Hey gang! i'm back in full swing after all that angst, ready to write! I'm hoping to wrap this story up with some fluff, and that should occur in a chapter or two. Hope everyone had a great holiday and everyone has been enjoying this story, and the reviews mean a lot! Cheers!

She felt like a ghost.

Not that she wasn't usually a ghost. She made it a daily ritual to avoid certain crowds, but the awkwardness with Artie made it seem all the more real. She had wheeled away from him in anger, leaving him in the dust. However, she was stalled by the ramp, and spent a good ten minutes trying to wheel herself up the slope, cursing at herself with every push. With every inch of her being she hoped that Artie would wheel up behind and put a hand on her shoulder and tell her everything was okay.

He never came.

So here she was, in the girl's bathroom, hugging her knees to her chest and trying to dry her eyes. Luckily school was out, leaving her to linger in her own silence. All she could do was revel in what she had done.

What it wrong to kiss him? She didn't think so. She was ecstatic that they had become friends again, and beyond her wildest dreams that something more came out of it. However, Artie never came out and told her upfront that she was forgiven, so it dawned on her that it was too good to be true.

Suddenly she heard voices coming from outside the door, approaching with every second. Before Tina could scramble to get herself together, Brittany walked into the washroom, fresh from Cheerio practice. "Hi Tina." She greeted non-chalantly as she strolled to the mirror to re-apply some make-up.

"Hi." She mumbled, finally getting to her feet and grabbing a paper towel to try and clean her face. A couple of minutes passed in silence before either one of them spoke.

"Here," Brittany chirped, handing Tina a bottle from her backpack, "it'll help with the smudge."

Did she just say something that made sense? Tina nodded and grabbed the bottle from her. After another couple of minutes, when Brittany was turning to leave, she was stopped. "Hey, c-could you bring this chair back to the choir r-room? I don't need it anymore." She frowned. Brittany agreed and took both the handle and headed out the door.

"Hey, Artie has one of these." Then left.

Yes, yes he does. Tina looked down at her ankle. She then hobbled down to the nurse's office and requested that she have her crutch again, since she couldn't bear being in the wheelchair.

He dropped his books. Again.

This wasn't usually a problem for Artie, but for now, his mind was elsewhere. He had not been himself all day, not acknowledging his friends in the hallway, or giving correct answers in class. He was just….there.

What exactly went wrong? He knew he hadn't forgiven Tina just yet, but he was on the verge. Then she had to go and knock his socks off with an unexpected kiss. He wanted her badly, but he tried to hang on to at least a shred of pride. When he passed her in the hallway, both looked down in embarrassment. He just couldn't sum up courage to talk to her about what happened. He knew that she would still be upset. Did she really think he only liked her for her disability?

Why did he have to go and say that? Such an idiot.

"Hey Wheels." This startled Artie, and he slowly wheeled himself around to come face to face with Puck, of all people.

"Look, I'm not really in the mood for a patriotic wedgie, or having my wheels taped together. Maybe some other time." He huffed, putting his books in his backpack.

"Woah, and why would I do something like that?" Puck looked taken aback. He ran his hand over his mohawk. Artie just looked at him with a quizzical brow.

"You mean you're not going to?" he asked.

"Changed man." He retorted.

"If you say so."

"Hey! I dated Berry for a week! That's definitely changing my standards." He exclaimed. Artie couldn't help but laugh. No one in the glee club could quite figure out how those two got together. "So what did you do to stutterfly?"

"What do you mean, what did I do?" now he was officially confused. Puck just shrugged.

"Mercedes forced me to come talk, since apparently I have influence," he air-quoted, while looking all macho, "and if I didn't, she would take me to the rug." He shuddered at the thought. Artie couldn't help but laugh at the image that popped into his head.

"So you're scared of Mercedes?" he chuckled.

"Hey! I just didn't want to cause a fight. She's pretty fierce." He joked. "So you and stutterfly?"

"Stutterfly has a name you know."

"Old habits die hard. Point is, Mercedes says you hurt her bad, and she will take you down if you don't fix it." It was Artie's turn to shudder. He wouldn't stand a chance in a match against her.

"She won't even talk to me."

"Tell me about it." Puck sighed, leaning against the locker. Artie didn't know what to do, so he just fidgeted. Finally, Puck spoke up again. "A song."

"What?"

"A song. Girls dig that shit. How do you think I landed all those cougars? Oh, and my badass pecs." He announced, quite pleased with himself. Artie just blushed.

"Puck, I don't-"

"Look, my rep is suffering because I'm interacting with you, so be grateful. Remember: A song, or Beyonce will take you down." And with that, he strutted down the hallway, leaving Artie alone with his thoughts.

'This might just be the thing I need. Although I don't have the pecs to fall back on if it doesn't work.' He thought to himself before heading home.

Yay! A plan is in the works! Remember to review! And feel free to drop me a line some time, i'd love to get to know some of my reviewers as well as fellow Tartie authors:)