Author's Note: I'm behind on my fic writing! I just wasn't feeling inspired or something. Maybe too busy lol. But I'm back! I'm asking for reviews, again. It really means a lot when people review, or even just send a message letting me know you're still reading and maybe what you enjoy? One person did that and it made my day! :)
Chapter Ten: When Nothing Goes According to Plan
Like happened with most high school break ups, the news of Tina and Mike's had been heard by all the various groups at McKinley High within a few days. By Thursday, everyone knew. The reasons people gave for why they had broken up ranged from Mike's secret sexual fetishes to Tina being an actual vampire, a rumor she had thought had died long ago. Though he didn't talk to Tina that often anymore, at least outside of a group setting, Artie felt himself drawn to her Tuesday, after the last bell and before glee club, as she stood by her locker.
"How're you doing?" he asked, looking up at his ex-girlfriend.
Tucking a hair behind her ear, Tina replied with a muffled, "I'm okay."
Squeezing his lips together, Artie contemplated what more to say, finally asking the first question that had popped into his head upon hearing about the break up. "Do you mind if I ask what happened?"
Shrugging, she closed her locker slowly. "No. He, um, doesn't think I'm over…you."
Surprised, Artie wheeled himself back a little. "Why would he…um, are you?"
"I think he just got hurt," she said quietly, starting to walk in the direction of the choir room. "When he told me I was his first love and I told him that you were mine. I wish he had talked about it with me though instead of overreacting and breaking up with me."
Stopping just as they reached the door to the choir room, he reached out for her hand, squeezing it with his own. "Maybe he just needs time. "
Smiling at handhold, Tina said, "I guess so. And I am over you, Artie. You'll always have a special place in my heart though."
Smiling back at her, Artie gave her hand another little squeeze. "As will you in mine."
Withdrawing her hand from his, she started to go into the room then paused, looking down at him again. "But Brittany's your first love?"
Coming up behind Artie, Quinn, unnoticed by both, slowed when she heard Tina's question. Feeling her heart might break at his words but thinking she had to hear them anyway, she swallowed, moving closer to them.
"She is," he sighed. "I'm sorry, Tee."
Quinn winced at Artie's use of is instead of was, huddling against the wall, while Tina said it was okay, that she understood, assuring Artie she was glad they were good friends. Once they were inside, Quinn stayed pressed up against the wall, wondering if the is meant anything or not, for several minutes, finally willing herself to go inside, after glee club had already started.
Puck sat in his truck outside Rachel's house for awhile (he wasn't even sure how long) before finally getting out and going to the door. He had barely knocked once when Rachel opened the door, all smiles.
"Noah," she practically sang, prancing out the door. "Why were you sitting out in your truck for so long? I was in here waiting for you, watching you out the window!"
Arching both eyebrows, Puck couldn't help but grin a little at her words. "You were watching me in my truck? That's a little creepy, Berry."
"It is not," she protested, swatting his arm. "Now, can we please go meet Lorraine Jacobs. I mean, Lorraine Johnson." Before he answered, she was skipping out to his truck, getting in while he was still taking the steps down from the porch.
The drive to the Lorraine's house went by fairly fast, since Rachel talked the entire time, mostly about the interview questions she had apparently written up to ask the former McKinley High student and, also, because it was about a five minute drive. Once they arrived, Puck told himself he was glad because Rachel would stop yapping at him and start doing it at someone else. The truth was, he remembered everything she had said and found her incessant chattering kind of cute.
Grinning at Puck, Rachel jumped out of the truck, waited until he had rounded to the sidewalk, then hurried up the house, Puck in step behind her. "This is it? Is this it?"
"Yeah, calm down, Rach." He knocked lightly on the door and soon a fairly plump, smiling woman answered the door. Besides having hair that looked unkempt and a few too many wrinkles on her face, she was pretty. Or at least had been once.
"Rachel? Noah?" When both teens nodded, Rachel rather enthusiastically, the woman smiled and invited them inside. "I made some ice tea and chocolate chip cookies."
"Oh, thank you so much!" Rachel exclaimed, walking next to the woman inside the house. When Lorraine gestured to the couch, they both sat in unison, while she took a nearby chair.
"I'm sorry it's so messy but I haven't gotten around to cleaning up. My sister just stopped by to take the kids to the park." Crossing her legs and placing her hands on her lap, her pudgy fingers pressed against one another, she asked, "Would you like some ice tea? Cookies?"
After they both had glasses of iced tea and plates of cookies in front of them, Rachel started her interrogation, which Puck was referring it to in his head.
"Ms. Jacobs. I'm sorry, Mrs. Johnson, can you please tell me about life for you after graduating from William McKinley High School? Did any of your dreams come true?"
