Again, I've failed as a reliable, consistent writer. I duely apologise. Life went a bit hectic for a few weeks, but now things are getting back to routine it should get better. I'm so sorry and Thank you to all those wonderful people who stick around for each chapter. And thank you even more for your reviews, they inspire me so much!

Tina yawned towards the screen. It was seven am and Artie laughed at her on the other end of the line.

"Remind me again why we're doing this?"

"Tee, it was your idea." He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. But when I said call me when you wake up, I thought you meant like, nine or something."

He laughed again, "I have my session at nine, and I have to get to breakfast before eight so that I don't miss out on the pancakes."

She gave him a glare before finally smiling. They were both pretty tired. After Artie kicked Sean out they had talked for a long time, covering everything from the issues Sean had brought up to the fact the donut store at the Lima mall was closing down. A tragedy, in his words.

"Glad to see you're making use out of my shirt," Tina said, pointing to the screen and towards his chest. He was wearing the shirt she gave him; he changed into it last night. After talking to her for so long, he just found himself missing her more.

"What can I say, it's comfy." He shrugged. She just grinned at him.

A couple of hours later, Tina followed her father into his office. For once, the weather actually looked summery and she was looking forward to enjoying hanging out with Mercedes after work. She had sent her a message, telling her how awkward it was talking to Artie's friend, but hadn't told her the whole story yet.

"Oh good, you're here," Ms. Dawson appeared suddenly at the doorway. Tina turned around suddenly, glancing uneasily at her dad. She was worried she had done something wrong and she'd hate it if she got her father in trouble.

"Hi, Ms Dawson..." she said tentatively, her fingers playing with the zip detail on the side of her shirt.

Brenda just smiled, and motioned someone in the hall to come closer, "Tina, this is my son Samuel."

Tina let out a breathe of relief, over the weekend she had completely forgotten that she'd be working with Brenda's son this week. "Sam," the boy grinned down at her. He was tall. Really tall, he could probably rival Finn.

"Sam, this Tina. Mr. Chang's daughter," Brenda said, smiling over Tina's head to her father who had sat himself down at his desk, chuckling at the scene in his office.

"Nice to meet you, Sam," Tina said, sticking her hand out a little awkwardly. She wasn't a huge fan of new people.

"I'm sure you too will get on just great!" Brenda smiled, before turning towards her father again, "Jim, if you could check that report I just emailed you?"

They watched her walk out of the office in her stilettos, Tina would have probably made fun of her if she was with Artie. She glanced up at Sam, the height difference making it more obvious than she hoped.

"I guess we should go work?" she asked, trying to sound cheerful and friendly.

"Sure," Sam let her go through the door first, his long legs letting him catch up with her within a step. "So you're a Junior?"

"I will be in the Fall. Your mom said you just came home, you at college?" She replied, trying to remember what else she had heard about him.

"Boarding School. School's here didn't quite meet "Mother's Approval"," she used his fingers to quote the air.

She chuckled, "Tell me about it."

He looked at her, "Are you from Jane Adams?"

Her eyes widened surprise. He got a hint from her silence. Or maybe her glare.

"No?"

"McKinley. But uh, I'm not sure how to take that."

He pointed at her black jeans with the rip at the knees, "The outfit's a little misleading. But I'm sure you hold your own anywhere."

She laughed. By now they had reached the spare office at the end of the hall and she'd placed her bag on the floor next to one of the chairs. "You've obviously never gone to McKinley," she said, seating herself down.

He sat down on the chair opposite her, "What's the deal?"

She shrugged, and reached over to grab a pile of files from the edge of the desk. "Let me guess, you play basketball, maybe football?"

Sam said nothing, but his smirk told all.

Tina nodded, "Guys like you don't really take kindly to us freaks and geeks."

He grabbed a bunch of files as well, looking up at her one last time, "Nice reference."

His lack of denial or defence confirmed it for her. In the real world, they would not be friends. Still, she had to work with him, and she liked the fact that he knew what she was talking about. "I try."

Artie had just gotten back from group therapy and was looking forward to simply relaxing with his laptop. He had another session after lunch and all he really wanted to do right now was watch funny videos on YouTube. He was just about to transfer himself to his bed when he heard a voice.

"Hey Artie." He turned around, and saw Sean sitting at his doorway. They hadn't talked since the previous afternoon, and Artie didn't have any will to start now.

"Sean," he said, as coldly as he could muster.

Sean sighed and wheeled in a little more, "Look, I know you're totally pissed at me. I'd be pissed at me too."

Artie nodded slightly, adjusting his glasses.

Sean continued, "I got jealous, I guess. I was real rude. But you're like my only friend here."

For a second Artie thought that the reason for that was obvious, but then he felt bad. The guy was upset about his entire life. He couldn't understand that. "If you needed to talk to someone, you could've just asked."

Sean shrugged, "I dunno, despite everything, you seem to have things so perfect."

"You have no idea!" Artie scoffed. Seriously, now he was thinking maybe Sean was delusional. After all the stories he'd told him...

Sean nodded, "You got friends and family. And Tina. And Glee."

Artie looked at him sympathetically. "On the last day of school a dumb jock dumped a slushie on my crotch. And when the smarter one realised I couldn't feel it, he dumped another one on my head. And as for me and Tina... it took us a long time, like really long, to figure out how to be together. I was a jerk to her, and it takes a lot for her to trust somebody. I'm still paranoid she's going to find somebody a thousand times better. But right now, we're – I'm happy. And you need to try for that too."

Artie was looking at his hands as he finished. He wasn't really a words-guy. He liked to pipe in with one-liners not give whole monologues. But that speech had been more or less stewing in his head since Sean left the day before. Sometimes you need to channel your inner-Rachel Berry.

When he finally looked up, Sean was still silent biting his lip. Artie wasn't sure what he would do if he started to cry. So he thought fast.

"I gotta show you this video," he said loudly, pointing to his laptop, "It's awesome, these guys try to blend an iPhone!"

Sean looks at him for a second, become grinning, although with a hint of sadness behind it. He wheels closer to Artie's bed. "Fine, but have you seen the trailer for Human Centipede?"

Okay, OT: I'm sure some of you have seen the Human Centipede trailer... isn't if horrifying? If you haven't and you're squeamish and easily disturbed: DO NOT WATCH. Ew.

Also reviews are love :)