AN: Another reviewer inspired chapter, although so many of you suggested it I can't remember who said it first. (And I'm kind of embarrassed this idea didn't occur to me on my own, since it's sort of obvious really.) It might be a little illogical, but it was just too tempting an idea to pass up. Thanks to all of you, you guys have given me some great ideas!

The next time I saw that Artie was broken, we spent an entire afternoon joyriding around Lima.

It was the first week of summer vacation and everyone was celebrating. We were in his backyard, lounging on a blanket in the grass and keeping an eye on his younger sister as she and her friends had a water gun fight a few yards away. I laid with my head on his stomach while we both listened to his iPod, a headphone a piece, and talked about our plans for the summer.

"I don't want to go on that stupid trip," I complained after telling him about the week-long company cruise my parents were dragging me along to.

"Hey, at least they're making an effort to include you," he pointed out optimistically and I smiled a little. Ever since he'd completely verbally bitch-slapped my parents, he'd been quietly trying to make it up to me. It turned out that something of what he'd said must have sunk in, because they started paying a minimal amount more attention to me. Mostly in an attempt to make sure I was still doing what they wanted me to, but it was at least an improvement.

"Yeah, I guess so," I agreed, plucking a piece of grass and twisting it between my fingers. Then I smiled mischievously and added, "And I'll get to spend the whole week laying around the pool in my bathing suit."

When I glanced up I noticed that Artie was trying not to seem too interested in this idea, but his ears were red. He looked down at me and laughed. "That's just evil. Here I am trying to be such a gentleman and you're trying to corrupt me. If I didn't know better, Miss Tina, I'd think you were trying to seduce me."

I just smiled in response and grabbed his iPod, changing the song. He grumbled about it for a bit, but then I reached over and threaded my hand into his and he shut up. For a while we just talked about random things, mostly the music we were listening to, and then suddenly both of our phones went off at the same time. Exchanging curious glances, we grabbed them and opened the identical texts. They were from Mercedes, announcing excitedly that she'd just passed her driver's test and got her license.

Artie attempted a nonchalant smile when he set his phone back down, telling me to add in his congratulations with mine when I replied, but I could tell he was upset. After I'd sent the text, I moved up to lay beside him, watching his face cautiously. Driving was another sore spot with him, since he couldn't actually drive. I'd gotten my license a month ago, but I'd chosen not to make a big deal out of it for his sake. He had congratulated me when I'd mentioned it, made a joke about how I could be his personal chauffer now, and then his smile had been half-faked for the next three days.

"You're staring," Artie remarked, glancing sideways at me and smiling. "I know you like me, Tee, but the stalker staring is sort of creeping me out."

I laughed indulgently and rolled over onto my stomach, my side pressed against his while I propped myself up on my elbows. "You okay?" I asked carefully.

"Fine, why?" I just raised an eyebrow, giving him a 'you know why' look and he rolled his eyes. "Can we not talk about it right now?"

"Okay, but don't think that if you keep procrastinating I'll forget," I warned with a shrug.

Artie gave a grudging smile. "You forget every single thing they tell us in science classes, but when it comes to bugging me you've got a super memory," he said and shook his head. We were quiet for a few minutes, me tying knots in grass stems and him brooding thoughtfully. His expression was sort of cute when he was thinking so intently, but it was so different from his smile that it made me feel a little weird.

"So what if I can't ever drive?" he said suddenly, dismissively. He wasn't looking at me, talking straight upward to the sky, so I didn't answer. He only ever ranted aloud to himself when something was really bothering him, and I waited expectantly for the rest of it. "It's not like it really matters. I don't have to deal with memorizing all of that stuff for the tests and paying insurance and registrations and filling up the tank. It's probably better I don't have to worry about driving. Who cares if now all of my friends can drive and I can't? It's – no big deal, right?"

He finally glanced sideways at me and I realized that was my prompt to enter the conversation. "Doesn't really make a difference to me," I supplied. "It's not like there's anywhere to drive to in this town anyway. Everywhere we go is close enough there's no real point in driving to them. Besides, it's more eco-friendly not to drive."

Artie smirked a little at that last thing. "Yeah, that's kinda true I guess," he agreed, but he didn't sound very convinced, just like I knew he wouldn't be. "So there's no reason for me to be bothered that every one of my friends has a license and I don't. Because it doesn't really matter, right?" Before I could answer he scoffed and shook his head. "Who am I kidding, of course it matters. It just –" He made a noise of frustration and put his hands over his face.

