Author's Note: Hello all! I managed to write this chapter in like 3 hours which I hadn't intended on doing but I'm glad I did because it means no long wait between chapters this time :D It's not very long and it's mostly just filler stuff but I promise the next chapter will be longer and more exciting things will be happening (but that probably means that it'll take me longer to update :( ) Also I'm starting uni soon so updating may take even longer than usual but I'm hoping it won't and I'll try my best to keep updating as well as I can. Just some quick things before we begin:
Thanks Ask . com (obviously without the spaces between the dot) for the Chemistry question at the start of this chapter because I can't remember much about Chemistry, it's been like 3 years since I took it.
To mosally: Thank you for the review and yes, Quinntana will be happening in this fic, they're getting there slowly but they will be getting together.
To gymjim: Thanks for the message and Quinntana is the pairing.
Alright, I'm sure you just want to start reading now so thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites, follows, and just for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Eleven:
"Last one. What is the name of the compound MgSO4?"
Tina takes a quick moment to think but she's fairly certain of the answer to what Artie's just asked.
"Magnesium sulfate" she says in a definitive tone, grinning when Artie nods and places the card he's holding down on the table on top of the others.
Tina has a Chemistry test the next period and managed to get Artie to help her do some last minute study for it. She thought he might have said no but he'd been more than happy to help out.
"I think you're ready" he tells her and Tina breathes out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for helping me study" she says with a shy smile and Artie shrugs.
"No problem" he replies, smiling back before his expression becomes uncertain.
"What is it?" Tina asks, shyness giving way to concern.
Artie won't look at her and Tina's heart starts to sink.
"It's about what Rachel was upset about the other day" Artie says quietly and it takes Tina a few moments to realize that he's talking about the conversation in the cafeteria about male members in the glee club.
"What about it?" Tina asks, frowning in confusion about why Artie would bring this up.
Artie doesn't answer for a little while and when he does he sounds slightly uncomfortable.
"Did you mean what you said? That you didn't agree with Rachel?"
"I meant it" Tina tells him, reaching over to take one of his hands in hers.
Artie looks down at their hands and keeps his gaze there when he asks his next question.
"That's also what I wanted to talk to you about" Artie nods his head to indicate their hands, "What we are".
"What do you mean?" Tina asks.
"Well…I was just wondering if we're…you know…dating" he blushes lightly and Tina thinks it's about the cutest thing she's ever seen.
"I'd really like us to be if you do" Tina tells him and is rewarded with Artie finally looking up at her and grinning.
"I do" he replies and Tina imagines her grin is about identical to Artie's.
The moment is cut short, however, by the bell for class ringing and both Tina and Artie let out long suffering sighs as they pack up their things and make their way out into the hallway. They're going separate ways to each other and before they leave for class, Artie slips one of his hands into Tina's and she looks down at him.
"Did you want to come over for dinner at my house tomorrow night?" he asks and Tina squeezes his hand gently.
"I'd love to" she replies.
Artie beams, kissing the back of Tina's hand and telling her he'll give her the details later before dropping her hand and making his way down the hallway. Tina takes a moment to watch her boyfriend wheel down the corridor before heading to the Chemistry lab, unable to keep the smile off her face.
Quinn and Santana are enjoying their shared free period under the bleachers as per usual and rejoicing in the fact that they don't have to take a Chemistry test like Blaine and Tina do. Santana feels lighter than she has in a long time now that Quinn knows her secret and still accepts her and Quinn also seems much more relaxed. It's kind of wonderful.
"You know what's great?" Santana says, flicking the ash from the tip of her cigarette onto the concrete and interrupting the silence they've had going on.
"What?" Quinn asks in response, taking a drag of her cigarette and looking out over the football field.
"Not keeping secrets from each other anymore" Santana replies, watching as Quinn lets out her exhale slowly.
Quinn turns her head to look at Santana and she looks incredibly pleased.
"Yeah, it's kind of amazing" she says with a bright grin and Santana can't help but grin back.
