A/N: A couple of orders of business before we get down to the story.

First: I want to sincerely thank the equally awesome Artemis Rayne and Miss Maggie who reviewed my last chapter. I was having a lot of trouble with March and getting such nice feedback made it all worthwhile. A belated thank-you goes to everyone who reviewed chapters one and two—reading your reviews definitely made me smile (and thanks, . for making a suggestion for March). Please keep them coming!

Second: On a less happy note, I feel the need to beg everyone to please review! Your feedback and suggestions are where I get my new ideas from and without them, some months may never come to fruition. As of this posting, chapter 3 has had 210 hits since it was posted on Thursday (which makes me happy). However, it got two reviews (see above). This makes me feel a little down, so here is my plea: please, please review! It only takes a minute and not only does it inspire me to write more, it really does brighten my day (especially after coming home from work).

All right, all begging, pleading and ranting stops here. Once again, my thanks to everyone who's added this to their story updates and as usual, enjoy!

By the way, if you've read "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone", April (and January, for that matter) are variations on the same theme. I believe my perchant for weather-related fluff can be explained by the complicated mathematical formula on my profile page.

Dance Between the Raindrops

It was Tina who had taught Artie to love the rain. Not downpours, he didn't think he'd ever be able to honestly say he loved them, but spring showers.

"Raindrops keep falling on my head…" she murmured under her breath as she reached a hand out to feel the raindrops on her palm. The totally impractical covered walkway wasn't doing the best job of keeping McKinley students dry as they shuffled to class. None of them stopped to watch Stutterfly and the wheelchair kid watching the rain.

"This is the best kind of rain," said Tina absentmindedly. Artie took a minute to digest that statement. What is it with Tina and precipitation? Snow, rain…she likes it all. "I didn't know the quality of the rain meant that much to you," he joked. Tina smirked at him.

"Don't tease me! What I mean is that it's light enough to feel refreshing but heavy enough that when you're lying in bed you can still hear it tapping against the windows." Artie considered this, and Tina looked pensive for a moment. "It's the best rain for dancing in."

And without further comment, Tina dropped her schoolbag at the foot of the nearest pillar and walked straight out into the rain, arms spread wide and face upturned towards the stormy heavens. She turned around, clearly enjoying the sensation of the raindrops against her skin.

Artie watched as she spun around in circles, still looking upward, raindrops splattering her face. She seemed completely in harmony with the steady beat of the raindrops on the roof. It was graceful, almost a ballet of sorts. He smiled, and as though she felt his smile from where she stood, she stopped, mid-spin, to face him.

"Come on out!" she called, and for once, Artie didn't give the rain or the chair or the passers-by a second thought. There was nothing but Tina, Tina and her smile and the way the raindrops crystallized in her hair, like tiny diamonds.

He rolled out beside her and tilted his own head back, trying to capture that same feeling she seemed to be possessed with. "What do we do now?" he asked.

"Dance. Don't you want to be able to look back and say 'I'll never forget the time I danced in the rain'?" And without waiting for a response, Tina reached out her hands to Artie. He took her hand without reserve.

Holding tight to Tina's hands, Artie spun in circles with her, oblivious to anything but the blurred shapes around them and the sound of Tina's ringing laughter.

A bell rang in the distance, bringing them both back to earth. Time for class.

As they headed back towards the covered walkway, grabbed their schoolbags (mercifully left unstolen by the rest of the student body) and shook the rainwater from their hair, neither Artie nor Tina could think of anything to say. The silence lifted only when they made to go their separate ways—he to English, she to gym.

"Hey Tina?" Artie laid a hand on her arm as she made to pass him in the direction of the girls' locker room.

"Yeah?"

A warm smile appeared on his face. "I'll never forget that time we danced in the rain."

His smile widened when she reciprocated with one of her own. "Neither will I, Artie."

* * * * * * *

That afternoon, there were many whispers in the back of classes and in the halls. Whispers of "Did you see those two Glee Club kids out there in the rain before?"

Oftentimes this comment was followed by some sort of snide remark, or perhaps a derisive laugh. Karovsky, of the hockey team, was heard in the lunchroom promising that if those Glee freaks liked getting wet so much, he'd be happy to buy them each a slushie especially for the occasion. Mike Chang overheard this last comment and passed the word along to Artie and Tina. They didn't care. It was nothing worse than what they could usually expect, at least.

And while there were plenty of kids who scoffed, there was also a significant amount (girls, mostly) who secretly wished that someone would have asked them to dance in the rain.

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed April! I was never a fan of all that 'April showers' stuff, mostly because my birthday is in April and growing up it really sucked to have everyone associate it with rain. However, in keeping with the 'April showers bring May flowers' theme, (and as a thank-you for reading my little speech on the merits of reviewing before), here's a sneak peek at May:

Monday, May 1, 2006

On the first day of May in sixth grade, Tina walked to her first class—American History—to find a flower resting on her desk. She looked around, confused—who had put it there? What was it for?...

..."You know, Tina, back in Victorian times, ladies and gentlemen didn't really talk about their feelings with each other. It just wasn't considered polite. Instead of telling someone how they felt, they used flowers to send messages. In time, flower messages developed into a sort of language. Maybe someone's trying to send you a message."

Tina looked at her teacher in surprise. She had run a number of possible explanations through her mind, but this was certainly not one of them. "So wh-what does it m-mean?"

Tune in next time to see what happens! In the meantime, review! I promise I will love you for it (and I don't want my muse to dry up and die from lack of encouragement and ideas)! And start thinking about June…