So FF has been sorely lacking in Artina, and since this was a prompt from Tartie Tuesday on tumblr (follow me at ), why not upload it here too?
Prompt: Tina sticks up for Artie.
Enjoy!
"Okay guys, don't forget: the Nationals audition sign-up sheet will be posted tomorrow!" called Mr. Schuester as the members of New Directions filed out of the choir room.
After school the next day, Tina spotted Artie hanging near the bulletin board where, she realized, Mr. Schue had tacked the sign-up sheet. Artie was fidgeting with the edges of his yellow gloves, a sign that Tina knew meant he was internally debating on something.
Is Artie actually thinking about signing up? Tina wondered, utterly shocked. Artie almost never asked for leads in Glee club. Mr. Schue usually just gave them to him when he assumed Finn couldn't handle them.
She almost stepped forward to help him sign his name (not without a sense of déjà vu), when she saw none other than Jesse St. James join Artie in the otherwise abandoned hall.
"Thinking about audition for the male lead, are you?" Jesse asked.
Artie fixed his glasses. "I was considering it, yes. I'm not one who normally tries to put himself out there, but I thought that maybe this time-"
"Don't bother."
Artie blinked. "Excuse me?"
Jesse sighed and spoke as if Artie were a confused five-year-old. "While your vocal and even dancing ability far superior to that of Finn's, I'm speaking from a purely professional standpoint when I say that New Directions wouldn't stand a chance with you front and center."
Artie glared into the ex-Vocal Adrenaline leader's eyes. The guy who betrayed them a year ago and now their so-called coach. "And why's that?" he asked, despite already knowing the answer.
"We can't pretend your disability wouldn't distract from the actual performance, Artie. Whatever talent you have is far outweighed by your awful stage presence. The judges at Nationals won't be impressed by a mindblowing group number if you're spinning around in a wheelchair. It'll just depress them and the audience."
Artie looked down and folded his hands into his lap. Tina could swear he was willing himself to disappear right there on the spot.
Jesse patted Artie's shoulder. "Don't worry, you and Mercedes have always been great with the in-session numbers. They're a great practice for the real thing, despite them being filler fluff. Besides, your wheelchair isn't a total injury to the New Directions. It fits in rather well with the whole 'misfits' theme of the club. It's just not something we want to showcase."
Throughout the whole exchange, Tina found herself getting progressively more and more angry. Yet she still couldn't find it in herself to jump in.
But as Jesse walked away and Tina saw the look of utter defeat on Artie's face, something inside her snapped.
Tina stepped out from behind the corner and directly into Jesse's path once they were out of Artie's earshot. He raised an eyebrow.
"And to what do I owe this pleasure, uh…"
"It's Tina." She snapped. Of course this pompous ass couldn't be bothered to learn her name. She didn't take it too personally though, she was pretty sure he didn't know half of the team's names.
"Right, Tina." Jesse repeated, clearly not wanting to waste time with someone whom he could barely remember even being in the club in the first place. He wanted to meet up with Rachel and perhaps sing another spontaneous showtune. He's been missing those.
"Michael Jackson. MC Hammer. Jamie Foxx. Stevie Wonder. Artie's sung them all and I'll be d-damned if he didn't do them justice and then some."
Damnit, she let the stutter slip through. She never did do well with confrontation.
Jesse opened his mouth to interrupt her, but she plowed on. "I've seen Artie perform for almost two years, and he's incredible. So don't you stand there and tell him he's not good enough because of the damn chair. He's been shoved aside ever since he was eight because of it. Maybe things were different with you robots in Vocal Adrenaline, where everybody had to look absolutely perfect and going to desperate measures to achieve that level of flawlessness, but that's not how it goes here. You know how many times he could complain about the fact that Rachel never lets him have a moment in the spotlight instead of Finn? But he doesn't, not once, because he's bigger than that and he's bigger than you!"
That last sentence came out as a yell. Tina exhaled and looked directly into Jesse's eyes, not daring to be the first to look away.
He had only left his raised eyebrow up throughout her tirade, but once he realized she was finished, his mouth slowly curled up into a half-smirk. He began to clap.
"Well well, who knew that the quiet mouse actually had a lion inside of her? You know, you'd probably get more attention in Glee Club if you let it free more often. But I don't expect that to happen. I have a feeling this kind of strength would only present itself at-ah-certain moments."
Tina was nonplussed. "What are you talking about?" Jesse only smirked again. "See you around, Tina."
Tina watched as he walked away deliberately with his big shiny black boots. It wasn't until she felt her face that she realized how flushed she had gotten.
She sighed and turned to leave what she assumed was now an empty hall, only to face Artie.
"Oh, hey." She said lamely.
"I heard what you said."
Tina groaned internally. Of course he did, she wouldn't be surprised if half of Lima heard her yelling. "Yeah, well…" She didn't know quite how to finish that sentence. When was the last time they'd had a real conversation anyway? It felt like forever.
"Thank you, but you didn't need to-"
"Yes I did, Artie. I'm sick of people walking all over you, but you know what? I'm even more sick of you letting it happen. How could you just let him talk to you like that?"
His expression hardened. "I'm used to it, Tina. And he's not wrong, nobody wants to see this-" motioning to his useless lower half "-up on that stage, front and center. I don't know why I ever thought about signing up. It was stupid."
At that, Tina's eyes met Artie's and for a split second, she wondered if he remembered the last time he'd uttered that phrase.
Artie continued. "Anyway, it's not like you've tried either. How come you haven't signed up yet?"
She rolled her eyes. Leave it to him to turn it on her. "I didn't bother because I have a feeling Jesse's already picked the female lead. And even if it wasn't totally obvious who's going to win this, Rachel and Mercedes still sing better than I do. I wouldn't stand a chance."
What she was telling Artie wasn't anything new. She'd lost count of the amount of times she had confided in him last year about how hurt she was about how everything was run in Glee.
Artie shifted slightly in his chair. "Well, since you and I both seem to be out of the running for Nationals, how about we just do our own number? We practiced "Let It Be" a lot by ourselves last year, I'm sure if we just dust it off and work on it a little more, we can show everyone in New Directions what we can do." Taking Tina's silence as a maybe, he asked, "Maybe you could come over on Friday to get started?"
Tina looked into his face, where there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
Which scared her because she realized that she had been looking for that hope.
"I…can't, sorry. Mike and I have a date." She blurted out.
There was a pregnant pause.
"Oh." And with that simple word, Tina knew that Artie was aware she had said no to more than just a song practice.
Tina forced a smile. "Well, I guess I'll see you around then."
Without waiting for a response, she hurried to leave before she started forgetting why she'd ever really said goodbye to him in the first place.