They go back to just sitting together and smoking in relative silence but then after a while Quinn starts shifting uncomfortably, looking like she wants to say something.
"Spit it out Fabray before you make me nervous" Santana says, flicking her cigarette onto the ground as Quinn does the same thing beside her.
She turns her body to face Quinn and Quinn mirrors her position, still looking uncomfortable and Santana's not particularly enjoying the wait to see what Quinn's going to say.
"This might seem like a really weird question" Quinn begins, fidgeting with her hands but keeping her gaze on Santana's face, "but what was it about Brittany that made you think you liked her in that way?"
Quinn's right, it does seem like a weird question and not one Santana was expecting Quinn to ask but she tries to answer it as best she can anyway.
"Well, I mean, she's really pretty so I guess there's that but honestly it was more just the way she's so kind and non-judgmental. I thought she would be a bitch considering she's the head of the Cheerios but she's not at all. She doesn't care about popularity and she's actually really smart in her own way. I guess those were the reasons I was drawn to her but I just don't think we'd work out"
Quinn sits there, attentive throughout Santana's explanation and now quiet as she presumably works through what Santana just said. She's not looking at Santana anymore which makes it a little harder to know what she's thinking.
"Okay" she finally says, looking back at Santana and Santana bites back a laugh.
"That's your only response?" Santana asks and Quinn merely shrugs.
"You are so weird" Santana mutters to herself, leaning away from Quinn and narrowly avoiding a slap to her arm before they both dissolve into laughter.
It's the afternoon before their French project is due and Kurt and Blaine decide to work on putting the finishing touches on it after school in the library. They've been working for a solid half hour, running through the presentation quietly and tweaking parts here and there before Blaine brings up his glee club audition to Kurt, wondering if Kurt could think of any good audition songs. Kurt's only response is to look at Blaine like he's lost his mind.
"Glee club?" Kurt asks disbelievingly and Blaine does not like the direction he can feel this conversation going in.
"Yeah, Rachel Berry invited me to audition" Blaine informs him, frowning at Kurt's derisive snort.
"Of course she did" Kurt mutters and Blaine narrows his eyes.
"My friend Tina's in glee club" Blaine says, "She loves it".
Kurt's expression softens at this and he leans towards Blaine.
"Blaine, how many times has Tina been slushied?" Kurt asks in a gentle tone like he's trying to get Blaine to understand something.
"Twice" Blaine replies although the first slushy happened before Tina joined glee club but he doesn't think Kurt would particularly care about that.
"Exactly" Kurt replies with a small sigh, "And it's only going to keep happening".
"So what are you saying?" Blaine asks warily, leaning back in his seat.
Kurt leans back in his seat as well and he looks worried.
"I'm saying maybe it's not worth joining if that's what you have to put up with" Kurt says and Blaine just shakes his head as he begins to pack up his things, anger coursing through him.
"Blaine?" Kurt asks but Blaine just ignores him, "Blaine, what are you doing?"
"Leaving" Blaine replies matter-of-factually as Kurt looks at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion, "And I think I can handle a few slushies on top of the locker shove and homophobic slurs I usually deal with".
Kurt gapes at him and as Blaine stands up to leave, Kurt stands as well.
"Blaine, wait, that's what I'm trying to say –"but Kurt doesn't get a chance to continue because Blaine starts talking over the top of him.
"Its fine, I'll just ask Sebastian for song choices" Blaine tells him and in his anger he takes delight in the way Kurt's expression sours at the mention of Sebastian.
"What about our project?" Kurt asks feebly.
"It'll be great" Blaine says with a shrug, "There's nothing more to work on".
And with that he's gone, leaving Kurt back at the table as he makes his way out to the school car park. He doesn't really know why he's so angry, he just knows he can't be around Kurt right now.
The first thing Santana tells Quinn when she comes over the next day after school to hang out is that there is to be no intense or deep conversations of any kind because all Santana wants to do is relax. Quinn is more than happy to acquiesce to Santana's request, laughing as she assures Santana that that won't be a problem.
