A/N Again, thank you for the comments/alerts. Hopefully this chapter will answer some of the questions that the last chapter threw up! I have to thank my wonderful beta/American nitpicker Heather, without whom this would be a lot more difficult.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, though I wish I did. That belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox.

Tina's sleep had been broken, disturbing dreams keeping her from getting a good night's rest. She put it down to worrying about Artie. As they had talked, she had felt more and more numb while he'd become resigned about the whole situation. After all, he said, there wasn't exactly a whole lot he could do about it at the moment, not while his mother was acting like that. He'd have to be patient - luckily something he was good at, given all the times he'd had to wait for things over the years.

It didn't stop Tina from worrying though - both about him, and about the rest of New Directions. Artie was one of the best all round musicians they had, and explaining why he had to leave was going to be difficult, especially to Rachel. Tina hoped that Mr Schue would answer most of the questions onto him, and that everyone would ignore her. She knew that people (well, Rachel) would put her under pressure to try and get him to come back, and that was something she didn't want, either herself or Artie. She was still nervous about it when she reached her locker, and heard a familiar sound - the squeak of Artie's chair. She turned to look at him with a small sad smile.

He looked much the same as her, as if he hadn't slept, and the expression on his face was a familiar one - the one he used to show the world that really, everything was okay, even when it wasn't. Normally Tina would spend time trying to wheedle what was wrong out of him, but for once she knew - he'd talked to her of his own volition. In all this horrible situation she felt as if they'd taken a step forward as a couple.

"Hey," he said in a quiet voice.

"Hey you," she replied, kneeling down in front of him, taking his hand. "Did you even sleep last night?"

"A bit," he said, shrugging slightly. "Probably more than Mom, who I think was up pacing about most of the night."

"She is really acting odd, huh?"

"Yeah. Let's just say last night wasn't a good night."

"What does your Dad think?"

"He was really quiet when he dropped me off this morning. I don't know what he thinks," Artie said, his frustration suddenly becoming evident. "I don't want to have to leave Glee just cause Mom has some kind of weird idea. It's just not fair!"

"Artie, calm down," Tina said, gently rubbing her thumb over his knuckles, unconsciously trying to soothe him. "Weren't you the one who said you'd just have to be patient?"

"I know I am," Artie sighed, smiling slightly at her. "I know. It's just..."

"You hate it. You love Glee, and everyone there. Just give your Mom time. She'll calm down. She can't go on like this forever."

"I don't know if we can go to the movies on Friday," he said suddenly. "I don't even know if I want to push it to ask. I couldn't stand another lecture from Mom about my future."

"We'll work something out."

If Tina thought that seeing Artie that morning was hard, walking into the Glee rehearsal without him was even worse. She'd deliberately walked slowly to the choir room, making sure she arrived just before the start of rehearsal. She didn't want to have to answer the hundred and one inevitable questions - at least not yet. Spread out over the next couple of days wouldn't be so bad, but today, after a bad night's sleep - Rachel was too intense to be able to deal with easily.

But of course, it was Rachel who noticed the fact that Tina arrived alone first. "Where's Artie?" she demanded as soon as she saw Tina. "We're going to start work on the choreography for the Queen number, and making sure his wheelchair is properly integrated is imperative at this stage if we are to reach perfection by Sectionals..."

"Um..." Tina glanced around, seeing Kurt and Mercedes giving her curious looks. "He's..."

It was then that Will walked in, looking serious, followed by Amy, who just looked confused, as if she wasn't expecting Will to be like that. He saw Tina standing in the room, Rachel staring at her, as withdrawn as she had been when she first joined Glee. "Tina, why don't you sit down? I'll deal with this," he said gently, placing his hand on her shoulder for a moment. Tina nodded, and scurried off to sit beside Mercedes, who wrapped her arm round Tina's shoulder.

"Okay guys, I hate to be the one to tell you, but we are down one member. Artie is no longer in Glee," Will said after taking a deep breath.

"What?" The chorus of shocked response was unanimous.

"The hell?" Puck commented. "What do you mean Wheels has left Glee?"

"That's unacceptable, Mr Schuester!" Rachel declared. "Artie is clearly one of the best musicians in New Directions. We cannot afford to lose such a valuable singer, not in the run up to Sectionals. Not only will it affect the currently balanced set up of the group, but everything we do. Tina, why has he left?" Tina opened her mouth to speak, but didn't get a chance to say anything before Rachel interrupted once again. "Mr Schuester. I demand that you speak to Artie, get him to reconsider his decision. Or at least get Tina to speak to him. As his girlfriend, you have a significant amount of influence over him. Of course, I'm assuming that the pair of you are still dating and this isn't some relationship related drama."

