Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"

A/N: So I thought I'd take this time to pepper in the rest of the Glee Club and do something a little more light and fun since the last chapter was all heavy emotions.

Chapter 10

The Fourth of July

After her heart to heart with Rachel, as promised, Quinn returned to the Abrams house to a delicious family dinner and Quinn quickly discovered that Art Abrams was just as pleasant and personable as the rest of the family. The only odd duck of the family, apparently, was the middle child, Adam. Artie had warned Quinn from the outset that Adam wouldn't like her or if he did, he wouldn't admit to it since he had a very "Everything Artie Likes is Stupid" attitude. He wasn't openly hostile about it, just distant and cold. After dinner was movie time, the family plus Quinn, minus Adam gathered in the living room to watch Enchanted. After the movie, Artie, Quinn, and Alexis migrated to Artie's room for music time. Alexis was apparently a burgeoning audiophile like her big brother and was the only eight year old that Quinn had ever met that couldn't stand teenie music. You'd find no Justin Bieber or Demi Lovato on this girl's iPod, just The Beatles, The White Stripes, and Coldplay. After music time was bed time and Quinn was thankful for it as it had been a draining day. As she'd said earlier in the day and as per Amy's request weeks earlier, Quinn roomed with Alexis and spent the next couple of hours lying in bed with the younger girl playing a slight variation of the game 20 Questions which Quinn dubbed 20,000 Questions. She spent much of the night being quizzed on a range of subjects from her favorite color all the way up to whether Quinn wanted to get married and how many kids she wanted to have and how awesome Glee Club was. By the time Alexis finally succumbed to sleep, Quinn was certain that the little girl knew her better than her own mother did.

Saturday was, as always, Pancake Day and another morning of great family times and raucous laughter. After breakfast while washing the dishes together, Quinn asked Amy to show her some things with her new camera which Amy agreed to happily. The girls, along with Alexis made an impromptu trip to the park where Amy showed Quinn all the functions of the camera and then she and Alexis served as Quinn's models. Quinn got some really good pictures and more importantly she really felt like she'd begun to learn something about being a photographer. Saturday afternoon Artie, after finding out that Quinn had never seen any of the Indiana Jones movies, decided to correct this, watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade back to back to back which Quinn enjoyed although not as much as she enjoyed cuddling with Artie while they watched them. After the movies, it was time for Quinn to head home, much as she didn't want to.

"You planning on going to Mercedes' for the Fourth?" Quinn asked. They both knew that the Jones Family was having a cookout/pool party for the Fourth of July on Monday thrown mostly for the Glee Club.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that," Artie responded.

"Seeing Britt and Santana?" Quinn clarified. Artie just nodded. "I understand. It's one of the downsides of dating in this incestuous little family of ours. Seeing Sam and Santana together at Rachel's party was less than thrilling, but there's strength in numbers right? We've got each other."

"Let me text Mike and Tina. If they're going to be there, then that should be enough for us to distract ourselves from them if needs be."

Quinn went home and shortly after she arrived Artie texted her to say that he was in for the party. After dinner they started back up watching Mad Men together on Netflix and talking on the phone. Quinn eventually fell asleep listening to Artie talk about shot composition or production design or something.

Sunday passed far too slowly both of them. Quinn went with her mother to church in the morning and out to lunch after with her mother's social circle which meant a lot of judgmental Christian women and their judgmental Christian daughters, none of whom seemed to think much of Quinn's funky new hair color. The Abrams family spent all day in Kenton visiting Art's Aunt Ruth, a pleasurable task for no one involved.

Late Monday morning just before noon, Quinn arrived to finding Artie and Alexis waiting on her to pick them up. Alexis excitedly told Quinn that she got to go with them. Artie clarified that Sam had to watch his little brother and sister, so Mercedes had invited him to bring them over since her little brother was going to be there as well. After that she'd invited all the younger siblings along as well and Alexis was thrilled to hear that she could come and meet everyone in the Glee Club. They all three loaded into Quinn's car and made their way to the Jones house.

When they got there, they parked on the street and unloaded. In the driveway, Finn, Puck, Sam, and Blaine were heavily involved in what appeared to be a game of 2-on-2 basketball. "What's up, A-man?" called Puck not taking his focus off of Sam and the ball. "You should come get in on this. We can grab Mike make this into three-on-three."

