An authors note...Uh Oh, I was afraid of this. I hope I didn't lose any of you because of the last chapter. You'll have to blame it all on my muse, I only go where she tells me to go, and right now we're on a twisty path to angst-ville. Though hopefully not for very long:)
Disclaimer-Glee is the property of FOX, the creators and the writers.
Beauty and the Geek
His name was Sam Evans. He was sixteen, a Junior who recently transferred to Ohio from California. He was tall, muscular and very blond. A jock, playing a sport a season; football in the fall, basketball in winter and baseball in the spring. He mentioned he was dyslexic, sometimes struggled to keep his grades up and liked to sing.
Aside from his fair coloring, mellow disposition and desire to join Glee Club, Sam reminded Artie a lot of his brother...except Andy had never looked at Quinn like that before.
"Mind if I sit here?"
Quinn glanced up to find a broad, almost blindingly white smile being cast her way. "It's a free country," she snapped, annoyed that the 'new guy' had interrupted the conversation she was having with Artie, just to ask if he could sit in the only chair in the room that wasn't currently occupied. But then she remembered her manners. "We don't have assigned seating here...any open spot is fair game."
"Thanks," he returned, but didn't sit yet. "Sam Evans."
Quinn glanced from the hand thrust into her face, back up to the boys face, her brain already formulating the sarcastic retort reminding him that was exactly who Mr. Schuester introduced him as. She shifted uncomfortably...damn, this uniform did funny things to her. "Quinn Fabray," she greeted instead, shaking the proffered hand as she glanced to her right. "This is Ar..."
"Yeah, we've already met," Sam cut in, throwing a friendly nod Artie's way as he began lowering himself into the chair beside Quinn. "It was Finn who suggested I audition, and the guys were nice enough to help me build up the confidence to actually do it."
But Quinn was only half listening to his tale, whatever Artie was saying was way more interesting. Sam took a moment to survey the room and quickly came to a unanimous conclusion. "You guys are a friendly bunch, aren't you?" Quinn giggled in response to Artie's ridiculously adorable comment about his mad diaper changing skills, and thinking it was because of what he had said, Sam turned his head just as the pair were going in for a tender kiss. "Wow, really, really friendly."
Quinn pulled away, blushing. "Oh no...he's my boyfriend," she explained laughingly.
"Really?"
Sam sounded surprised and for some reason, that irritated Quinn. "Yes really," she spat defensively.
"Oh, well...that's cool," Sam sputtered, shifting uncomfortably under her smoldering glare. Quinn hadn't realized she was clenching Artie's hand so tight, until she felt him struggle to wiggle his fingers. She flashed an apologetic glance his way, which was received and returned with a gentle thumb running across her knuckles.
"Actually, the majority of this club is paired up in one way or another," Artie stated, ignoring the previous exchange and throwing a pointed glance over his shoulder. "Mercedes and Matt over there are dating...even it they won't admit it to anyone."
Quinn let out a breathy chuckle and visibly relaxed. "So are Finn and Rachel and Tina and Mike," she added to Artie's disclosure, "and Santana's getting naked with Puckerman..."
Artie held back his laughter, but couldn't hide his amusement. "Kurt over there is gay...," he announced, motioning over to the impeccably dressed boy with the curious accessory sprawled across his lap, "...but him and Brittany have this really weird BFF thing going on." His grin widened and he winked at Quinn. "Makes me wonder sometimes."
The inside joke was lost on Sam, but he managed to come up with at least some sort of response. "Doesn't leave much hope for number thirteen then, does it?"
Artie cringed internally. He knew it was totally illogical to let something as stupid as a number bother him like that, but it did. Okay, maybe not illogical, considering that his accident did take place on the thirteenth, or more precisely a Friday the thirteenth and his mothers had since developed a strong aversion to any and all things that contained it...just more like irrational.
"Not to worry," Quinn piped in teasingly, "we did say Kurt was gay, so Brittany is actually available to date..." she paused and shared a short laugh with Sam, then gave a dismissive roll of the eyes. "Besides, this is high school, most of the kids here change relationships more often then they change socks."
"We can introduce you two after class, if you'd like," Artie offered as a way to keep his mind from drifting back to his previous thoughts.
Sam smirked and gave a half shrug of agreement, "Sure. I always did have a thing for blond cheerleaders."
