A/N: So, it's Valentine's Day, and while I pretty much hate this day more than any other day of the year, I thought that it was the perfect opportunity for some more Quinn/Artie fluff, dedicated specifically to Fufuluff, who always makes my ego grow two sizes too big with her kind words.
I am quite a huge Sinatra fan, which I get constant flack from my grandmother for, as she hates him. Then again, I kind of am like a 60 year old stuck in a 16 year old's body. However, I could totally see Artie whipping out some Sinatra, because he's just that damn cool.
I hope this flows, as it's no where near realistic, however I think that's the point. Happy Valentine's Day, all!
EDIT: I also must admit that the title of this story comes from a song by Port Blue, which is fabulous.
–
'city of safe harbors'
artie & quinn
Monday.
Mondays were always Quinn's favorite day of the week, because they meant she got to go to school. She also had all of her favorite classes on Mondays. Lately, however, she had began to dread getting up and going to school where she was always alone. She spent most of her time trying to keep herself busy with homework, trying to forget that it would be Valentine's day in one short week. She was sick of Valentine's day, and spending it all alone. A familiar song filled her headphones and she hummed along.
"Rainy days and mondays always get me down."
She quickly grabbed her books from her large red locker and tried to keep her head down as much as possible. She placed a protective binder in front of her swelling stomach, and made her way down the busy McKinley High School hallway. She thought she was home free when she could see her advanced Spanish classroom, but a voice behind her caught up to her.
"Hey, Fabray, how does it feel to be school slut?" She felt the tears well up, trying to beat them back. She was strong, she could handle this. She kept walking towards the door, but the voice wouldn't leave her alone.
"I mean, now all of the guys know they can pass you around. Especially after what you did to Hudson." She was blinking hard now, but the tears were winning. If only she could get to the stupid door she would be okay. Then a hand had grabbed her arm and whipped her around to see a tall boy from one of the various sports teams.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Fabray." He said, smirking down at her, as she tried to squirm and pull herself away.
"Let me go, you creep!" She said angrily, pulling away from him with no avail. He just continued to smirk at her, but before he could do anything to her he had exclaimed in pain, and Quinn opened her eyes.
Sitting next to her was a very angry Artie Abrams, wheel placed firmly on the jock's big foot. He was glaring at the standing boy, and he rolled on the foot some more, causing the jock to exclaim in pain again.
"Let her go, or else I'll break every one of your already deformed toes." He said, and the jock quickly dropped his hold on the blond headed girl. Quinn turned quickly and entered the classroom without looking back. She took a seat in the back of the room, trying to calm her racing heart beat to a slow and rhythmic pace of normalcy.
Before she could realize what was happening, Artie had rolled himself into the room, head down, and pushed himself back to his normal table in the back of the room where his wheelchair wouldn't be in anyone's way. She saw him pull his chair in at her table and he looked up, almost surprised to see her there, just as surprised as she was. He made to move away but she shook her head in a small way, he couldn't leave because he made her feel safe.
At some point during the lesson he noticed a piece of paper in front of him, and opened it quietly, ignoring whatever Mr. Schuester was saying.
"Thank you for saving me." Quinn's familiar precise handwriting stood out to him, and he leaned over to whisper to her.
"Anytime." She felt his warm breath on her ear, and she smiled, thinking maybe she could start liking Mondays again.
Tuesday.
Artie Abrams did not look forward to Tuesdays anymore. Tuesdays had always been his least favorite day of the week until he started glee club with Tina. He had once lived for Tuesday afternoons where he got to spend just a few extra moments with her, but now none of that mattered to him anymore, especially after he had chosen not to forgive Tina for breaking his already fragile heart.
As he wheeled himself into the far entrance of the school he only had one thing on his mind, and that came in the beautiful form of Quinn Fabray. After the previous day it seemed that she was all he could think about. It was kind of silly, considering she was pregnant, and beautiful, and definitely out of his league, but he kind of missed her when she wasn't there.
Artie didn't like thinking about that because it reminded him of who he wasn't, and who he could never be. He could never be anything more than a friend to Quinn, if that's even what you could call there relationship. He was tired of always wishing he could be someone else, he just wanted to be happy with being Artie, but that would never happen.
"Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see." Elton John's voice mixed with his as he was wheeling himself towards his calculus classroom. From his peripheral vision he saw a girl in black approach him, and knew the cinnamon smell almost at once. He had once loved that smell, but now it just made him sad.
