Thanks so much for the reviews guys! It means a lot, considering how hard I'm trying to stick to the characters and not go too OOC. Not to worry, fluff is coming! However, we know that Artie is pretty stubborn and won't give in easily. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own anything. End of story.
"Well, looks like you've got yourself a twisted ankle." The nurse frowned, propping Tina's ankle on top of the pillow. Tina scrunched her nose and tried to position herself so she wouldn't feel the pain. "That means that you've got to stay off this ankle for a week, for it can heal properly. No sports or any other vigorous activities". She warned.
"W-what about Glee?" she stuttered, but went unheard since the nurse left the room to retrieve some bandage. Tina sat in silence, dangling her other foot off the edge of the bed. The nurse's words echoed in her head: No vigorous activities…
'Glee isn't really that vigorous. Maybe I'll ask Mr. Schuester if I can sit out today' she pondered until her thoughts were interrupted by the presence of someone at the door. She looked up to see a gloved hand in the doorway, ready to knock on the open door. After three taps, there was silence. Tina was unsure about inviting him in, but it's not like she could run away at this point.
"C-come in." Sure enough, Artie poked his head around the corner and wheeled himself into the nurse's office. He had a serious look on his face as he parked himself beside the bed, alongside Tina's dangling foot. The quiet Asian blushed at his very presence and started to fidget. Artie, however, seemed oblivious. He also came off as nervous and couldn't even look her in the eye.
"Hey." His feeble greeting told Tina that he was just as surprised at him being here as she was. She looked up and saw that he was still looking at the floor. "What happened to you?"
"Slushie facial. Tripped over my own feet and in a slushie puddle." She muttered, hoping that he would look at her.
"So you and Finn aren't..?" he mumbled, fidgeting with the handle on his wheelchair. "With the whole piggy-back thing, it looked like you two were-" he was cut off by a snort, followed by a giggle-fit. He looked up and saw that Tina had rolled over and was laughing into the pillow. He smiled to himself, knowing that the accusation was ridiculous. When the giggles finally subsided, Tina turned to look at Artie.
"Were you jealous?" she eyed him coyly, and he blushed in response.
"No! I mean, I don't know. Just the kiss.." his sentence drifted into silence as he reminisced about their wheel-chair drag race gone awry. Tina was about to respond, but was interrupted by the nurse, who had come back into the room with something to wrap up her ankle.
"Alright, I need you to hold still to minimize the pain." She warned, and started to wrap the bandage around Tina's ankle. Tina winced at the pain until she felt another hand on her own. She looked over at Artie and he gave her an award-winning smile. As soon as the nurse had finished, she retrieved a crutch from the closet. "You'll be needing this to stay off of that foot. You can return it once you're fully recovered." And with that, she left. Tina stared at the crutch, wondering how on earth she was going to get to classes on time with this stupid thing.
"Man, I can't wait until I can walk properly again", as soon as Tina said this, she automatically regretted it. When she looked up, Artie was already halfway out the door.
"At least you'll get to walk properly", he mumbled, hiding his face from her view. He knew that she would recover from this injury soon, but he liked the idea of them having something in common again.
"Artie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I mean-" she was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say.
"It's ok. Besides, we have to get to glee." He gave her a half smile, and she nodded. Tina soon got to her feet and began to hobble with the crutch under her right arm. Artie could hear every little grunt of pain from her as they both left the nurse's office and began walking, or rolling and limping, down the hallway. After about five minutes, Artie wheeled around and faced Tina. Much to her surprise, he motioned to his lap and gave her a sheepish grin. "Hop on."
"W-what?"
"It'll take us forever to get to glee like this. If you're on my lap, it'll be faster." Tina quietly agreed and hopped on. The proximity between them was overwhelming. Tina couldn't help noticing that Artie's face leveled with her neck and she could feel him breathing ever so slightly. She blushed slightly and tried to look forward, but the distractions were everywhere. She then focused on his arms and watched as they pumped them both down the hallway. Suddenly she became very self-conscious.
"Sorry, I'm probably too heavy for you." Artie just smiled.
"Nope. Light as a feather. Besides, I've built up quite the arm's strength since being in this chair. Don't worry about it" he reassured her. Tina felt herself becoming more relaxed and leaned back into his chest. She could feel Artie tense up a bit, and she sat up straight again.
"Sorry about that." She blushed.
"No, it's not that. It was nice actually." He smiled again and Tina once again leaned into his chest.
Maybe everything was going to be alright.
THE FLUFF BEGINS! Hope you guys liked that! Artie and Tina aren't happy-go-lucky just yet, we'll see. You know what to do!
