Surprisingly enough Rachel quite enjoyed having dinner with the Abrams. They were funny, sweet and completely genuine people and she found herself wishing that she could hang out there more often.

"Well Rachel, if you don't mind I need to go get ready for our poker game and then once I'm done I can take you home." Mr. Abrams announced as he got up from the dinner table.

"That's no problem at all." She smiled across the table at Artie who was actually smiling back.

"Do you want to go watch T.V. while we wait?" Artie asked as we wheeled himself away from the table.

"Sure." She followed Artie into the family room and took a seat on the couch. Artie wheeled up in front of the couch,

"I'm going to get up on the couch since we'll be here for a little while." He informed her as he lifted himself out of the chair and onto the couch next to her.

"What would you like to watch?" She asked, he shrugged.

Rachel continued to browse through the guide, passing nothing that seemed interesting. "Wait, go back." Artie shouted. Rachel obliged and went back to the last channel.

"What is it?"

"What is it?" Artie repeated. "Its Star Wars Episode I." He seemed completely shocked that Rachel had no knowledge of Star Wars.

"Oh, I've never seen it. Star Wars never really interested me." She admitted sheepishly.

Artie grinned eagerly. "You're in luck. It just started."

The brunette just nodded and returned her attention to the movie. "You can stay for the whole movie if you'd like. I mean my parents' poker game usually lasts a while. That is if you don't have some other plans or a curfew or whatever.." He rambled. He was afraid of being rejected. Rejected by Rachel Berry. But he had a girlfriend and Rachel was Rachel.

"I don't have any other plans and my daddy isn't expecting me until 11, so I'd love to stay and watch this with you." Rachel was grateful for Artie Abrams. He had saved her evening. If she hadn't ran into him, she would be stuck walking in the rain to an empty house, reminding her that once again she was alone. She would have to do something to thank Artie later. Perhaps one of her famous vegan deserts.

Artie watched Rachel stare at the screen completely focused, but he could see her mind wondering away from the movie. She looked beautiful in the light of the flashing T.V. screen. He hadn't lied to her earlier in the car when he had told her she was beautiful. She truly was, he had always thought that she was physically attractive, but tonight he seen a different side of Rachel Berry. She was funny and witty. She didn't actually talk as much as he thought and she most definitely wasn't annoying, but most of all she was nice to Artie, she respected him and his thoughts, his opinions, his jokes. This was a side of Rachel that Artie could definitely get used to.

Two and a half hours later Artie looked over at a sleeping Rachel. He chuckled. He just have to make her watch it another time. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly. "Rach," he whispered, "the movie's over. I think my dad is taking you home now." Her eyes fluttered open, a light smile crept onto her face.

"I'm sorry. I can't believe I fell asleep on the movie."

"Its okay, we'll have to watch it again some other time." Rachel couldn't help but smile at the thought of actually hanging out with Artie again. She might actually have a friend to hang out with. He grinned back revealing his perfect, white teeth. "You have a really nice smile, Artie." She told him before she could even realize what she said.

"Thank you." He blushed a little. "You have a nice smile as well."

Now it was Rachel's turn to blush. "I can't thank you enough for today. Really, today could've been a disaster if it weren't for you. I had a lot of fun and I actually forgot about Finn. Even when I was dreaming I didn't dream of him."

"Its really no problem, Rachel. I mean that's what friends are for, right? And I had fun too."

"Hey kids, its time to take Rachel home." Mr. Abrams announced from the doorway. Rachel stood up and smoothed out her skirt. She watched as Artie lifted himself from the couch and back into his wheelchair. He looked up at her and she quickly looked away, feeling awkward for staring.

"Its okay, Rachel I don't mind."

"Here, let me push you." She quickly walked up behind Artie and began pushing his wheelchair towards the garage door.

"Thank you. It can get kind of tiring." He looked up at her with a thankful grin.

They arrived at Rachel's house and all of the lights were out. Her daddy still wasn't home, it was almost 11:00. She sighed and slipped out of the van.

"Are you going to be okay all alone?" Artie asked.

"Yeah, I'm used to it. He shouldn't be gone much longer."

"Okay then. Well have a goodnight." Mr. Abrams piped in from the front seat.

"Thank you guys for dinner and everything." She looked Artie right in his blue eyes when she said everything.,

"Its no problem, Rachel really." Artie assured her for the last time.

"Well see ya." Rachel shut the door and skipped up the walkway. Before entering her dark, empty home she turned and waved at the Abrams men as they pulled out of the driveway.

Rachel sat in front of her vanity, running a brush through her chestnut hair. She smiled at her reflection thinking of her plans for the night.

