AN: Written for hiatus_glee challenge #30/#61 "Wheels."
"Son I am able," she said, "though you scare me." "Watch," said I, "Beloved." I said, "Watch me scare you though." Said she, "Able am I son."
"Artie?" Tina pushed through the double doors onto McKinley High's large front landing. He was perched on the concrete edge, next to his favorite lion statue. One look told her that Artie hadn't heard her; he was plugged into his music as usual, his gaze far into the distance. Tina approached him carefully and laid a hand softly on his leather jacket. As he turned, his smile stretched schizophrenic into a wide grin that didn't nearly cover the pain. "I've been looking for you everywhere. You're gonna miss practice."
"I was just th-thinking." He shook his head and stood up with a wide stretch. His eyes grew a little clearer behind his thick plastic glasses. "It's su-such a nice d-d-day."
"Yeah, it really is." She said shyly, looking at her hands folded in her lap. While he'd almost overdone the black today with his baggy jeans, studded leather collar and thick black boots, she felt just as unfashionable as usual. Her long grey skirt fell loosely around her ankles and her argyle sweater was almost too big on her. Not that there was much fashion you could rock in a wheelchair.
Artie took his accustomed spot behind her chair. "A-are you r-r-ready?"
Tina just nodded, so Artie pushed her off towards the auditorium. Mr. Schue had just revealed another one of his hare-brained schemes and this time the challenge was to go around in wheelchairs and perform a song in them. Artie thought it was a horrible idea and he'd told Mr. Schue as much. Artie always thought that people might actually take him seriously if it wasn't for that damn stutter. As it was, Mr. Schue had sent him to Ms. Pillsbury for over-reacting again. He wasn't trying to be vindictive, he told the guidance counselor, just trying to help a friend. She'd just smiled a bit too widely, a little frightened of him.
He breathed hard when he saw them all on stage in their wheelchairs. They were smiling. Artie didn't see anything amusing about pretending to be in a wheelchair, but Puck and Finn jumped off the stage and ran over to help Tina in her wheelchair. Artie followed them slowly, more in the way than anything. When they finally reached the stage, Artie grabbed the extra wheelchair and pushed himself over to the semi-circle that had formed around Tina. She looked nervous, fiddling in her chair.
The glee club was having problems learning the moves and they wanted Tina to show them some tricks. They broke up into small groups, practicing their moves individually. Artie studied her from a far while she showed Brittany how to do a one-armed turn. He'd thought she'd be too shy to take the lead, to show them how she got around every day. Tina was smiling. Matt rolled over to the two girls and asked Tina a question. She was like a different person, answering quickly and demonstrating something. Artie hadn't really noticed it happening, but now he realized he should have seen how much more confident glee had made her these past few weeks.
Her face had nearly shone when Mr. Schue gave her the solo in Tonight from West Side Story, but she'd given it up gracefully to get Rachel to come back to the club. As Artie felt his heart soar with pride, he attempted a quick spin in his loaned chair. He got about half way around before he lost his balance and nearly fell over. The way she floated down the halls made it look nearly effortless... He looked up at her and that feeling he'd been getting in his stomach returned stronger than ever. Tina was a great person and had been through so much... and suddenly, Artie had a new found appreciation of his friend.
The auditorium emptied after practice, but Artie stayed behind and wheeled over to Tina. "I never realized how hard this must be for you."
She just shrugged it off and compared it to his stutter. She'd been saying that a lot lately. Artie just swallowed hard and asked her what'd happened to her.
"Cancer. When I was six." She shrugged. "I think I blocked out a lot of what happened, but I'm fine now. I've been in this chair ever since." She gave a face like it wasn't really that big a deal.
"Wi-will you g-g-go out with me?" Artie's mouth shot out before he could think. "I mean, we d-don't have to have sex or anything..."
Tina gave him a weird look and just sort of rolled away.
Awkward.
Thank god he redeemed himself and they spent the night roaming the halls of McKinley in their respective chairs. He challenged her to a wheelchair race and let her win. He knew he was way stronger than she was. "N-No fair," He smiled to himself, playing it up. "You've had 10 years of practice."
She shrugged again, playing down her disability and again comparing it to his stutter. He leaned over out of the wheelchair and gave her a soft kiss. It must have been her first, but it was far from his. He knew it was now or never... "Tina, I've been faking it."
"Faking what?" She asked innocently.
"The stutter. People always thought I was a little weird and well, scary, but I kind of liked it. I wanted to be different, so I faked it."
"I thought we had something really important in common," she said softly, looking down into her lap, but she made no move to leave.
"I'm sorry." If it had been him, he probably would have overreacted, spewing some verbal sewage about how no one ever understood him and how dare he fake something just to be different. In the end, it had worked; it had driven people away and he hated himself for it.
Tina must have been a better person than him, because she just nodded softly. "I understand what it's like to be different. I didn't ask to be like this, but I kind of don't mind being left alone," she laughed slightly, almost reading his mind.
"It didn't look like you were alone back in rehearsals today. You were enjoying yourself."
"You're right," her smile grew. "Glee has helped me come out of my shell and it's all thanks to you. I never would have tried out otherwise." She smiled, thinking back to how he'd practically dragged her to auditions. He softly took her hand into his. "You knew how much I wanted to be good at something and you knew there was that talent waiting inside. You're the first person who ever really understood me."
Artie didn't quite believe that, but he smiled. "That's exactly what I was gonna say," he just nodded, because it was true.