Tina gave her a pained look. "Yes, iwe/i are fine, but It isn't that easy, Rachel," she said quietly, before glancing over at Mr Schue, pleading for him to help her.

"Rach, let Mr Schue speak," Finn said, rubbing her arm to try and calm her.

"Thanks, Finn," Will said, nodding, glancing once at Amy then turning back to the kids. "I don't want to go into details, but it was Artie's Mom who pulled him out of Glee. He needs to focus on his studies, apparently."

"That's bull," Santana said, barely looking up from the seat she was sprawled in, more intent on filing her nail. "Everyone knows Wheels gets higher grades than nearly everyone here. Hell, I've copied his homework more than once in the last year. He's probably got his college application filled in already. So what's the real reason?" She suddenly sat upright, pointing her nail file at Will. "Lemme guess, his Mom's an ultra-boring conservative, right? She doesn't want her precious little boy hanging around people like me."

"Santana..."

"It's okay, Mr Schue. I know how it is. It's not Wheels' fault - for a total nerd he isn't so bad, but I know how it is." Tina couldn't help glancing over at Santana, smiling at her a little. For her to admit that was a big thing, but then Santana and Artie always seemed to get on when they danced together.

Will paused, then nodded. "Well, yes, that is an element of it. But at the end of the day, Mrs Abrams wants what's best for Artie, and at the moment she doesn't think that includes Glee."

"She's way too over protective of him," Santana muttered mostly to himself. "I mean, look at the way he dresses. That says it all."

"I like the sweater vests," Tina said, looking at Santana. "They're so..."

"Grandpa like?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Girl, you need to talk some fashion sense into him." Santana looked Tina up and down. "Or get someone else to."

"Good luck with that," Kurt muttered, flashing a smile at Santana.

"Guys, we are getting totally off topic," Rachel interrupted, standing up to face them all. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Rachel, there is nothing you can do about it," Tina said. "We talked about it a lot last night. He's tried talking to his mom, tried arguing with her, but she's not changing her mind." She sighed, and frowned. "We just have to accept it, Artie is out of Glee."

Tina should have known better than to expect Rachel to just give up like that. After all, she was notorious for never letting things go.

Three days after Will had told them all about Artie, the usual four were once again in the cafeteria, eating a quiet lunch when Rachel suddenly sat down at the table, setting her tray down heavily. Finn sidled up beside her, taking a seat rather more quietly.

"Rachel," Artie said, glancing at Tina, then back at Rachel. "This is a surprise." Normally Rachel never sat with them, preferring to either practise singing or Finn's company. He could guess what was coming, and reached for Tina's hand under the table. Tina squeezed it gently

"I was wondering how things were for you," Rachel said brightly. "You know, at home. We miss you."

Artie's grip on Tina's hand tightened ever so slightly. "You miss me or my voice, Rachel?" he asked, then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, it's just a little stressful at the moment."

"You should..."

"Rachel, I swear if you say that Artie should sing it out I'm going to pay Karofsky to slushie you every day for a week," Kurt said, taking pity on Artie.

"Rachel, it's nice that you miss me, but Mom is really not changing her mind. Believe me, I've tried everything I can think of, and she just won't. She wasn't even sure about me staying in the jazz club, I had to virtually beg for that." Artie shrugged after a moment. "She might change her mind later on, but when she's like this there is no use arguing. Call it experience."

"I could have a word with her, or better yet, get my dads to."

"No offence to your dads, or what they can do, but I really don't think that will help with Mom." Artie pointed out with a small smile. Truth was, he was missing all of them, and it was nice that Rachel and Finn were talking to them. "I guess I've just got to learn to accept it."

"Dude, it's weird you not being there," Finn said, happy enough now that Rachel had said what she needed to to join in the conversation.

"Agreed," Kurt nodded. "We are severely lacking in the bass department somewhat."

"Aha! So this iis/i all about my voice," Artie grinned, trying to lighten the mood. He glanced at Tina briefly. "It's nice that you miss me, actually."

"Who misses who?" Brittany asked, as she came to join the group as well. She looked at Artie. "I know you..."

Artie couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. It was such a typical Brittany thing to say, and it felt normal.

"Britt, it's only been three days," Tina pointed out. "We had a longer break during the summer."

"Three days since what?"

It was hard to keep up with what was normal for Tina and Artie when something like Glee had been taken away from them, but they were determined. They met up every day for lunch, sat beside each other every class that they could, spoke to each other on the phone every night (Tina much preferred talking to texting or instant messaging), and their Friday night ritual was mostly unaffected - though they'd been watching movies at Artie's house rather than going to the cinema.