Artie didn't text her for a full three days after hanging out with her, but Rachel just blamed it on the fact that he didn't have her number. Well, until she remembered that Mr. Schue had given them a Glee Club phone book on the last day of school with everyone's contact information in it. He wanted all of the kids to spend more time together over the summer. He felt that a united team was an unstoppable team. Rachel just knew that Artie regretted inviting her to his house and saying all of those nice things to her. She was Rachel Berry after all. She knew that the whole Glee Club hated her. Well everyone except for Finn.

But on the fourth of July Rachel's negative thoughts disappeared when Artie called her. He asked her to come over and watch the fireworks with him. His parents were gone to the lake with friends and he was all alone. Rachel agreed and also offered to make dinner.

She was due at the Abrams' home in a half an hour. It only took 15 minutes to get there. She didn't want to arrive early and seem eager to hang out with him, but she didn't want to be late either. She decided to just wait ten minutes and leave and take the long way that way she would arrive about 3 minutes early.

Precisely 38 minutes later, Rachel pulled into the Abrams' driveway. Black bean burgers, vegan mac and cheese and sugar cookies in hand. She rang the doorbell, feeling slightly nervous. She'd never had friends before. Sure, she'd hung out with Finn, but there was always something more there. Finn was never really just Rachel's friend, but now Artie was and she didn't know how to 'hang out' with just a friend. Artie sung open the door, smiling widely up at her.

"Hey Rachel. Thanks for bringing dinner. I'm not much of a cook," he rolled himself backward, letting her through the door. "Do you want to eat outside on our patio?"

"Yeah, that'd be great Artie." She returned his smile.

"I'll go ahead and take those outside. Can you get plates, cups and forks please?" He asked, taking the containers from Rachel. "Do you remember where everything is?"

She nodded and headed for the kitchen that she had gotten familiar with 4 nights before. Rachel grabbed the necessary dishes and joined Artie on the patio.

"It's a lovely afternoon" Rachel stated, trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah, perfect for today's festivities." Artie agreed, looking up at the pink streaked sky. "How are you?"

Rachel glanced at Artie's genuinely concerned face and smiled, "I'm great actually. I haven't spoken to Finn since that day and to be honest I'm surprisingly more than okay with that. I've had a lot of time to think these past couple of days and I realized that mine and Finn's relationship was based on a fantasy. We care for each other of course. He was my first and sometimes only friend. And in some weird way we understood each other, but we weren't in love. I wanted a boyfriend so bad and he was there for me and he wanted the anti-Quinn and I was there for him, but that isn't enough. Well, for me it isn't" Rachel paused and glanced at Artie who seemed completely bored. He didn't speak. "I'm sorry I'm doing that whole talking too much thing."

"No, no, no. Its okay, Rachel. Never say sorry for expressing your feelings. Its healthy. And I completely understand what you mean about the relationship being based on a fantasy." Artie looked away quickly trying to hide the sadness in his eyes.

"What do you mean? Is everything okay with Tina?" Rachel blurted and she swore she saw Artie wince at the mention of Tina. "I'm sorry Artie, I don't mean to pry, but I thought that you'd like to talk about it."

"I do," he sighed. "You know she's in California with her cousins for the summer. Well she called me yesterday and she seemed weird, I didn't have time to ask her about it because she had to go, but I texted her after. She replied and very bluntly said 'I think we should take a break for the summer', so I asked her why." He looked away again, feeling embarrassed that he was showing Rachel Berry of all people that he was emotional. "And she said that she didn't want to lie to me, but she had met someone out there and she didn't want to be unfaithful to me. She said that when she gets back we'll see how we feel and then we can decide where to go from there."

"Oh Artie, I'm so sorry." Rachel reached over and gently placed her hand on his.

"Its okay, I guess. I mean I do like her, a lot. But I thought about it all night, our relationship and I just don't know anymore. She means a lot to me. I mean before anything she was my friend and I don't want to lose that, but her being so willing to let our relationship go even if its just for a little over a month, made me really think about how we really feel about each other. At first I thought we had something in common, with her whole stutter thing and then that turned out to be a lie. I forgave her because I really did like her, do like her. I thought we really cared about each other and we really wanted to be together, but she's with someone else right now. I guess we aren't as connected as I thought."

"Artie, Tina does care about you. We all can see it, but we're all still kids we don't know what we want… When it comes to relationships I mean. Maybe you and Tina aren't destined to be together forever, but you guys are supposed to be friends. If you and Tina are meant to be together then you'll be together, but if you're meant to be with someone else, then that's just how it is." Rachel gave Artie's hand a light squeeze.

"How will I know though?" He asked the petite brunette.

"You'll just know Artie." They both smiled. "Now let's have a good time and forget about our exes."

"Yeah, they don't know what they're missing," Artie chuckled. "Thanks Rachel."

"That's what friends are for."