasperatedly. "Your f-f-favorite Disney movie! What is it? It's not S-Snow White is it? 'Cause I don't care how much of a classic it is, her s-squeaky voice is super c-c-creepy."
"Um, Lion King," Artie answered, as he calculated the amount of time it would take for the pills to wear off. How much time did it take him? Hours? Half a day?
"Ooh, I love Lion King. But Beauty and the Beast is m-m-m- my f- favorite."
"There goes the baker with his tray like always," sang Artie quietly, leaning into Tina mischievously.
Tina smiled happily. "The same old bread and rolls to seeeelll!" she crooned, her clear voice rising above the shelves of books.
"Shhhh!" Artie laughed, quickly covering Tina's mouth with his hand.
Tina nodded. "Okay, okay," she said, her words muffled by his hand. He took his hand away cautiously. "Y-your turn," she stage whispered.
"My turn to what?" Artie asked.
"Ask m-me a q-q-question!"
"What's your favorite…ice cream flavor?"
"No fair, y-you know th-this one!"
"I might not," Artie said shrugging, picking out imaginary lint from his sweater. "It might have changed. It could be squid now, for all I know."
Tina scrunched up her face and made an exaggerated gagging noise.
"No? Oh, I know. It's garlic, isn't it?" he joked, while he watched Tina grip the table and mime passing out.
"Gross! No! Chocolate!"
"Oh, right. Sorry," Artie laughed.
Tina patted his hand in a comforting matter, "It's okay. Anyways, I want ice cream."
"What, now?"
"Yes! Chocolate. Vanilla. Strawberry? A sundae, maybe."
"We can…go to the Baskin Robbins across the street?" Artie suggested.
"Yes!" Tina exclaimed, raising her arms in victory.
"Shhh!" Ms. Baer called out.
"Yes!" Tina whispered.
They snuck back into the library, careful to avoid Ms. Baer. Tina tiptoed through the history section and Artie followed behind the paper bag balanced precariously on his lap.
When they got to their table, Artie sighed in relief. "We're gonna be in so much trouble if we get caught with ice cream in the library," he warned. "The sign says 'No Food or Drink'."
Tina rolled her eyes, and took the bag from Artie retrieving her treat. "Oh, live a l-little," she said, scooping a spoonful of rainbow sherbet into her mouth ("Artie, I have to get it! It has so many colors!"). It tasted amazing, like sweet strawberries and tart limes, and oranges. "This is really good," she giggled.
Artie smiled over his own cup of mint chocolate chip.
"I'll trade you for a taste," Tina said.
Smirking, Artie shook his head. "No way. You said you liked Beauty and Beast over The Lion King. That's heresy. No ice cream for you," he teased.
"Please?" Tina asked, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. She even batted her lashes a little.
Artie shook his head.
"Pleeease?" Tina repeated and this time she threaded her fingers through his soft brown hair. She watched as his eyes widened comically and a soft pink flush crept up over the collar of his shirt. If he were a cartoon character he would've had steam coming out of his ears, Tina thought bemusedly. But still he pretended to ignore her.
"Fine," Tina said mock pouting. "I'll j-just have to d-d-do it myself!"
She put her cup of sherbet on the table, careful to place it next to her messenger bag so it wouldn't fall over the edge. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt, then leaning over to Artie, she pressed her lips firmly against his.
She could feel him stiffen out of shock against her but she didn't care. Smiling, she gently ran her tongue over his slightly cool bottom lip tasting the sweetness of the ice cream and the hint of chocolate. She felt him press back against her lips tentatively and she pulled back.
Kissing, Tina thought, is my new favorite thing. Also, ice cream.
"W-what was that for?" Artie asked, the soft pink of his earlier flush now full-on crimson.
"I wanted to taste m-m-mint chocolate chip," Tina explained simply. "And I d-did. It was good."
"Yeah?" Artie asked, his voice a little squeaky.
"Yep," Tina answered. "Finish your ice cream."
Artie's phone buzzed soon after and he and Tina met Mr. Abrams outside.
It hit her like ton of bricks. No, a tidal wave.
A tidal wave of bricks, Tina thought anxiously when her glow began to wear off as they passed streetlights and sidewalks and playgrounds. Her stomach twisted almost guiltily when she thought of what she did earlier.
How could you be so stupid? She chided herself. He didn't even kiss back! Of course, you didn't really give him enough time to kiss back. Tina sighed. My head hurts.
