Author's note: Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed! I think that FF's alerts are back up to date, so fingers crossed! Thank you to all of those who manually searched for this so you could read it, I really appreciate you all! This has a few spoilers for later chapters, but you'd probably figure them out anyways, so happy searching! As always, I love hearing your thoughts :)!

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it could be mine, Glee unfortunately belongs to someone else.


The third major choice of Artie's life came after his Spanish class. He wasn't too sure why he took Spanish in the first place, it wasn't going to be useful in his future career, but he guessed it would be useful to be able to converse with some people. It didn't hurt as well that it was the class he knew that he and Tina would share. She wanted to be a teacher, and he wanted to be in architecture, so they didn't have too many classes that overlapped. For that reason, he'd take as many classes as he could that he would share with Tina.

"Hey guys, just before you go," Mr. Schuester sighed, and Tina and Artie looked at each other in shock that he wasn't speaking in Spanish like he usually did. "I know a few of you have heard I've taken over Glee club, and I'm looking for new members. At the moment, we have about 2 people, and I'm definitely looking for more. If you guys are at all interested, I really want you to try out. I'll leave the sign-up sheet outside the door."

Rachel Berry shot her hand up, "Excuse me Mr. Schuester, what kind of club would this be? Would it be the same egotistical music group that was previously under the direction of the now-fired music teacher?"

"Um, yes Rachel, but we're not discussing his firing. No, its not going to be the same 'egotistical' club, we're going to have open auditions for everyone, and the opportunity to have equal input and singing opportunity into the club. I encourage you all to sign up, because the school used to have the most famous Glee club in the state, and I want to restore that, and I think I can with the help of you guys." He nodded at them all.

The class was dismissed right after that, and Artie looked at Tina.

"W-w-wait, what are you looking at me for A-a-artie?" she scowled at him, knowing what he was thinking.

"Well, I'm thinking you can sing like nobody's business, and I can play the guitar pretty well. Now that band is over, why not? We still have some free time, and we can do something we love!" he said looking earnestly at Tina.

He didn't have to tell her the main reason he wanted her to join was to finally get some recognition for her talent. He knew she was an incredible singer, but she was very shy, and consequently not many people got to hear her. She had only started singing when he was practicing his guitar while she did homework over at his house on some nights, and even then she wasn't doing it consciously. The first time it had happened, he had been playing, "Tale As Old As Time," from 'Beauty and the Beast.' It wasn't his favorite song, but one he needed to practice for their band concert. She had joined in without realizing, and it was then he finally heard her voice for the first time, and wow, could she sing.

They had had impromptu singing sessions since, but she never wanted to sing in front of anyone, too afraid of what they might think. Artie being Artie, had been trying to get her too, because once she realized that other people thought she had an incredible voice, maybe she might start to believe it too.

"B-b-but Artie, I can't sing, well, no, I can sing, but not well, and definitely not well enough for a club." she protested.

"Tina, you can sing as well as anyone I know, and whats there to lose? You don't want to see me do it by myself do you?" he looked at her with his puppy-dog eyes, pleading with her, knowing she wouldn't be able to resist this look.

Just as he had predicted, she tried to look anywhere but at his face, knowing that if she saw his expression, she would be suckered in. "A-a-artie, we sing at your house, because there's no one there, and you don't care if I can sing well or not," she made the mistake of looking up at this point, "No! Don't look at me like that!"

Artie ramped up the pleading, 'You're going to make me do this by myself?" looking at her with those big blue eyes.

"F-f-fine Artie, but you so owe me."

"Cookie tomorrow?"

"Today, and eternal gratitude," she poked him in the side, giggling.

He held out his hand, "You've got yourself a deal."

They went outside the classroom, and Artie handed Tina a pen to put their names on the list. Tina was still hesitating, knowing that once she signed up for this, Artie wouldn't let her back out, and that everyone would know she'd put her name down anyway.

"Come on, big breath, aaaaaand, write!" Artie encouraged beside her.

Tina turned and scowled at him. "Thinking Artie, thinking!"

He poked her in the side, "Less thinking, we've already agreed, aaaand go!"

Tina shook her head laughing, and penned first Artie's name, and then her own.


This was one of the defining moments in Artie's high school career. The Glee club that started off consisted of him, Tina, Kurt, Mercedes, Rachel, and Kurt. Their group slowly grew, and they became a tight-knit group. There was a lot of drama in the group, granted, with Rachel storming off continuously, Finn joining and quitting the group repeatedly, Babygate, Sectionals and a whole bunch of other things.

But, Artie wouldn't have had it any other way. Finally, someone else got to hear Tina's amazing voice, and was given solos so others could hear her. Artie was given solos as well, which was somewhat of a surprise, since he knew he could sing, but he definitely didn't think he was a great singer. Rachel finally committed to the group and toned down the drama to everyone's relief, and Finn fully committed to the group. Babygate was a tough time for everyone, but they finally managed to resolve it. Sectionals was also tough, with the other groups taking their songs, but they still won, on a song they had learned only an hour before.

Artie wasn't thankful though just for these reasons, he was thankful because Glee wasn't just about singing. It was a place to fit in, and there was nothing like it in the rest of the school. The people that joined meshed together, and they didn't just become a group, but a family. When Quinn became pregnant and was thrown out of the Cheerios, the Glee group didn't say anything about it, but simply accepted her. Brittany wasn't the brightest student, but regardless of her knowledge, they group accepted her for being herself. Glee wasn't about being something you were not, but being yourself, and being appreciated for that.

Artie knew that without his Glee family, he would have a fewer friends he could call true friends, and he wouldn't have got through some of the sticky situations he had been through without them. When he was in hospital for a couple of days, Rachel, Mercedes, and Kurt all came over to help Tina out, so she wouldn't feel as lonely, and they were all supportive of each other. When Tina's car broke down on the Highway and he couldn't drive to her, he called Quinn, who drove him out to her, and they brought Tina home. The group stayed in contact for the rest of their lives, and throughout it all, knew they had true friends to depend on whatever their problem.

Artie knew that the decision to join Glee was one of the best he had made in his life. Sure, it had come with its share of heartache, but it was definitely worth it.


A/n: Gosh Glee is amazing! How'd we like it? I'll try and have another chapter before the 25th, but we'll have to see how much shopping I have left to do...eeeek! Haha. Reviews = love, love Swimnsail