"Artie, when are you going to talk to me?" Tina asked, a sadness in his voice that made him feel oddly satisfied.
"I don't know, Tina." He answered truthfully, not looking at her, but painfully noticing her lack of stutter.
"You know that I'm sorry!" She said, somewhat angrily, wishing that he would look at her. When he didn't she sped up to feel up with his rolling speed.
"Sometimes being sorry isn't enough." He said calmly, voice void of any emotion. He believed that, because he knew she was sorry but that didn't change anything that had happened between the two of them.
"Artie-" But her voice was cut off by another that he had not expected. "Artie!" Both of the gleeks turned to see a smiling Quinn bouncing down the hall, her blue dress matched the exact shade of her eyes. Tina glared at the blond ex-cheerleader, and turned back to the paraplegic boy sitting next to her smiling down the hall.
"I'll just leave you alone, I guess." With that she had disappeared, and Artie barely noticed because Quinn had reached him at that moment.
"What can I do for you, Miss Fabray?" He asked softly, pushing his glasses up slightly, in a way that made Quinn smile at him.
"Oh, nothing. You just looked very uncomfortable with her." Quinn said knowingly, taking control of Artie's wheelchair and pushing him towards their shared class, allowing herself to lean on the chair, and making it easy for Artie to smell her.
She smelled like lilies; soft and gentle but beautiful. Her smell was no where near as bold as Tina's and he liked that. She sighed against his chair and he felt as if he could get use to seeing her in all of his classes.
"Thank you for saving me." He said, a crooked smile gracing his nerdy face causing her to giggle a little.
"Anytime." She whispered as she took a desk next to him, and he thought that Tuesdays might not be so bad after all.
Wednesday.
Quinn used to look forward to Wednesdays as a small girl because it was the night she got to put on a pretty dress and go to church, and if she was a really good girl her daddy would give her ice cream on their way home. She still wondered what her parents felt when they walked past her empty room, or when someone asked them where she was. She shook those thoughts from her head as she entered the rehearsal room early for glee practice.
Her mind drifted to Artie, and the sudden friendship that had sprouted between the two of them. The past two days had completely distracted her from the fact that Valentine's Day was still approaching, and she would still be all alone for it. She had been staying with her aunt, who was rarely ever home, therefore leaving Quinn to fend for herself for the most part.
That was until two days ago when she realized that she couldn't always protect herself from everything. It was a scary realization to come to, but she was very grateful to have Artie step in to help her. The old Quinn would never have allowed for a glee freak to help her in any way. The old Quinn would have never even spoken to Artie. She was glad that she wasn't that Quinn anymore, because she liked having Artie's help.
"I'd like to help me through, I'd like to make it with you." Her voice sang clearly in the empty room, echoing around her.
"Quinn?" She whipped around, only to be disappointed by finding a tan Puck standing at the door, looking at her as if it pained him in some way. That look made Quinn angry, because he had no reason to feel sorry for himself.
"What do you want?" She asked harshly, protecting herself from the pain that seemed to follow him around like a plague. He was scowling, just like always, and she didn't know why anyone found him attractive. He never smiled, unless he was causing someone pain. She liked happy people. People like Artie.
"Chill out, MILF. I just wanna see how our kid's doing." He said roughly, and she rolled her eyes trying to resist the urge to puke.
"It's my baby, and she is fine. Now if that's all, I'd like to be alone." She said, brushing past him to busy herself with packing all of her books in her small book bag. He didn't leave though, he moved towards her.
"Quinn, I meant what said about wanting to be with you." He said, stepping closer to her, and she instinctively moved away from him again.
"You also meant what you said about wanting to sleep with every other girl in school if I don't become your own personal muse!" She said harshly, her eyes flashing a danger warning that he didn't seem to comprehend.
"Look babe, I don't know what the hell a 'moose' or what ever you said, is, but I'm Puck. I can't just change the way I am." He said, smiling in what he thought was a smooth way, and she rolled her eyes again.
"Then you don't get a part in my child's life, and you definitely don't get a part in mine." She said, turning from him, her eyes filled with tears when she heard a voice she had been desperate for. Her heart lifted.
"Hey, Quinn!" Artie's happy voice calmed Quinn remarkably and she turned to smile down at him. Puck left the room in anger without looking back at either of the two members of glee that he had left behind.