Of course she had come to terms with her feelings for Artie. Their close friendship which blossomed over a shared hatred of slushies, a love of music and an affection for movies had steadily grown into something more. Tina knew that when she looked at Artie, he was no longer just Artie Abrams, best friend.
She sat awkwardly next to Artie in the backseat, pointedly not looking directly at him (oh, she definitely still snuck glances at him out of the corner of her eye. He's was wearing that blue sweater she liked, the one played up the color of his eyes). Artie was silent, thrumming his fingers against the armrest. His dad sang quietly (off-key and pitchy, Rachel would have a fit) to some song on the radio.
Tina felt incredibly relieved when the car finally stopped at her driveway.
"Thanks Mr. Abrams, bye Artie see you tomorrow!" she said in one breath, grabbing her bag and booking it into her house without waiting for a response.
Her mom was at her laptop at the kitchen table. Her nose was scrunched up in a way that Tina recognized as "Paperwork Face".
"Hi mom, got a lot of homework, be down for dinner later. Bye mom!" Tina said racing up the stairs to her room.
She threw herself into her homework as best she could. But mostly, she replayed the kiss over and over in her head. For all the embarrassment she felt, she also couldn't help bringing her fingers to her lips (still tingling like it was affected by some kind of magic from a Disney movie) and smiling.
Stupid ice cream, Tina thinks glumly. She's standing in front of her locker, before first period Pre-Cal starts. Tina doesn't know if she wants to face him today. Maybe she can hide in the girl's bathroom? She could tell Mr. Grant she wasn't feeling well and she can pick up her homework—
"So I know you hate math, but we should probably still go to class," says a familiar voice beside her. Tina, startled, jumps what feels like a foot in the air.
Then she gets a hold of herself and smiles in what she hopes is a casual manner.
"I was hoping that if I s-stood here long enough p-p- people would think I'm part of an art installation and leave m-m-m-me alone," she jokes while retrieving her textbook from her locker.
"Oh, please. Like the school would even have enough of a budget to spend on art," Artie counters, holding out his arms for her books.
Tina laughs, hands him her heavy Math textbook and takes her familiar place behind his chair.
Artie Abrams is your best friend. Artie Abrams is your best friend. No more, she repeats to herself as she guides them through a throng of students. Stop being weird, he's just your best friend.
Tina wasn't sure how to act around Artie but he seems to be pretty normal about the whole thing—he doesn't seem mad or awkward. He's kind treating it like it never happened, so Tina hesitantly takes the cue and does the same.
They settle into Mr. Grant's class, taking their assigned seats in the back of the class. She takes notes while Mr. Grant drones on and on about asymptotes and graphs and Tina tries not to think about Artie and his soft lips and ice cream.
They pair up to work together on worksheets because that's what they've always done, and hey, today isn't any different, right?
Finally, while watching Artie scrunch up his brows and poke at the graphing calculator, Tina speaks.
"Artie, I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry about y-y-yesterday," she says in a rush, stumbling over her words but not slowing down.
He looks up in surprise and blinks rapidly, a hand reaching up to adjust his glasses. It seems like a million years pass while she waits for his answer.
"Hey, it's okay," Artie says amiably, shrugging. "I took that stuff too, remember? I remember how out of it I was. Girl, I probably would've done the same thing." The words fall between them and Tina feels her mouth curving up into a wide smile.
The same thing.
"I-I mean, what I meant was—, "Artie starts.
"It's o-okay. I know what you m-m-mean," Tina answers, giving him a reprieve. She watches amusedly as he visibly relaxes. "So do you have the answer for number 9?"
They continue to work out the problems, but from the corner of her eye Tina can see and feel him watching her. They're quick, little glances that she wouldn't notice if she weren't paying attention. But she is, she always pays attention when he's around. She catches him smirking to himself a handful of times, and she knows it's not because the equations suddenly become that amusing. She recognizes the smirk, it's the same little smile she gets sometimes (all the time) when she thinks of him. Again, she brings the tips of her fingers to her lower lip trying to replicate the slight and fleeting pressure she felt there when he kissed her back.
She finally can admit he kissed her back, even it was for one second.
But she doesn't say anything. Everything will happen in its time. For now she'll just enjoy the feeling of butterflies when she sees him, the way her heart beats faster when he smiles at her.
Because Artie Abrams is her best friend.
And, as she grins back at him over some cheesy joke he told her, she lets herself hope that someday he will be more.
Author's Note Part Deux: The garlic and squid flavored ice creams are, unfortunately, real. If any readers are brave enough to try them, lemme know how it goes as I'm morbidly curious ;)