Artie continued to wheel himself inside saying, "I think everyone's vast height advantage on me would make my involvement in the game somewhat irrelevant. Thanks for offering though."

"Yeah, man. We'll see you in a bit."

The trio made their way up the rest of the driveway and were met at the door by Olivia Jones, Mercedes' mom. She was standing with her hands on her hips, head cocked to the side and smiling. It was pose they were used to seeing out Mercedes. "Quinn Fabray, my daughter told me you dyed your hair pink, even showed me a picture on Facebook, but I didn't believe it til just now." Quinn just smiled and flipped her hair with her fingers. "Child, get over here and give me a hug." Quinn closed the distance between then and slipped into the familiar crushing hug. Olivia whispered to Quinn, "Don't you ever go a year without coming to see me again, you hear me?"

Quinn nodded against her shoulder and said, "I'm sorry."

"Ain't nothing to be sorry about, honey. Now take your butt in the kitchen. There's drinks and snacks in there and your behind is too skinny," she smiled at the girl.

"Yes, ma'am," Quinn said with a smile.

"There's those manners I like, maybe you could teach those to Eddie," Olivia turned her attention to the other two, "Hey, Artie, you doing alright today?"

"Doing good. This is my baby sister, Alexis."

"Hi, Mrs. Jones," said the visibly excited eight year old.

"Hi, honey. Ya'll come on in. Eddie and the Evans kids are playing upstairs. Everybody else is out back by the pool. We're gonna start grilling in a few minutes, when everybody else gets here. Make yourselves at home," Olivia then looked back out to the boys in the driveway, "You boys be sure to come get something to drink soon. It's hot out here today. Gotta stay hydrated." There was a general chorus of "yes ma'am" from the boys in the driveway.

Inside, Alexis shot off to go play with the other kids. Quinn and Artie made their way into the kitchen and ran into Mike who looked at Artie and said, "Dude! Dude dude dude. I totally need to talk to you."

"Okay," said Artie.

He held up a bottle of water "I've gotta take this back to Tina, but I'll be right back. Oh, hey Quinn," he said as he was walking towards the back door

"Hey, Mike," she said smiling at the Asian boy's excitement. "Any idea what that was about?" she asked Artie who just shook his head no. They helped themselves to refreshments. Quinn took a bottle of water. Artie opted for cherry Kool-Aid. "Oooh, Artie, have you ever had Mrs. J's brownies?" Quinn asked grabbing up one of the treats in question.

"No, I don't believe I have," he answered. Before he even finished saying that, Quinn had one held out for him to take. He accepted, taking a bite. "Wow!"

"I know, right?"

Mike returned and said, "Okay, dude, I need to tell you about my idea for Tina's birthday present. I need your help with it."

"Okay," Artie replied.

"I'm going to go find Mercedes," Quinn said to Artie.

"You didn't have to leave or anything, Quinn," said Mike. "It's not like some big government secret or anything."

Quinn smiled at him, "It's okay. You guys discuss. If you need my help in any way, I'm glad to, just let me know."

"Thanks, Quinn," said Mike.

"I'll see you in a minute," said Artie.

"Dude. You and Quinn?" Mike questioned.

"I'm not sure yet," Artie responded. "We've been hanging out a lot this summer. At first it was us commiserating about being dumped but the subject of our ex's hasn't really come up recently… so maybe, I guess, is the best answer. But enough about me and my love life, what's this plan? Tina's birthday isn't until September."

"Oh, right, the plan. I wanted to give you a big heads up because it's kind of involved. Might take a while to make it. So you know how we did at Valentine's? You sang and I danced to 'P.Y.T.'"

"Uh, yeah, I seem to recall something like that," Artie teased.

"Right, of course you do. Okay, then I also heard that you actually directed Kurt and Mercedes and Coach Sylvester's 'Vogue' video. Is that true?"

"Guilty," he replied.

"Okay," Mike began, "so what I want to do is for us to make our own music video, and dedicate it to Tina. I can get a bunch of people from my dance classes and do the choreography. I need you to sing the song and direct the video. What do you say?"