"You looked uncomfortable." Artie shrugged, rolling over to where she sat, placing a hand over hers. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable." She smiled at him, and he smiled back. "Thank you, it seems like you're always saving me." She said softly, as everyone entered the room. "You save me too, Quinn." He said back, warming her heart.
They sat next to each other all rehearsal, and no one but them noticed that neither's hand left the other, causing Quinn to smile thinking that Wednesdays were probably her new favorite day of the week.
Thursday.
Thursday was a good day for Artie; he made it through first and second block effortlessly. Most of the time his teachers didn't bother calling on him, because they trusted in his love for learning. He did love learning, he always had, even before the accident he had enjoyed school. He had learned how to read at three, and was finished with all the Sherlock Holmes novels by ten years old. He just couldn't quench his thirst for knowledge.
Artie liked Quinn because she shared his same love. She had always been in all of his advanced classes, and maintained honor roll. She never let her intelligence shine because of the Cheerios, but now she had been given the chance. She was mostly silent, but when she had something to say she was adamant about it. She was a special kind of girl, and Artie knew that simply from how happy he felt around her.
"She comes to me when I'm feelin' down, inspires me without a sound." He sang, letting Billy Joel's familiar words fill his heart while he thought of the beautiful girl he had come to think of as a new friend, smiling.
He rolled himself into the dirty, horrid smelling cafeteria noticing all the flyers about buying candy grams for a special Valentine. He had totally forgotten about Valentine's Day, and he looked to the booth that was selling the candy grams and smiled a little. He wheeled himself over and quickly pulled out the dollar to buy a gram. He quickly scribbled a message on the pink piece of paper before paying the girl at the booth.
When he turned he began scouting for a place to sit and he spotted one near the far door, where Quinn sat, reading a book with her hair falling in front of her face. He smiled to himself before propelling himself towards her, his heart soaring as he watched her. She quickly pulled in next to where she sat, eyes bright.
"Hey, Quinn." Artie smiled, starting the girl a little bit. As soon as she saw who was greeting her, however, her face broke out into a radiant smile and she leaned over to hug the wheelchair bound boy with great force.
"Happy to see me, are we?" He chuckled as she let go, blushing a little.
"Sorry. It's the hormones." She said, rubbing her swollen stomach, smiling a little. Sometimes Artie forgot she was pregnant, because she never mentioned it. Now it was obvious again, and he smiled over at her.
"Yeah, I guessed so." He smiled at her. She looked up at him and bit her lip nervously for a moment.
"And, because I missed you." She said softly, looking back down at the table, feeling nervous for no reason. It was normal to miss friends, right?
Artie was shocked at her obvious embarrassment as she looked down. He wanted her to feel comfortable again, so he hesitantly reached a hand across the space between them, and placed in over hers, resting on her baby bump.
"No worries, I really missed you too." He spoke gently, rubbing her hand softly, and she smiled at him again.
She cautiously moved his hand against her swollen bump, allowing him to feel the warmth. He caught his breath as his fingertips felt her warm abdomen, and he gently felt where her child was growing inside of her. He felt something under his fingertips and he looked at her.
"You can feel her heart beat too?" She asked, her face lightening up, as she had never had anyone to share this experience with. He nodded, not being able to form words enough to tell her. She placed a hand over his, and they finished lunch feeling the small infants strong heart beat together.
When they left for fourth block Artie wagered that it had been the best Thursday he'd ever had.
Friday.
Quinn Fabray was unusually happy that it was Friday. She had gotten ready quickly that morning, excited to get to school and see Artie again. She had begun to depend on having him there, and he was becoming the very best friend she had ever been privileged to have. She got to school earlier than usual, and he wasn't there yet. She saw the usual banners about Valentine's Day, and spotted one about candy.
Her eyes flashed back to the banner and she smiled, and quickly turned to where the booth sat in front of the doors. She handed over the dollar before taking the red tag and writing a carefully chosen message on the slip of paper. She handed it over hastily before walking off to find her best friend so they could head to class together.
It was three hours later when the cupid-esque messengers entered their classroom and handed out all the various candy grams, and when one stepped towards Quinn and Artie's table they both looked away from each other shyly. Both, however, were surprised when they each received a candy gram. Her eyes flashed towards him, and he smiled to himself.
She quickly opened hers, "It's the saddest part of my day, leaving you." She read in Artie's familiar and untidy penmanship. She smiled, a little confused as to why he picked that as something to write in her candy gram and looked over to where he sat watching her, gram unopened.