Tina knocked on the Abrams' door. The aim that night was to watch a movie, and just generally try to get Artie to relax. The change in him was probably not noticeable to everyone, but she noticed it - he'd become more withdrawn since leaving Glee. Every time it was mentioned he tensed, though she was probably the only one to see it, and she hated it. She wanted her Artie back, inappropriate comments and all, not the one that was left.

"Tina! Come in." Mrs Abrams stood back to let Tina in, smiling at her. "Artie's in the family room, I think. He was there playing his guitar earlier."

"Thanks Mrs A," Tina said, smiling back at her, then following the familiar sound of Artie's guitar playing into the family room, where he was out of his chair, sitting on the sofa, bowed over the instrument in concentration. She listened for a moment, smiling at the sight. "Hotel California?" she asked eventually, walking into the room and flopping down beside him.

"I've been meaning to learn the solo guitar bit for a while," he said, playing a last couple of chords before putting his guitar down. He caught a glimpse of Tina's expression. "What? It's one of the coolest solos ever. Everyone says so."

"'Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice; And she said 'we are all just prisoners here, of our own device'?" Tina laughed. "It could be Lima."

"Well, yeah, there is that," Artie nodded as he grinned at her. "So, how was Glee?" The question was casual enough, but Tina could hear what was underneath - that he hated not being there, but wanted to know everything about it, no matter how much it hurt.

She simply smiled and moved closer, curling up beside him. "Oh you know what Rachel is like," she said, keeping it generic. "Demanding, annoying, frustratingly good..."

Artie snorted with laughter. "So no real change there?" he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"No. No change. So, what are we watching, nerd boy?" Tina asked, determined to change the subject.

"Nerd boy?" Artie laughed, then lifted up a DVD case, showing it to Tina. "Only the best action movie ever."

"Die Hard? Seriously? I can think of far better action movies, but I suppose it'll do," Tina replied, plucking the case from Artie's hand and moving over to put the DVD in the machine before settling back beside him.

A couple of hours later, Artie had disappeared, most likely to the bathroom (something Tina really didn't want to think about, and she knew Artie got embarrassed about it, so it was one of those unspoken things between them - one she didn't mind), so rather than sit on her own, Tina headed into the kitchen, with the intention of getting them some drinks. Mrs Abrams looked up, smiling at Tina. "Hi, Tina," she said. "Looking for drinks? There's some soda in the refrigerator."

Tina nodded, rather than saying anything. She liked Mrs Abrams, it was just sometimes her natural shyness got the better of her. She went to the 'fridge, pulling out a bottle of Artie's favourite soda, and poured some into two glasses. She was about to turn to go back into the family room to sit and wait on Artie, when something stopped her.

"Mrs Abrams?"

"Yes, Tina dear?" Artie's mom replied, glancing up from her recipe book to look at Tina.

Tina took a deep breath. She knew what she wanted to say, but wasn't quite sure how to say it, especially not to an adult. Her mother would kill her if she knew that she was going to say what she was.. "Mrs Abrams, can I ask you a question?"

Mrs Abrams was silent for a moment, watching Tina carefully. "I suspect I know what this is about. It's about me making Artie leave Glee, isn't it?"

Tina nodded in response, and carried on. "He really misses it. I don't even think he realizes how much. But when I look at him, he's unhappy. Just a bit, but it's there. He loves it so much and..."

"And I made him leave all that. Yes, I know, but you need to understand something, Tina. Sometimes things happen, and you have no control over them. It's sad, but that's the way life is. At the moment his father and I think that the Glee club is not a good place for Artie to be."

"And what about what he wants?" Tina asked, suddenly gaining in confidence. "You've always encouraged him to do what he wants, without limitations. Suddenly, he can't?"

Mrs Abrams face lost all movement, becoming very still. Tina realized that she was trying not to let any emotion show, which was unlike her. "Tina. It's admirable how much you care for Artie, and believe me when I say we appreciate it, but there are some things that are better left alone, to be dealt with within the family." She turned away from Tina, leaving the room.

Tina stared after her, wondering just what had happened. "Tee? You okay?" Artie asked, looking up at her as he arrived in the kitchen. "You look odd."

She shook herself slightly before picking up the drinks. "No, I'm fine."

"Sure?"

"Yup."

Sunday afternoon came, and Tina was procrastinating about her homework as usual. Instead of actually doing it, she was browsing on Youtube, looking for songs. Maybe Artie couldn't be in Glee itself, but that didn't mean he couldn't take part musically. Mrs Abrams hadn't said that he couldn't be in jazz band, after all. While it wasn't the same, it was at least something.