"I think it sounds awesome. Do you have a song picked out?" Artie asked.

"'OMG' by Usher. Tina loves it, plus I've always wanted to be in an Usher video."

"That's cool," Artie said. "I think I pull off Usher's vocals. Can you do Will I Am's? He's all Auto-tuned."

"We can try, right?" Mike replied.

"Absolutely," Artie smiled brightly, "Let me talk to my dad and see if we can use the studio on campus. If we can I'll call you and we'll go lay down the track sometime this week. Otherwise, I'll have to talk to some of the AV Club and gather up some equipment. You work out what you think the video should be. I'll put together some ideas too."

"Awesome! Thanks, dude. If you need my help with anything for Quinn, just give me a shout."

X X X X X

"So you and Artie came together," Mercedes said, "You two make it official yet?" The two girls sat together on the edge of the pool feet in the water. The beep of a moped horn announced the arrival of Lauren, who would undoubtedly join Kurt in watching the boys play basketball in the driveway for a while yet, leaving them just waiting on Brittany, Santana, and Rachel.

"I don't know," Quinn replied. "Is it official between you and Sam, yet?" Quinn nudged her friend in the shoulder.

"What… how did… I mean, what are you talking about?" Mercedes sputtered helplessly. She dropped her head realizing that she'd given herself away. "Does everybody know?"

"No," Quinn explained, "San and Britt said something about running into you guys or seeing you a couple of times, so they might suspect something. I remember the way you guys were at prom, but I was just taking a guess until you confirmed it. So has it been since prom?"

"Yeah, kinda. We sorta just started out hanging out and it kinda grew from there. It's okay, right? I mean, we're sistas and all, and I know there's like a rule about dating your friend's ex and all."

"Does he make you happy?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah," Mercedes said with a smile. "I mean, it's weird cuz besides Glee Club we got like nuthin in common, but yeah, he makes me happy."

"Then that's all I need to know," Quinn replied. "Just do better by him than I did."

"Happy Independence Day, fellow Glee Clubbers," Rachel announced her arrival from behind them.

"Hey, welcome to the party, Rachel," Mercedes turned to greet her and added, "…and Sunshine."

"Hi," said the tiny Filipino girl. "Rachel said it would be okay if I came. Hope that's fine."

"You did say to invite anyone I wanted to," Rachel put in.

"Yeah, s'totally fine," Mercedes said as she stood up to give the newly arrived girls a hug. "Even if you are the competition," she added with a smile.

"I'm not the competition anymore," Sunshine said, "As of tomorrow morning, I'm re-enrolled at McKinley."

"Are you serious?" Mercedes asked excitedly hugging the smaller girl again. "Awesome!"

"Welcome to New Directions," Quinn said, "or I guess, welcome back."

Twenty minutes later, Brittany and Santana finally arrived with Brittany's eleven year old sister, Charity in tow and the burgers and ribs hit the grill, as well as a pair of portabella mushroom caps for Rachel and Sunshine. Robert Jones and Mr. Schuester took turns manning the grill. The boys had migrated from the driveway to the pool. The little kids had come downstairs to join them as had Mike, Tina, Rachel and Sunshine. Kurt refused to mess up his hair by getting it wet and Mercedes had a weave to keep dry so they gossiped by themselves. Santana and Brittany lay out in the sun in tiny bikinis showing off their killer bodies. Quinn dragged a pair of lounge chairs out of the shade into the sun. Artie transferred himself onto one of them and Quinn took the other. Quinn quickly shed the baggy t-shirt and gym shorts that she'd been wearing over her bikini. 'Woah' Artie thought staring at her, 'Sexy back… like really, really, really sexy back.'

"See something you like, Mr. Abrams?" Quinn asked playfully.

"I, uh…" he stammered, "I see nothing I don't like, Miss Fabray."

Quinn scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, because stretch marks are so sexy."

"I see no stretch marks, Quinn, and I'll be honest. I was looking."