"We've had enough intense conversations these past few weeks" Quinn sighs as she and Santana collapse onto Santana's bed.
Santana manoeuvres herself so that her body is curled up against Quinn's side and her head is resting in the curve where Quinn's shoulder meets her arm. Quinn awkwardly moves her arm so that she can put it around Santana.
"So what did you wanna do?" Quinn asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
Santana doesn't reply and when Quinn shifts a little so that she can see Santana's face, she discovers that Santana's fallen asleep. Quinn huffs out a light laugh and decides that sleep isn't actually a bad idea so she rests her head gently against the top of Santana's and lets her eyes fall closed as she settles in to sleep.
On the other side of town, Tina's just sitting down to eat dinner with Artie and his mom. Artie's mother – Nancy, Tina reminds herself – was very excited to have Tina over for dinner and Tina didn't feel as nervous coming over as she had the first time.
Dinner is chicken with creamy rice, mushrooms, capsicum, and some broccoli on the side. It smells really good and looks just as good and when Tina starts eating she finds it tastes amazing. She tells Nancy as much and is rewarded with a warm 'thank you'.
"So Tina, how's school going for you?" Nancy asks as Tina swallows a mouthful of chicken.
"It's good, thank you" Tina replies with a polite smile.
Nancy smiles back and they continue eating, light conversation accompanying the meal. Most of the questions Tina is asked revolve around her family, school, and friends and Tina takes delight in the fact that she doesn't have to hesitate before she says that she's good friends with Artie (although more than good friends in his case), Rachel, Mercedes, and Finn. For so long it's just been Blaine, Quinn, and Santana.
Tina and Artie both offer to help with the dishes once dinner's over but Nancy waves them off, telling them that she can do them herself and that they can disappear off to Artie's room if they want.
"Door stays open!" she calls out as Tina and Artie make their way down the hall.
Artie just rolls his eyes. Tina blushes.
"So I was thinking" Artie starts as they reach his room, "that maybe you and I could do a duet together in glee club".
Tina's pleasantly surprised by the suggestion and as she settles on the edge of Artie's bed, she lets herself imagine her and Artie singing together and loves what her mind conjures up.
"I think that's a wonderful idea" Tina replies, leaning forward to press her lips to Artie's.
The kiss doesn't last long and is relatively chaste but it still fills Tina's stomach with butterflies and she can feel herself blush.
"Uh, did you maybe want to look at songs we could choose?" Artie asks a few moments later after they've pulled away and Tina's amused to find that he's blushing as well.
"Sure" Tina replies happily and they make their way over to Artie's computer and his iTunes library where they stay, going through songs until Tina has to go home.
Quinn's conversation with Santana under the bleachers about Brittany has been playing over and over in Quinn's head and as she sits cross-legged in the middle of her bed, she can't help but think about what it was that drew her to Santana and made Quinn want to be friends with her.
She thinks about Santana's confidence and her fierce loyalty to those she's close with. She thinks about how vicious Santana can be with her words and how she uses them as a form of protection for herself but once in a while she lets her guard down to reveal a softer side. She thinks about how Santana has shaped and changed her over the years that they've been friends and how Quinn wouldn't change a thing about the people either of them have become. Finally she lets herself think about how undeniably right it had felt falling asleep with Santana curled up at her side, their ankles tangling together as they lay there comfortably.
Quinn has no idea what any of this means, can't figure out what her feelings are doing and she feels exhausted despite having slept for most of the afternoon.
It doesn't help when all of a sudden her parents start up a screaming match and Quinn falls back against her pillows with a frustrated groan as her life gets ten times more confusing.
Just another quick note: The meal Artie and Tina have at Artie's house was actually what my grandma made for dinner a few nights ago and it's really good so I thought why not have them eat it :P
Also poor Klaine. Lol, everyone else has relatively happy scenes in this chapter and the one scene I write for them has them fighting. Ah well, I'm sure they'll get through it.
Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review and I'll see you all next time with chapter twelve :)