"It's from the movie Love Actually." He said, like this was the most obvious thing in the entire world. She just deepened her brow in confusion. "You've never seen Love Actually?" He asked incredulously like she had committed some form of sin. She simply shook her head and his mouth dropped.
"You are so coming to my house tomorrow to watch it!" He said, then winced at how blatant that had been. "I mean, if you want to. You don't have to do anything you don't want to." He added quickly, trying to ease away his nervousness. She opened her mouth and laughed brightly at how absolutely adorable he was.
"I would absolutely love to, Artie." She said brightly, rubbing his hand in a smoothing way. She watched as his face light up. She grinned and they both turned back to where their teacher stood, ready to start class.
Artie opened the piece of paper slowly and smiled. "Could you be my savior?" Quinn watched him put the piece of paper and place a hand over hers, in a reassuring move that she took to mean that he could be.
It wasn't until they were both headed home, separated from each other once again, that they both realized that tomorrow was Valentine's Day and they would be spending it together. Quinn smiled to herself, just thankful that she had a reason to see Artie instead of going a whole weekend without him.
Valentine's Day.
Saturday dawned early for both Artie and Quinn. Artie was up early as always, but Quinn was woken from a late bout of morning sickness that sent her in search of the porcelain goddess. Not even throwing up at six in the morning could keep her from smiling all day knowing that she would be spending the evening with Artie.
Artie was nervously pacing his home after telling both his parents that a girl would be coming over, then admitting that said girl was pregnant. After a brief panic he had assured them that he had not procreated, and they relaxed enough to agree that Quinn could come over that night while they went out to spend the weekend at a near by bed and breakfast, as was their tradition.
Quinn began to get ready, anxious with the wait. She decided to wear a bright yellow dress, because she knew that Artie liked the color yellow. She wanted to appear as bright and happy and carefree as she truly was when they were around each other. She quickly braided a strand of her golden hair, and pulled on a pair of flats. She twirled in front of the mirror, not able to wait any longer to leave.
Artie sat, fixing his hair to where it didn't look like squirrels had recently nested in and/or styled it. He opted to wear a normal black t shirt. He wasn't really sure what he should expect tonight, he just hoped that they could both have fun together, and forget that outside of each other their lives kind of sucked. He heard a light knock at the door and quickly rolled himself over to where he could open the door wide.
Quinn arrived at Artie's home at six o'clock sharp, hardly being able to stand still out of anticipation to see the nerdy boy. She knocked at the door softly, hoping that he could hear her. She stood in the cold for a moment, trying to get her head on straight before she would see him again. She hoped that tonight would be great for both of them. Before she could collect herself, the door had opened to reveal a smiling Artie Abrams.
"Hey, Quinn." He said in his quiet voice. "Hi, Artie." She said just as gently, before stepping into his home and looking down to observe him. He looked different from how she had ever seen him before. His dark shirt brought out his bright eyes more clearly, and his jeans were worn effortlessly, as if he wore them everyday. She loved this look on him.
"You look really great." She said, as he showed her into the large red living room, stacked full of movies.
Artie looked her over quickly. Her yellow dress brought a happiness back to her eyes that he was afraid she had lost forever. Her golden hair was shinning as always, and cascading down her shoulders. He wished he could see her this carefree more often. Quinn Fabray always looked stunning, but she looked absolutely beautiful now.
"You look beautiful." He said, as she self consciously placed a hand over her stomach, but he simply took it and showed her to his large living room couch.
"Where are your parents?" Quinn asked confused, looking around the room as if they'd jump out from behind the coat rack and ambush her out of their nice and cozy home. Artie chuckled at her confused expression.
"Oh, they're spending Valentine's weekend at the local bed and breakfast." He said matter-of-factly, pulling the desired movie out of the huge stack that took up most of the cabinet in the corner of his large living area.
"Get comfy, you're in for the best movie ever." He said, with a charming smile on his face. She sat on the couch, watching as he effortlessly lifted himself out of his chair and onto the end of the dark couch. He turned to pat the place next to him. She blinked at how normal he looked without his chair and smiled, scooting towards him.
She quickly laid her head on his shoulder, and he placed a protective arm around her stomach, and laced a hand in her hair, pulling his fingers through while the movie started. Both felt their heart beats race as they leaned on each other, spending Valentine's Day with the least like people in all the world. Two hours later the film ended and Quinn had a huge, happy grin on her face.
