Dinner was fun in more ways than one. For starters, it was hotdogs and hamburgers, which is always a crowd pleaser. The teens ate a lot.
They also talked a lot. It was amazing how they could still talk for hours on end even though they've been together for two full days. It's like they never run out of things to say.
After dinner, Will and Emma got to washing dishes. Kurt, Quinn and Mercedes volunteered to help, but Emma politely declined because she didn't think their washing job would reach her impeccable and high standards.
So the boys settled down and watched a bad quality baseball game in front of the TV and the girls sat in a circle braiding each other's hair.
"I don't get baseball" Mercedes commented as she looked over and saw the guys gasping over some hit or basket or something. "It's guys with sticks hitting balls. What's the attraction?"
"Well when you put it like that, it sounds like gay guys should enjoy it" Santana snickered.
"They're guys. Sports to them are like clothes to us" Tina said.
"I know but I tried watching a game of hockey with my brother last Christmas and I could make it though fifteen minutes" Mercedes said. "But he was all into it."
"Who knows?" Quinn sighed and tied off Brittany's hair with a red hair elastic.
"Hello ladies" Kurt said, walking over to where they sat. He sat in the middle of their circle.
"Hey Kurt. Tired of the game?" Rachel asked with a smile.
"Yes. I can handle football sometimes but baseball is so stupid" Kurt said.
"All sports are stupid" Sugar said. "Except shopping."
"That's not a sport" Quinn pointed out even though Sugar ignored it.
Two hours later, Will and Emma were playing cards at the table, Sue was on the computer doing who-knows-what and the teens were all together again. The baseball game had ended and nothing good was on after that so the boys went over to where the girls were sitting. Now they were talking about siblings.
"My sister is cool" Quinn said. Then she paused. "Well, cool-ish. I mean, she was always nice to me, but she's like a mini version of my mom. When my parents kicked me out, she sided with Mom and Dad. Well, she didn't say that but she didn't call me or help me at all. I guess I forgave her like I forgave Mom and we talk now, but it's still weird, you know?"
"Sure, makes sense" Rachel said. "Not like I'd know. As you know, I am an only child."
"You are?" Joe asked.
Rachel's eyes widened. "You didn't know? Oh my! Maybe I should sing 'Only Child'. I wrote it, you know."
"No!" Finn blurted.
Rachel stared at him. "But it's a delightful song. I think Joe would love to hear it."
Joe didn't know what to say.
"My brother is funny" Mercedes said, distracting them. "He moved out but I see him every few weeks. He's so jokes. I love him."
"See, older siblings are awesome" Sam said. "My two little siblings drive me crazy."
"What? They're so cute!" Quinn smiled. "Stacy is like a little angel!"
Sam groaned and pointed at Quinn. "See? You fell for the act. She's a little monster. When people are around, she's all nice and sweet and fun. But as soon as you're gone, she's wild and loud and crazy."
They laughed.
"Why are you laughing?" Sam demanded. "This isn't funny! This is my life!"
That made them laugh more.
Sam sighed.
"I have a little sister too" Brittany said. "She's mean. She says I'm dumber than bricks. And Lord Tubbington is smarter than me."
Rory rolled his eyes. "Your sister is opinionated but she's fun. I play boardgames with her often. I used to do that with my siblings at home."
"Your siblings in Ireland?" Mike asked.
"Aye. My family. I miss them" Rory said. "So I make up for it by playing with Brittany's sister. She's a fierce Checkers player."
"I love Checkers!" Kurt smiled. "I used to play it with my Dad. On our Friday Night Dinners, before Finn and Carole were with us, we used to play games. I won Checkers but he won Solitaire."
"What's Solitaire?" Blaine asked.
Kurt, Puck and a few others gasped.
"You don't know what Solitaire is?" Puck asked.
Blaine shook his head. "No, I'm not good at card games."
Kurt smiled. "Don't worry. We'll teach you. By the end of this trip, you'll be a pro."
"Wait, hold it a minute" Tina said. "What are Friday Night Dinners? Or am I missing something?"
Kurt shook his head. "Friday Night Dinners are a Hummel tradition. Its basically dinners...on Friday night. My mom started it and after she passed, Dad and I continued it. It was our way to stay connected without Mom... And then when Finn and Carole came in the family, they participated in the dinners too."
"Aw, Kurt, that's so cute" Tina said with a smile.
"Do you miss her?" Mercedes asked.
"My mother?" Kurt asked.
Mercedes nodded.
"Sure. Every day" Kurt said. He felt Blaine take his hand but because of the pillow Kurt was sitting beside, no one saw it. "My mom was nice. I don't remember much of her but I remember little things like Friday Night Dinner or how she'd make us put decorations on the Christmas tree one at a time, which for a hyper little kid like me, was hard to do. Or how she'd ways get mad at Dad for wearing his work boots in the house. I still wish she was still with us, but at the same time, it's brought my dad and I closer and also we've met Carole, who is like my mom too."
"Aw, Kurt! Are you crying?" Rachel asked.