Frowning at the suggestiveness of that comment and the shifty glint in Sam's eye, Artie opened his mouth to retract his previous statement when Mr. Schuester stepped over to them, brow raised pointedly. "If you three are finished with your conversation...we'd like to join us for rehearsal."
...
Artie sat watching the clock. He knew he needed to leave soon, but an inexplicable flutter in his stomach was holding him back. As if reading his mind, Quinn leaned over and whispered into his ear. "You'd better leave now if you're going to get there on time."
"I think I'm gonna skip today," he casually replied.
"Artie, you can't just skip physio," she retorted, still under her breath, but with enough conviction behind it to show she meant business.
"Sure I can, it's no big deal," he shrugged dismissively, then flashed her that brilliant smile. "I'll just make sure to do some extra stretches before bed tonight."
Quinn responded with a frown of disapproval. "That's not the same and you know it."
"Fine," Artie heaved a playful sigh of annoyance and rolled his eyes, "I'll use my braces and crutches too."
"Again, not the same." Her insistence made his grin falter. "Besides the fact that Mom will kill you, and me, if you miss a session without a valid reason...you know it's best if you work with your therapist..."
He opened his mouth to protest. Yes, he was fully aware of what was best...
"Um, Artie?" Will called before he was able to get anything out, and motioned up at the clock. "Don't you usually have to leave a little early on Wednesdays?"
Artie's mouth twisted in a frown of resignation. Apparently, there was no way he was getting out of this. "Um, yeah Mr. Schue...thanks, " he forced both the words and the smile, "I was just getting my things ready." And by ready he meant tugging on his gloves and snapping off his brakes.
When he looked over at her, Artie found Quinn smiling sweetly at him, but even that wasn't enough to make him feel better about leaving. "Have a good session," she muttered sweetly and placed a quick kiss on his cheek before letting him go. "I'll see you at home."
"You two live together?" Sam gasped incredulously as his eyes followed Artie out of the room.
"Yes," Quinn answered, rolling hers at his dramatic inquiry. "My daughter and I live with his family."
"You two have a kid together?"
Quinn was getting a little annoyed at his repetitiveness, but even more so by the noticeable skepticism in his voice. "Um no, not together," she corrected both verbally and visually as her gaze shifted across the room. "She's Noah Puckerman's."
Sam threw his head over his shoulder to look at the jock in question. "You dated him?"
"No, I made a baby with him," Quinn shot back, clearly exasperated and wishing Artie was there to help with damage control, or to just get this guy to shut up. Yet for some unimaginable reason, she could not stop herself from answering him. "I was dating Finn Hudson at the time."
"Whoa," he gasped, eyes widening in disbelief. Quinn supposed she really couldn't blame him, her life was like a storyline from a bad soap opera.
"To make a long story short, I got drunk, got pregnant, got kicked out of my house, got dumped..." Her bitter words trailed off, replaced by a small smile and softening tone. "That's when I moved in with Artie and his family..."
"Well everyone makes mistakes..."
"My daughter is not some mistake," Quinn snapped, nearly biting his head off.
"I...sorry, I'm...I didn't..."
"She's the best thing that even happened to me," Quinn paused thoughtfully, then smiled, "And so is..."
"Guys...I need you to focus please," Mr. Schuester's voice rang out, mildly scolding the pair this time. But Quinn didn't mind. Even without finishing her sentence, she was still thinking about Caroline, and Artie...the two best things that had ever happened to her.
...
Artie was surprised when he beat Quinn and Andy home...and a little disappointed. His mood however was instantly brightened with the arrival of two of his favorite girls. "Caroline wants to see you Artie," Abbey declared as she deposited the baby onto his right knee.
"Oh does she?" he returned with a teasing grin.
"Abbigayle, what did I tell you about walking around the house with the baby?" Alicia asked pointedly.
The little girl finished her careful climb onto her brothers vacant thigh before pleading her defense, "But I held her just the way you told me to."
Alicia knew no matter how stern her best glare of disapproval may be, it was no match for the sight of those three beautiful faces smiling up at her. Shaking her head in mock defeat, she just walked back over to the stove and tried to validate her obvious amusement by changing the subject. "How was your session today Sweetie?"
Artie glanced up at his mother and gave a casual shrug, "Same as always."
Alicia would have liked him to go into a little more detail than that, especially since she was no longer driving, and therefore not privy to those instant progress reports anymore. But she also knew better than to press the issue. Artie was old enough and definitely competent enough to handle things on his own...and if there were ever any serious issues, she hoped he would come to her.
