The Unseen Chapter 2
"Now tell me how you kissed Artie again?"
Mercedes rolled her eyes at Kurt's teasing confusion. She called him as soon as she arrived home. Mercedes had to admit she'd panicked. She needed someone to help her sort out her feelings so she called her best friend. Kurt drove over to hear the details and now wouldn't stop teasing her about it.
Mercedes looked at him. She looked at the floor and then shrugged her shoulders. "What, Kurt? It just happened."
Raising his eyebrows at her, Kurt smirked and replied, "You don't just kiss a boy in a wheelchair. I mean, we all love Artie, but come on 'Cedes. You have to believe you deserve better. I mean, look at me and Blaine. I could have settled for a secreted affair, but I set my goals high and found something great. You don't have to settle is all I'm saying."
Kurt's statements didn't sit right with her. Frowning, she asked, "So it's okay for Tina and Brittany to be with Artie, but I would be settling?"
Sighing, Kurt said, "You're acting as if I'm trying to be offensive here. I'm not. I think Artie's great. To address your point, however, Tina's with Mike now and Brittany… well, it's Brittany. Life at McKinley is hard enough. Can you imagine being one of the few black women there who just so happens to date the only kid in a wheelchair? What's left from your life after being in Glee would be over. You deserve better, Mercedes and I just think you should focus more on a future with the strong, dashing man that you deserve."
Mercedes wasn't sure what she felt, but what Kurt was saying upset her. She switched the subject, easily done if Blaine or Nyada were brought up. They chatted and gossiped, but Mercedes carefully kept the conversation away from Artie. When Kurt left, she sat on her bed and thought about what Artie said to her earlier.
If you went on that stage, Mercedes, I'd watch you. I'd be your audience hanging on to every note. I wouldn't look away. I'd see you.
Finally, she grabbed her phone and responded to Artie's message.
Let's talk tomorrow after school in the auditorium.
Artie stared at the only reply Mercedes sent him last night. He waited at his locker, his mind looping yesterday's events. The dance, the song, the kiss, but mostly, the connection. And they did connect yesterday. Damn whatever she had to say about it. The beautiful, curvy brown girl and the pale boy in the wheelchair had the same problem. While being arguably the most visible people in this school, they went unseen.
He saw her yesterday.
Yes, the legendary diva in training was there, but babygirl was vulnerable. Underneath her bold defenses, she was soft, precious and deserving of a love that would reassure, honor and protect her. Artie knew he had that to offer. He could do that. While walking was impossible, loving Mercedes was not.
He just had to convince her.
As he watched her walk toward the Glee room with her curls bouncing, wearing skin tight red leggings and an off the shoulder white t-shirt, he knew he had a fight ahead of him.
Maybe he was staring and maybe he was sweating, but a man's got to do what a man's got to do. So putting his shoulders back, Artie took a breath and rolled up to her.
She smiled. The little, blushing nervous smile she does in the Glee classroom when she finally gets a little praise. Artie looked at her lips, glazed in a gloss that smelled faintly like… strawberries?
Putting a hand out to stop her from coming any closer, Artie asked, "Hold up. Is that strawberry lip gloss?"
Confused, Mercedes lifted an eyebrow and responded, "Yes."
"The same strawberry lip gloss you wore yesterday?"
"Yes, Artie. Why?"
Shaking his head, Artie glared at her. "You don't play fair, Mercedes. You think you can just come in here looking delicious and smelling like strawberry shortcake with extra toppings, well you're wrong and rude. Putting berries on berries. You ought to be ashamed, woman."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about not being able to sleep because the scent of strawberry kept teasing my nose. I'm talking of dreaming about running through strawberry patches. I'm talking about not being able to hold an intelligent and important conversation with you because all I can think of is strawberry flavored Mercedes' lips," Artie ranted softly. With a stiff hand to the heavens emphasizing how done he actually was, Artie turned his wheelchair around and wheeled away fussing about how rude people can be.
Angrily following him into the glee room, Mercedes sat down next to where he parked his chair. "You got a lot of nerve, Abrams," she turned around to face him.
"Alright guys," Mr. Schue entered the room disrupting the pair, "let's get started. I hope everyone has their assignment ready for this week. Remember, the theme is Soul."
