Author's Note: I have a TON of work to do for my classes but...I slacked off to write this. And because of that, I ask for extra long reviews...HAHA! Do please review, regardless of length (though longer = better in my mind). Thanks!

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Sleepover

Today, after everyone got home from work (besides Britt and Puck), we all sat around (even Finn) and just talked. It was nice. Until Artie brought up an embarrassing story from the past. Actually, it's not all that embarrassing but I still pretended like I was mad at him for sharing (though I totally wasn't and he knew it).

About four months after we started dating, Artie told me he loved me. We were sitting at the scenic overlook (one of our favorite spots in Lima), enjoying the view and cuddling together under a blanket (because it was February and freezing) when he took my hand in his and whispered, "I love you."

At first I thought I had imagined it but, when I looked into those round blue eyes of his, I knew I hadn't.

"Um…" Scratching the back of his head, he appeared at a loss about what to say next, especially seeing as I hadn't yet responded. "It's different with you, Quinn. Different than it has been with anyone else. I can't even explain it. It's beyond words. And love…there needs to be a word with a stronger connotation to describe how I feel about you."

Swallowing, I attempted words but utterly failed. Tears welled in my eyes and I fought to keep them back.

"Is that too much?" he kind of squeaked.

Finally, I found my voice. "No, no, no," I repeated. "I feel the same way. I mean, I love you. But it's like this…hard to explain…yeah." Artie's so much better with stuff like that than I am so I sort of piggybacked on what he had said. It wasn't as if it wasn't true though. It was so true. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, I yanked him forward, kissing him hard.

Regrettably, he pulled back. "Quinn, it's getting cold…let's go somewhere we can be warmer."

That's how we ended up at his house and, for the first time in our relationship, I spent the night.

Now to the embarrassing part which isn't all that embarrassing now, looking back, but I wanted to die then.

At two am, I woke up because I had to pee really bad. Glancing at the clock and grumbling, I got out of bed, pulled a minimal amount of clothing on and went in search of the bathroom. The bathroom on the first floor of Artie's house was really only his, as his parents bed and bath are upstairs, so I wasn't worried about running into anybody.

What I didn't know was that his dad was downstairs getting a middle of night snack (which I have since learned is pretty typical for him).

So anyway, I sort of hobbled in the dark, to the bathroom. I put my hand on the knob…and then someone put a hand over mine. Letting out a yelp, I took a step back before swinging my fist in an arc, barely grazing the chin of the perpetrator.

"Quinn?"

As soon as I heard his voice, my eyes widened. Then my eyes grew accustomed to the dark and I realized it was Mr. Abrams. I really wanted a hole to open beneath my feet but that didn't happen. "Oh my God…Mr. Abrams? Oh my God…I'm so sor- I'm just…I was just…" Fumbling over my words wasn't helping any so I just stopped.

"Go ahead," he encouraged me, gesturing toward the bathroom.

I would have objected but I really, really had to pee. I went as quickly as I could, washed my hands, then ran to Artie's room, shaking him once there.

"Wha-what?" He blinked several times before smiling up at me. "Quinn." Cupping my face with his hand, he drew me down for a kiss, which I almost instantly broke.

"Artie, I-"

"What time is it?" Eyes turned toward the clock. "Quinn it's like 2:30. Go back to sleep." As if to help me with that, he pulled me down next to him and tucked the blankets in around me.

"But, Artie! I ran into your dad!"

"So?" Wrapping his arms around me, he held me closer to him.

"So he knows I'm here."

"So?"

"So…he knows I'm spending the night!"

"Quinn," Artie said, his voice tired. "Go to sleep." After dropping a kiss to my forehead, he closed his eyes and fell asleep himself.

I watched him for several minutes before determining that I would try to sneak out before either of his parents got up for work in the morning.

However, this plan was deterred when I slept in until nine. Oops. I got dressed then tiptoed out of his room, down the hall…and was almost to the door, when Quinn's mom called out.

"Quinn, dear, is that you?"

I have no idea how she heard me from the kitchen but she did. Making my way sheepishly through the living room, I paused in the entrance way to the kitchen, taking in the sight of Mr. Abrams reading the Sunday newspaper, Mrs. Abrams fixing breakfast and Artie reading a book. When he saw me, he arched an eyebrow. "Were you going to leave without a goodbye?"

I wanted to die and his little smirky face was making it worse because I almost laughed.

"Oh, no," sang Mrs. Abrams, while flipping a pancake. "You are going to join us for breakfast."

And that's what I did. While at breakfast, Mrs. Abrams informed me that I was the first girl that Artie had ever had a sleepover with (I. Wanted. To. Die.) and that they had, of course, not necessarily allowed it in high school but thought there was the potential that it could happen. However, as he had never discussed it with them, they knew it had never happened. I immediately wondered if that meant Artie had discussed me staying over with them. Mrs. Abrams, as if reading my thoughts, told me that Artie had mentioned it as a distinct possibility some weeks ago. Probably around the same time as he and I had discussed advancing the physical aspect of our relationship so that made sense. After that, we talked about other things and everything was okay but nothing could cut down on the awkwardness I felt.

Afterwards, Artie wheeled me to door, yanking my arm once there so that I would sit in his lap. I did, giving him a light peck on the lips. "Your parents are so cool, Artie. My parents would have…I don't even know. Not been cool. Not that my dad has any room to judge or anything…"

Shrugging, Artie slid his arms around me, "Yeah, I guess they are pretty cool. I've always been able to talk to them about pretty much everything. I can trust them, you know? And they trust me."

Nodding, I said, "You're lucky."

Grinning, he kissed me and affirmed that he was indeed lucky. "I'm lucky to have them and luckier still, luckiest guy ever, to have you."

"Aww, baby…" Of course, I had to kiss him again (that back and forth kissing went on for awhile).

But Artie didn't mention any of that when retelling the story. He just said, "One time, Quinn spent the night and she ran into my dad when she had to use the restroom in the middle of night and she was so embarrassed. You should've seen her face." And he tried to imitate my face from that morning. Everyone laughed except for me. I chose to swat him instead.

"More stories!" Brittany clapped.

"You love it," Artie whispered into my ear, as Puck started to talk about the time in eight grade he had convinced Finn a snow man had come to life and was Frosty's cousin.

"Do not," I protested.

"Do too." Poking me, he waited for my confession. But it was going to be a long time coming…in that, it never would come.

But I love everything about him and us. Obviously.