"Good, that means you should be starving," she quipped, grinning playfully at him, "and dinner is just about done..." At Artie's questioning gaze, Alicia's expression softened. "They're on their way home...Quinn called right before you came in." He gave an appreciative nod to which his mother returned with another smile. "Why don't you two help me get this stuff to the table."
Abbey quickly slid off of her brothers lap.
"I'll take her," Alicia called out pointedly, just as the little girl was going in for the baby again. Artie bit back a chuckle at the deep frown this elicited in his sister. "You can get the rolls," mother told daughter, then turned to son, "and Artie will take the salad."
He looked up to find the bowl and bottles of dressing already sitting on a tray for easier transport. Artie smiled to himself. His mother was always so creative and intuitive when it came to those little things that made life easier for him, without ever drawing attention to the fact that he wouldn't be able to do most of them otherwise without assistance. He supposed after having done it for nine years, it was like second nature for her. And for that, he was grateful.
"Hey Ace, I was wondering if you could help me with something," Art asked as they both entered the dinning room at the same time.
"Sure Dad. What's up?" Artie grinned, pulling to a stop just short of the table.
"I have these two new accounts, both heavily in the music field, one's a revamp and the other is a brand new building. I'm having a little trouble figuring out the acoustics and I'd like your opinion on some of the designs I came up with. Maybe we could even bounce some ideas off of one another."
It didn't come as a total shock, he knew his father had designed only a few structures of this nature, but this was the first time he'd asked Artie to help. A smile spread from ear to ear. "Um yeah, that sounds great. I'd love to."
From the other side of the room, Alicia was smiling at the very special exchange taking place between her husband and son. The moment didn't last long though, for as soon as Artie accepted his fathers request, the sound of playful banter filled the air.
"...yeah right Andy." The reverberation of Quinn's laughter could be heard immediately after, and when Artie twisted around, he saw his girlfriend practically skipping toward him. "Hey, I missed you," she whispered breathlessly as she leaned down for a kiss.
"I missed you too," he mumbled into her approaching lips.
Quinn flashed a smile at him after they broke apart, then eagerly accepted the bundle Alicia was offering. "Mommy missed you too, little one," she cooed, peppering Caroline's pudgy cheeks with soft kisses. "Sorry we're so late...Coach Sylvester wasn't happy with the junior varsity performance, so she made us stay to show them how it's supposed to be done."
Artie beamed proudly at her, which in turn made Quinn's smile falter slightly. "She said if they can't get it by Friday, she'll cut everybody and make the varsity squad cheer for both games."
"That's okay, I was planning on staying for both anyway."
Quinn couldn't help but smile at her boyfriend for that. "You were?"
Artie gave her that 'Duh, of course I was' expression that made him look so incredibly adorable.
"What about you Champ...how was practice?"
At the sound of his fathers exuberant voice, Artie turned his head.
"It was awesome Dad," Andy exclaimed as excitedly as the usually moody boy could get.
"You ready for the first game of your high school career?"
Are you kidding?" Andy retorted sarcastically. "I've never been more ready...and Coach so impressed with my hitting, she said she might put me in at starting Linebacker."
"No way," Art bellowed with pride, and wrestled his boy into a giant bear hug. "Wow, that's amazing Andy," he added with a clap to the back.
"And a more than just little dangerous," Alicia voiced in her concern, which in turn made Andy roll his eyes.
"Mom, they shuffle players around all the time," he explained dismissively. "And it's my favorite position...Dad was a Linebacker."
"Like father, like son," Art boasted with immense pride.
Alicia didn't miss the way Andy's face radiated from the praise, or how Artie's chin slowly dropped to his chest...couldn't help but notice even Quinn was having a hard time getting his attention.
"Huh?" Artie grunted, turning his head away from the other conversation.
"I was just saying that you didn't miss anything at rehearsal," Quinn grinned as she repeated her previous statement. "Mr. Schuester said we'll brainstorm ideas for invitationals on Friday."
"Oh, okay...good," he replied distractedly, but managed to make it over to the table his mother was ushering them to.
"We'd better eat, before the meatloaf gets cold and the mashed potatoes turn to glue." Alicia's attempt to lighten certain moods had everyone at the table laughing...well, all but one.
...
ANx2...I would like to implore you to please give this arc a chance, even if some things seem a little ooc. I promise the character development I'm shooting for will be well worth the wait(at least, I believe it will).