Hesitating, the woman pushed a strand of dirty blonde hair out of her eyes, twitched grey-green eyes, smoothed the skirt of her lavender dress. "One did," she said, at last. "I wanted to have children and now I have four. Three boys and one girl. It's exhausting but I love them all very much." Chipping off the white nail polish on one finger, Lorraine seemed reluctant to go on. "When I was in high school, I believed I was going to be the next big thing on Broadway. But that wasn't what my boyfriend wanted. So I stayed in Lima until we could both leave together. Then I got pregnant, we go married, I got pregnant three more times…and then he left me." Appearing somewhat uncomfortable, she shifted her gaze between the teens. "It wasn't how I planned my life. I'd never regret my kids but I do wish I'd accomplished part of my dream before having them."
During Lorraine's mini speech about her life, Rachel had simply sat, attentive, growing paler as the story progressed. "Oh, um…oh." Puck wasn't sure what Rachel had expected to hear but knew that was far from it. "How old are your children, Mrs. Johnson?" she inquired politely.
"My oldest is thirteen, she's the girl. The boys are ten, eight and six."
Nodding, Rachel asked a few more questions, not bothering to look at her prepared sheet, before telling Mrs. Johnson it had been a "lovely" visit and she hoped they could do it again sometime.
Once outside, Rachel began walking, fast, away from Puck.
"Rach?" Jogging to catch up with her, Puck glanced at her face, noting that she didn't look happy. "Rach!"
Whirling to face him, ending her trek away from the house and his truck, Rachel glared at him. "You did that on purpose, Noah. You knew her whole story and you were trying to show me something about my relationship with Finn, as if you can see!"
"I can, Rach," he said softly, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Can see. And I just thought-"
"I know exactly what you were thinking, Noah Puckerman! I cannot believe you! I simply cannot!" Facing back toward her part of town, she started walking, her pace brisk.
"You just gonna walk home then?"
"Yes. Don't follow me. Leave me alone, Noah. I am very angry with you."
Since she sounded close to tears, he believed that it was more than just anger but didn't say that. Instead, he stayed behind her the whole walk to her house, not saying anything. And even though she knew he was there, she didn't say anything either. He just couldn't let her walk home by herself. They reached her house in about twenty minutes and she ran up the stairs to the porch, taking them two by two (there were only four) then slammed the door shut behind her, shaking the house.
Slumping his shoulders, Puck stared at her house a moment, half hoping she'd emerge again. She didn't so he just headed back to his truck.
A few days later, Saturday to be precise, Quinn was on her way to Artie's for their non date, wearing a skin tight red dress that might have been too short. She thought Artie would like it and she couldn't wait for his reaction. At the same time, however, she couldn't stop thinking about Artie saying "is" instead of "was." Did that mean that he still loved Brittany, even though they, meaning Quinn and Artie, were doing the whole friends with kind of benefits thing? It confused her and, more than that, made her feel sick to her stomach. Maybe she was over thinking things but, even so, she knew there was no way she could ignore the issue of Artie's possible feelings for Brittany any longer. That night, at some point, she was going to bring it up. She had to.
Pulling up the curb in front of Artie's house, she let out a long exhale then exited her car, grateful that neither of his parents were home to see her arrive to pick their son up in the dress she had decided to wear. The dress she had picked out just for him, actually.
The door seemed so far away but she made it there in under a minute. Biting her lip, she lightly knocked then stepped back, staring at the ground. The door opened but Artie didn't say anything to alert her of his presence. Lifting her eyes, she looked into his, somewhat amused at the way his eyes were very slowly traveling up and down her body. When they touched upon her face, the two of them locked eyes for a few seconds.
"Quinn," he whispered. "You look…you look…well, there are no words to describe you." Eyes wide, he fumbled over a few more words before saying, "I mean, you always look…so much but tonight, this dress, you, here…I. I…"
Blushing, Quinn turned her head away from him, attempting to compose her emotions. "Thank you," she murmured.
"I don't think I'm dressed up enough for whatever we're doing…"
Taking in his button down white shirt and dark corduroy pants, loafers completing the look, she gave a click of approval with her tongue. "You look very handsome. Hot. Sexy, even."
Glowing at her praise, Artie stammered out a thank you, then rolled out the door, closing and locking the door behind him. "Where are we going?" he asked, starting toward his truck.
Frozen in place, Quinn watched him, telling herself right now was not a good time to bring up Brittany.
Realizing she wasn't behind him, Artie turned his chair, half smiling at her. "Quinn? You okay?"
Her brain was screaming at her to be quiet but she blurted out, "Do you have feelings for Brittany?"
At the question, his whole face became stone like. "I…what? Do I? I. What?"
That was enough of an answer for her and, fighting tears, she told him, "I thought you did. I think we need to end this…this whatever we're doing."
"Quinn." Rolling forward, he reached for her hand but she yanked it back. "I'm sorry. But Brittany's-"
Not wanting to hear it, Quinn shook her head, then hurried to her car. "Goodbye, Artie," she said, her voice quiet but not quiet enough that he didn't hear her. He didn't say goodbye back, just sat and blinked rapidly, unsure of how to feel, as she drove away, leaving him all alone.