Kurt laughed. "Tearing up. Don't judge me."
Rachel got up and hugged Kurt awkwardly.
"Ooh are we doing a group hug thing here?" Brittany smiled.
Kurt pried Rachel off him. "No we are not. Get of me, you psycho!"
Rachel took no offense to this. "You love me. You all do."
"Artie, you've been oddly quiet" Quinn said. Artie was staring at the floor with a dazed out look. "Artie?"
Finn threw the TV remote at Artie. It his his chest and he snapped back to life.
"Ow" Artie winced.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Tina smiled at him.
Artie gave a silly smile then shook his head. "Nah, it's silly."
"We enjoy sillyness. Speak." Mercedes said.
Artie took a deep breath. "Well you know how we're American? Well the word 'American' is singular form and Americans is plural. Just like Canadian and Canadians. But Irish is both plural and singular. You can't say 'Irishes'. That makes no sense and you sound like you have a lisp. So why isn't the name for a person from Ireland 'Ire'? Then you can say I'm an 'Ire' and the plural would be 'Ires'. That makes more sense, don't you think?"
No one said anything.
Artie looked at them expectantly.
"Um..." Blaine finally spoke, but that wasn't really a word.
"That's true" Sam nodded slowly.
"Why would you think of that?" Puck asked incredulously.
Artie shrugged and smiled. "I told you it was silly."
"No, its quite ingenious. It makes sense. It's just random" Mike laughed.
"Why aren't you the president? Like seriously" Santana smiled, which Artie guessed was a compliment.
"Hey Artie, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but...how did you get in your wheelchair?" Rachel asked slowly.
"Rachel! You can't just go asking people why they're in wheelchairs!" Kurt scolded.
Artie shrugged. "It's okay. I guess you all should know. It's about time I told you anyways. The only people who know here are Tina and Mike. The answer is car crash. When I was eight, my mom was driving me home from soccer practice and we got into an awful car crash."
Quinn winced as if she was reliving her own car crash.
"Your mom is okay, though, right?" Joe asked, simply curious.
"Yup" Artie nodded. "Momma Abrams is perfectly okay."
"You used to play soccer?" Brittany asked.
At this, Artie seemed a bit sad. His face drooped a bit and he took a deep breath. "Yeah. I was actually really good. I was on a hard core rep team and played left forward. Soccer was my future."
No one spoke at first.
"Oh, dude, that sucks" Finn said.
"Awful" Quinn agreed. She, out of all of them, felt the worst about Artie's story. She had gotten in a car crash just like Artie and even ended up in a wheelchair too, but now she was back to normal and can continue to follow her dreams. But Artie never can. He can never kick a soccer ball again.
Artie sighed. "Thanks for your sympathy, guys. But you know what? I used to be upset that I'd never be a soccer star but now I have a new passion and it's much less physical. I mean, it's like they say, 'when one door closes, another one opens'."
"Who's 'they'?" Brittany asked Rory, who shrugged.
"You mean directing, right?" Mercedes asked. "Because you're a great director."
Artie smiled. "Thanks!"
"One day, we'll go to the movies and we'll see an Artie Abrams film and I can say I knew him when he was getting slushied every day!" Tina smiled.
"I've never gotten slushied" Sugar said. "Ever."
"Lucky" Mercedes grumbled.
"We so have to slushie her" Kurt said to Rachel. "It's basically like initiation!"
"Joe hasn't been slushied and I don't think Rory has either" Rachel said.
Blaine leaned over and smiled. "I saw a slushie machine in the store in Town."
Rachel's eyes lit up. "Bingo!"
"You know, I think we can all say 'I knew them when' because we'll all be famous one day" Santana said. "Especially me."
"For sure!" Finn smiled.
"Isn't that just so cute?" Emma asked. "The kids are bonding."
Will smiled and glanced over at the kids. "Makes me one proud teacher."
Emma shuffled the deck of cards. "It's just so amazing that they can talk about their pasts like that. I mean, I didn't know about Artie's soccer past. Or Friday Night Dinners at the Hummel's."
Will smiled. "They're deep people."
"And they're totally comfortable with each other."
"And we are so eavesdropping on them" Will laughed.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Well, yes, but in our defense, they are like right in the other room and there isn't a wall between us."
"Plus, they are loud people" Will added.
Emma smiled and dealt the cards. "Ready to lose again?"
A/N
Heyderr!
How was schooooool? Mine was just meh. Speaking of school, since it's back and happening, my writing time will be limited. So I can pretty much guarentee one update a week. It'll probably be on Friday nights around 8-ish. So keep an eye out. If I don't update then, I'm either really busy or didn't finish writing it.
So this chapter is just ND talking and bonding and being cool. Thanks to 'Bandgeek481' for the ideas of what ND talks about. :) I hope it was "amazeballs" enough for you!
Thanks to all who answered my question about OCs. So far it's 2 for yes and 1 for no. But the option is still out there so let me know!
And don't worry, I'll be getting some cute moments for ALL the couples. In due time, me amigos!
Love you all! Stay pretty!