Quinn couldn't help but smile at Artie's flirtation, "You're such a smooth talker, Artie. I want to kiss you right now. I'm not going to because I'm not quite ready to explain that aspect of our relationship to the group yet, but just know I want to and that I'll owe you one later." Artie smiled wordlessly. Quinn went to work applying sunscreen, then handed the bottle to Artie and said, "Get my back?" as she sat on his chair, facing away. Artie sat up, squeezed out a generous amount of sunscreen, and started running his hands over Quinn's back. 'Oh my GOD he has strong hands.' Quinn thought. 'Of course he does, that's how he gets around. Get a hold of yourself, Fabray before you start moaning.' She did manage to contain the moan, but not the very contented sigh.

Artie was about to comment about this when Rachel called across the yard from the pool, "Mr. Schuester, while I hate to bring up club business at a party," she said as she quickly exited the pool wrapping herself in a towel. "You had asked me to be on the lookout for new recruits for the Glee Club since the bulk of the club is due to graduate, and while this might not be exactly what you had in mind, I believe the potential next generation of New Directions is within our midst."

Mr. Schuester looked confused but said, "Okay?"

"If you'll allow us one moment to prepare it seems that Eddie, Stacy, and Alexis…"

"Lexi," Alexis interjected.

"Lexi?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah, you know, so we all sound the same. Eddie, Stacy, and Lexi."

"Ah, yes, I see now. Eddie, Stacy, and Lexi have a number prepared as something of an early audition for the club," Rachel said as she vigorously dried her hands before retrieving an iPod from her bag along with a set of portable speakers.

As she set up, the kids climbed out of the pool. Alexis spoke up, "So earlier, upstairs, we were playing Glee Club and I asked Rachel if we could audition since she is Captain and she said it was okay with her, if it was okay with you, Mr. Schuester."

Mr. Schuester smiled and said, "It is absolutely okay with me. You guys go right ahead."

They conferred with each other for a minute and then Alexis motioned for Rachel to start the music. When she did Beyonce and Jay-Z's "Crazy in Love" began playing and the girls started copying the choreography from the video. They were clearly very familiar with it. Eddie filled in for Jay-Z. Stacy and Lexi took turns with the lyrics. Part way through the second verse, Charity Pierce joined in dancing proving that at least some of her older sister's talent ran in the family. By the end of the song, everyone was smiling and very impressed with the girls' performances. When they were done, Mr. Schuester said, "Very impressive. I hereby declare you all to be Junior Members of New Directions. The first day of your Ninth Grade years, report to the choir room." The girls hugged and jumped up and down in excitement.

Quinn looked back across the back yard to see Santana by herself beckoning her over. "Hey, I'm going to go talk to Santana. You need anything before I go? You good on water?"

"Yeah," Artie replied, "all good."

No sooner had Quinn left, than Brittany sat down in her place. "Hey, Artie," she said.

"What's up, Brittany?"

"So much, lately, but I just sorta wanted a chance to talk to you, so I could tell you how super sorry am I for breaking your heart like I did. I wanted you to know how super awesome a boyfriend you were. I even asked San if you could date both of us, but she's like all the way gay and besides she says she's done sharing me with other people."

"I understand," Artie said, "I don't think I'd want to share you either."

Brittany smiled, "I want you to know I really did love you like super a lot. I just…"

"You had to follow your heart," Artie finished.

"Yeah," Brittany replied, "I've loved San since forever, I think."

"I understand. Thanks for talking with me about it."

"Hey, Artie," Brittany said after a moment's silence. "Are you like with Quinn now?"

"Would it be weird? Your ex and one of your best friends being together?"

"Weird? No, it would be super awesome!" Brittany said. "You're both like crazy smart and you guys look totally cute together, plus Q's totally in the closet about being a geek. She totally loves Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and stuff like that. So are you guys together?"

"Not yet, not officially," he replied.

"Did you kiss her yet?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah, a little bit."

"Did you do that thing with your tongue like I taught you?"

"Yeah," Artie smiled in recollection.

"She'll totally be yours, then. You just gotta do whatever it takes. Make her feel all special, like when you sang me that totally sweet song in cooking class last year."

"Will it work on her?" Artie asked, "Because it clearly didn't work on you."

"It only didn't work because I was trying to get San to go to Prom with me, and Prom is a long ways off and also I don't think Quinn has feelings for San or at least not sexy feelings. You should totally go for it."

"Well, then, if you insist. I think I might just have the beginnings of a plan."