And so Tina was trying to find out a piece of music that she could take to Mr Schue that would work. Something that featured a rocking guitar solo, give Artie a chance to shine in another way. Maybe they could do another Queen number - it would please Puck and Finn, if nothing else. Pleased with that thought, she typed in Queen, clicking on iKiller Queen/i. Kurt could probably get away with singing that. As the music played, she opened another window, checking Facebook. After five or so minutes there, she idly tapped Artie's name into a search engine, smiling slightly to herself as she clicked on his Facebook profile. 'In a relationship' still gave her a thrill every time she saw his status, even if it was so typically Artie to put that.

After checking up on Mercedes and Kurt (thankfully no new web pages had appeared for either of them), she moved onto Mr Schue. Nothing new there. Finally, she typed in 'Amy Henderson', wondering what she would find. She clicked on the first link, what appeared to be her Twitter account. Wow, she had a lot of friends was the first thing she noticed.

lilhairdo Hey, remember this?

Tina couldn't help being curious, and clicked on the link attached. It was a photo of a bachelorette party, Mrs Henderson in the middle.

amyday How could I forget, Lewis?

lilhairdo Hey, Henderson now! Best thing that ever happened to me.

amyday Yeah, you just like the regular sex!

Tina flushed slightly, clicking away from that. Yes, she was happy with Artie, and she had given some thought to the idea that one day they would, maybe, possibly, they would, well, have sex - make love, whatever, but it seemed a very long way away at the moment. Tina knew she wasn't ready, and she suspected Artie, for all his talk about a working penis, wasn't either. She idly typed in 'Amy Lewis'. Hadn't she said she'd gone to college to do Musical Performance? There might be old performances. Videos of that would liven up the glee rehearsal, after all.

A few hours later, Tina lay on her bed, curled up in on herself, ignoring the phone that was ringing, even though she really wanted to hear Artie's voice. After 'Smoke on the Water' had stopped playing, she turned it onto silent, then shoved it under her pillow. She lay there quietly for fifteen minutes, trying to process everything she had found when her mother knocked on the door, almost immediately popping her head round.

"Sweetie...?" Her expression changed as she saw Tina lying there, but continued speaking. "No, Artie, now isn't a good time. Yes, I'll tell her to call you back. Okay. Bye." She dropped the phone on the bed, and sat down beside her daughter, obviously worried. "Tina? What's wrong? Have you two had a fight or something? That was Artie on the phone, he says he's been trying to get hold of you."

Tina shook her head, and slowly started to pull herself together. She couldn't help but smile slightly when her mother brushed her hair away from her forehead. "No, it's all fine, I just didn't want to talk to him tonight. I'll see him tomorrow, it's okay."

Mrs Cohen-Chang frowned. "What's up? You're not normally like this."

Tina thought frantically for a moment. She couldn't tell her mother the truth, not before she had talked to anyone else. It wasn't fair, especially not to Artie. "The jocks are being worse than normal. I'm just not looking forward to tomorrow." Not necessarily the truth, but not exactly a lie either.

"Do I need to talk to the Principal again?"

"No!" Tina said, shaking her head. "It'll be fine, Mom. Honest."

Tina's mother narrowed her eyes, then nodded before standing up. "Okay sweetheart. You know where I am though if you want to talk about it."

"Yeah." Tina watched as her mother left the room, then she sighed, sitting up and reaching for her messenger bag, pulling out a folder she'd stuffed in there earlier. All the print outs she had made earlier that day were in there, and she glanced through them, looking first at a wedding picture, then a newspaper article.

Woman charged with causing grievous injury by dangerous driving.

A 22 year woman from Aurora, Illinois has been charged by Toledo Police after allegedly causing a serious car accident. Amy Lewis, a student at the University of Toledo, was driving home when she was involved in an incident another car. Miss Lewis was later released on bail. The second car was severely damaged in the accident, with it's driver escaping injury, but an eight year old boy who was sitting in the rear seats was taken to Mercy Children's Hospital.

No further details on the child's condition are available at this time but the boy's father, Matthew Abrams, has released a statement thanking the community for their support and requesting that donations be sent to Mercy Children's Hospital in lieu of flowers.

Tina threw the print out down, unable to read any more, her eyes filling with tears. How could she talk to Artie after that? The fact that she knew who caused the accident that had caused him so much pain over the years? Amy Lewis, who was now Amy Henderson. Of course, it might not be the same person, but with the wedding picture she'd found (thank goodness for social networking), and Mrs Abrams reaction, together they kind of proved it was her.

She sat on the bed, wrapping her arms around her knees, folding in on herself, and let herself cry.