"It's not fair, Tee," he mumbled from behind his palms. "I'm sick of being singled out. Why can't I, just once, be like everyone else?"

"Artie, don't think like that," I said gently, reaching over and pushing his hands off his face, tilting his chin so he'd look at me. "There's nothing wrong with you the way you are," he scoffed again, "and think of all the ways you've been able to fit in just like everyone else. Besides, I thought you hated cars because of…" I trailed off but he knew what I meant.

"Well sure, I guess they still sort of freak me out a little sometimes," he conceded. "But I think it would be easier if I were the one driving. The one in control, you know, instead of the passenger." He sighed heavily and frowned. "All I'm talking about is driving a car," he said darkly, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. "Everyone does it. Why not me?"

I didn't have an answer for that, and he could tell. Because honestly, what could I do? Nothing I could say would change the fact that he couldn't drive. So I changed tact with humor. "Oh c'mon, you know you like hanging out in the backseat of my car," I teased suggestively.

Artie regarded me for a second before he grinned. "Yeah except I've never been back there before," he pointed out. "We should try it sometime."

"Who's corrupting who now?" I said, nudging him with my elbow. He laughed and I saw some of the tension, not all of it but at least a little, leave his eyes. We managed to pass the rest of the afternoon without giving much more thought to driving, and although I could tell he was still distantly thinking about it when I kissed him goodnight, he smiled anyway.

The next morning my phone went off bright and early at eight o'clock, waking me up. Muttering sleepily, since I had only gotten four hours of sleep and no one should be awake at that hour during the summer anyway, I snatched it off the bedside table and flipped the phone open, already guessing who it was. "Hey Artie," I yawned.

"You're still asleep?" Artie asked in surprise.

"Not anymore," I pointed out with a laugh. "I was just up late on the computer. What's up?"

"Tee, this is so awesome," he said excitedly. "Dad found some stuff about manually-driven cars. They're cars made specifically for people like me. He's been talking to the company all morning, and it looks like we're getting one."

"That's so great!" I said and even though I was exhausted, his enthusiasm was infectious enough that my own voice sounded as excited as his. "So you're going to get to learn after all?"

"Yeah, looks like it," he said and laughed. "Dad says there are a bunch of government grants for it too, so it's not even going to cost us a whole lot. And there's all these –" Over the next half hour Artie filled me in on everything that his dad had learned about these manually driven cars.

A few days later Artie started driver's ed classes. He learned fast, probably because he was so enthusiastic. Almost every night he would tell me about the things he'd learned, and I couldn't help but smile because he was so happy. Most people complained about having to studying the driving rules books and put in all of the hours of training, (I definitely had), but Artie acted like it was an unexpected Christmas present.

Before the summer had ended, he called me to tell me he'd passed his test. When he told me to go to the window I saw his van parked in front of my house, and he waved up at me through the windshield. I ran down and hopped into the passenger seat, regarding the manual car controls with awe. Suddenly driving my car looked a little less complicated.

We drove in aimless circles around town for a while, and I knew Artie was just drinking in the feeling of it so I didn't say anything about our lack of destination. He didn't stop smiling the entire time. He clearly loved the fact that he could drive his girlfriend around town, something which months ago he'd thought he'd never be able to do. I had to admit that seeing him feeling so empowered was really – moving would be the best way to describe it, I think.

When it started getting dark he parked at an ice cream parlor and we shared a celebratory sundae. I was pushing the chopped peanuts over to his side of the ice cream when he reached over and took my free hand.

"Thanks, Tee."

"Why?" I asked in confusion, looking up at him.

He shrugged. "I dunno, by now I just assume when something good happens to me that you had something to do with it," he admitted and his cheeks turned scarlet. I could feel my own face getting warm and I looked down at our joined hands.

"That's possibly the sweetest thing I've ever heard," I said, chancing a half a glance up at him, and he smiled.

"It was you though, wasn't it?" he asked earnestly. "Dad said he found all the information about these manual cars and driver's ed classes and the grant forms in an unsigned envelope on the front porch that morning. The morning after we talked about how I'd never be able to drive."

I just took a spoonful of ice cream and stuck it in my mouth, smiling at him. Artie laughed and started in on the ice cream too, and we didn't talk about his mysterious helper anymore after that. Although he did kiss me extra tenderly when he dropped me off at my house at the end of the night.

That was the next time Artie'd been broken, and it taught me that sometimes the littlest things, like a couple hours of late-night research on the computer, can become miracles to someone else.