"Oh dear Lord," Mercedes groaned into her hand as she rolled her eyes and shook her head at the desecration she knew was coming. Turning her head, she caught Artie crossing his arms and shaking his head. Their eyes caught in shared disgust. She almost smiled while he looked away and cleared his throat.
The little moments kept happening. Their classmates tried to be soulful and sang songs by Barbara Streisand, Barry Manilow and Elvis. Rachel sang "Memory" from Cats. In perfect synchronization, the duo looked at her, looked at the board with the word "Soul" underlined, and then looked at each other and laughed. Something within her paused to check out his blue eyes behind his glasses and how his smile took up his entire face.
Artie was called next. Wheeling to the front of the class, Artie said, "The song I'm about to sing is special. Besides being the epitome of soul, I'm singing this song so that someone special knows that I see her and I've seen her even when she didn't know I was watching."
Mercedes guessed he was talking about her, but was taken by surprise when she heard the opening chords to "Try a Little Tenderness."
Artie sang:
Oh, she may be weary
Young girls they do get weary
Wearing that same old shaggy dress, yeah yeah
But when she gets weary
Try a little tenderness, yeah yeah
You know she's waiting
Just anticipating
For things that she'll never, never, never, never possess, yeah yeah
But while she's there waiting, without them
Try a little tenderness (that's all you gotta do)
Mercedes remembered singing this song for Jesse and Mr. Schue. At the time, even though they'd been impressed with her performance, they passed her over for Rachel. Sure, they said something about Rachel's training and not believing Mercedes was capable of producing the same sound repeatedly, but it boiled down to not believing in her. They didn't think she was capable. They didn't choose her. She didn't know how Artie knew about this performance and how she'd given her all, but he sang it as if he was singing for all the times she'd been passed over.
All you gotta do is, man, hold her where you want her
Squeeze her, don't tease her, never leave her
Get to her, try, try
Just try a little tenderness, ooh yeah yeah yeah
You got to know how to love her, man, you'll be surprised, man
You've got to squeeze her, don't tease her, never leave
You've got to hold her and rub her softly
Try a little tenderness, ooh yeah yeah yeah
His eyes were on her. His voice had an edgier, raw quality that she hadn't heard before in his history of smooth baby making vocals. He was the same Artie she'd always looked at. Parked in his wheelchair, khaki pants and button down shirt with a sweater, but today was different. She was seeing him and the way music made him different, made him more. She smiled to cover up the shiver for the boy singing to her, about her, and most importantly, for her.
While everyone clapped and cheered for him, Mercedes felt her phone buzz. Checking it, she saw a message from Kurt that read: Let him down gently. Love you. Looking up, she saw Kurt smiling sadly and giving her thumbs up.
When class finished, Mercedes and Artie went together to the auditorium. They took the back entrance that lead directly to the stage. Making their way backstage, Artie stopped her at the curtain. "This is where I saw you sing."
"Those auditions were private. How?"
"People make allowances for the kid in the wheelchair," he said, smirking. "Anyway, there you were in grey jeans and a white and grey sweater belting out this incredible song and I couldn't take my eyes off of you."
Striding past him and onto the stage, Mercedes said, "Well if you saw that, then you saw Jesse and Mr. Schue basically call me lazy and inferior to Rachel."
"No," he said, rolling behind her, "I saw a beautiful girl not being a chance. I saw a future artist not being given the care she needs to grow."
"Artie," she sighed, "what are we doing here? This is crazy."
"How is it crazy? How is connecting to someone who sees the world the same as you crazy?" Wheeling in front of her, Artie looked up and said, "Is it crazy to be in the midst of a bunch of people and feel alone? Is it crazy to see someone with the same shade of loneliness and want to be alone together?"
"Do you even know what you're saying?"
He grabbed her hand. "I'm saying we deserve each other. I deserve someone smart, driven, talented, fine, someone with morals, courageous, and did I mention fine."
Thinking of Kurt's words, Mercedes asked, "And you're saying, I deserve you?"
"Absolutely," he answered, "you deserve to be seen, appreciated, adored, supported, cherished, all of the above. You deserve tenderness. You deserve to be loved, Mercedes. I'm brave enough to do all of it if you'll let me."
Mercedes bent down so he had no choice but to see and smell her, she whispered, "Please don't sweep me off of my feet if you're only going to drop me."
Grabbing her other hand and holding her there, Artie whispered back, "Don't run from me before I can get a good hold on you."