Slight warnings for talk of suicide and bullying. Nothing graphic.

Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy/Fox

Artie wakes up in the nurse's office and rubs his eyes. Something seems … off. He can't quite put his finger on it, but it's an unfamiliar feeling, one that Artie has almost forgotten. A voice from his side makes him jump, and that's when he realizes what's different.

"Hello Artie," an accented male voice says.

When Artie starts, his legs jerk and he freezes. He's not sure which is supposed to surprise him more – that Rory is back from Ireland or that his legs just moved of their own accord.

He tries wiggling a toe. Then bending a knee. Soon, he has swung his legs over the side of the bed and is facing Rory.

"What are you doing here, Rory?" he asks. "And what is going on?"

Rory smiles sadly. "You wished that you never ended up in your chair. So here you are. No chair."

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Artie, I granted your wish. What more do you want?"

"Maybe a bit more explanation?"

Rory sighs. "I'm your … guardian angel. Kinda. Right now, I'm just taking the form of your old friend Rory. Not that you were ever actually friends with him in this timeline."

"What?"

"It's a long story, Artie. Because you weren't in that chair, you were never ridiculed or teased. You joined the football team your freshman year and became friends with the jocks. You teased the outsiders and the freaks with them."

"What about glee club?"

"Glee club never happened. There were never enough people, and there was no one trying to make it work. So when Rory was on exchange and staying with Brittany's family last year, you teased him along with all the other jocks. He didn't even try to get his visa extended because he was so miserable here."

By now, they've left the office and are wandering the halls. They pass Puck in the hallway who fist bumps Artie and asks him if he'll be joining him when they TP the freak's house.

"Why is Puck still here?"

"Without glee club, there was no one who believed in him or helped him. He failed his senior year."

Next, Artie spots Tina. He walks up to her, to see if she's changed, but she just stutters at him and runs away.

"Tina never gained the confidence to stop stuttering."

Artie flinches as he hears a body collide with a locker. He's shocked when he sees that it's Kurt who is falling to the ground.

"Why is Kurt here? He had great grades!"

"Kurt missed most of his junior and senior years because the bullying got to be too much. He only went to school part time."

"What about everyone else – Rachel, Santana, Brittany, Finn, Mike, Mercedes, Sam, Quinn?"

"Let's see. Rachel is at Lima Community College. Brittany's still here, but she'll probably never graduate because there's no one willing to help her. Santana dropped off the map immediately after graduation. Finn barely graduated and went into the army. No one's heard from him since. Mike never had the confidence to follow his dreams of becoming a dancer, so he's pre-med at Stanford. Mercedes is at LCC, too. Sam … he's still stripping to help support his family. Rachel and Finn never rescued him from there, and no one helped him when his family first became homeless. Quinn … Quinn died. She was texting and driving, and her luck ran out."

Artie was freaking out by the time Rory finished speaking. "What? No, this can't actually be happening! Rory, please, tell me this isn't real!"

"I'm sorry, Artie, but it's what you wished for. You wanted to walk. You became popular and now you throw toilet paper at Kurt's house on a weekly basis."

That made something click in Artie's brain. "What about Blaine? He wouldn't have let the bullies chase Kurt away! Where is he?"

Artie spins around, as if expecting to see Blaine walking down the hallway in his bow ties and short pants.

"Blaine's not part of this story, Artie. There was no glee club, so Kurt never visited Dalton. Even if he had, though, he wouldn't have met Blaine."

"What? How does this," Artie says, indicating his legs, "have anything to do with Blaine going to Dalton?"

"In the other timeline, Blaine's parents read a newspaper article about two parents who very nearly lost their young son in a car accident. A son who was Blaine's age. Blaine's parents vowed to always be close with their son and to protect him. But in this timeline, Blaine never had a close relationship with his parents. They couldn't accept him when he came out to them. He was so ashamed that he hid all the bullying at his old school from them. They didn't know what to do after he was beaten up at the dance, so he returned to his old school. Four months later, Blaine killed himself because he couldn't take it any more."

"So, you're saying that because I can walk – Blaine and Quinn had to die? And Kurt had to fear for his life every time he walked into the building? And Sam lost his future?"

"None of this is your fault, Artie. 'A butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, and a tornado tears through Texas.'"

"Please, Rory, please just make everything go back to normal!"

"But you won't be able to walk," Rory says.

"I don't care! I'd give up walking just to have my friends back the way they're supposed to be. Sure, Rachel annoys the hell out of me, but she's talented, and she deserves to be at NYADA! And Tina deserves to be noticed and happy! And Blaine and Quinn – they can't – I mean – PLEASE!"

Rory smiles slightly at Artie and nods.

A split second later, Artie is waking up on the cot in the nurse's office again. He tries to move his legs and sighs in relief when they don't budge.

He manages to maneuver himself back into his chair. When his picks up his backpack, he notices that it weighs more. He looks inside to find a jar of peanut butter. Scrawled on the label, there is a note that says:

Dear Artie,
Remember – you are more than you think you are. You are the glue that holds everyone together. P.S. Thanks for the wings!
Love, Rory

The school bell rings overhead, dismissing everyone from class.