"The Beach Boys, now there's some good music." She sighed happily, and he nodded in agreement with her. She looked up at him and he brushed a strand of hair away from her pretty face.
"I've got you under my skin. I've got you deep in the heart of me." He sang softly, letting go of her to place himself back in his wheelchair, and extended a hand towards her, inviting her to dance with him. She smiled and took his hand, landing on his lap as he twirled them around the room.
"So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me.
I've got you under my skin.
I'd tried so not to give in.
I said to myself: this affair never will go so well."
She was lost in his voice as it entered her heart, taking her prisoner, and she didn't mind one bit. They continued dancing, and she watching his blue eyes look down at her. Somewhere in the last week they had become each other's safety harness and it would all but kill both of them to have to let go of that now.
"But why should I try to resist when, baby, I know so well, I've got you under my skin?" He sang carefully, watching as she wistfully placed her head against his heart beat, humming along with the words he was using to serenade her with.
"I'd sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of havin' you near
In spite of a warnin' voice that comes in the night
And repeats, repeats in my ear:
Don't you know, little fool, you never can win?"
She listened as he sang, and she knew that he meant what he was saying. He really didn't think that he should be able to have her. That he should always lose, because that's who he was. He couldn't see how fabulous he was to her. If either of them was unworthy it had to be her, but she was so selfish that she just couldn't let him go.
"Use your mentality, wake up to reality.
But each time that I do just the thought of you
Makes me stop before I begin
'Cause I've got you under my skin."
Artie was used to losing, so being able to hold her in his arms was probably the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. He could barely remember his life before she walked in and stole him away. He barely thought about Tina anymore, and it felt like he could even manage to fly just as long as he had her there with him.
Quinn's eyes didn't leave his as he spun them in the bright room, her arms locked around his warm neck. She often forgot that he couldn't walk, just like he seemed to often forget that she was pregnant. She guessed that it was easy to forget because neither of those things mattered to either of the teenagers. They were just so grateful to have a best friend that they could share anything with that nothing else mattered to them.
"I would sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of havin' you near
In spite of the warning voice that comes in the night
And repeats - how it yells in my ear:
Don't you know, little fool, you never can win?"
He began to sing more strongly, his arms tiring of spinning the chair around the room. He saw Quinn close her eyes, soaking in the happiness that she was feeling in that moment. She had never looked more beautiful to him. Not when she was reading, not even when she was singing. Only when she was being vulnerable around him; completely trusting in him to never hurt her. As if that were even possible for him.
They both couldn't believe the feelings that had developed so quickly into something that meant so much to both of them. She had been so afraid of everything, not believing she was even worth being cared about. He was just tired of wishing that he could be everyone else but himself. She had made him see that he was amazing, legs or not. He had helped her see that even she could be forgiven for the things that she had done.
"Why not use your mentality - step up, wake up to reality?
But each time I do just the thought of you
Makes me stop just before I begin
'Cause I've got you under my skin."
Quinn knew this song, it was one of her very favorites. Her grandfather had once sang it to her grandmother when Quinn had stayed over. They had thought she was in bed asleep, but she was really just watching them dance with each other, so much in love that Quinn wished that she could find that someday also.
"Yes, I've got you under my skin." Her voice joined his as they both sang the last line softly to each other.
"Quinn?" He asked, his voice cracking out of the nervousness he felt. She had to overcome the butterflies filling her before she could answer.
"Yes, Artie?" She asked, looking up at him, her blue eyes causing his heart to stop momentarily.
"I think I'm falling in love with you." He said quickly, and before she could respond he added, "And I absolutely am enjoying every minute I spend with you." His words were breathless and rushed, but they were also the sweetest thing that she had ever heard anyone tell her. Finn wasn't smart enough to come up with that, and Puck wasn't nice enough. Artie was everything, and more.
"You know, Artie," She began, leaning back away from him, "I'm falling in love with you too. Thank you for being my savior." She grinned brightly at him, running one hand through his soft, chestnut colored hair.
With that Artie leaned down and did the thing he had wanted to do for a long time. His lips connected with hers, and they both melted against each other, the bliss emanating from them more than most romantic movies could handle. There was a lot behind their kiss; hope, passion, trust, need, and most important, friendship. It was the thrill of falling in love all over again, when you didn't think you could ever again. They had found a safe place within each other, which is what they both so desperately needed.
That night Artie and Quinn would become an official couple, and more importantly, decide that maybe Valentine's Day could become their new favorite holiday.