New York was nice but Tina was glad to be home. And by home, she no longer meant Lima. She was referring to her little dorm room with Lauren on the beautiful campus of Brown, which was beginning to wake up to springtime.

They'd spent some time exploring Manhattan with their friends before catching the train on Saturday. Then, beginning Saturday night, Tina and Artie started reviewing their notes from Organic Chemistry and Calculus. On Sunday, they were still at it. And, by Sunday night, Tina knew she needed to take a break during the week, or else she'd go crazy.

She vowed to start going to the gym on campus, as a way to relieve stress and get back into shape. Tina debated going with Artie and Lauren, but they had a very specific regime that mostly involved the weight room. She wanted to do something else. Since she was unsure about her ankle, swimming seemed like a great way to ease her mind.

"Oh, cool, like in The Paper Chase," Artie had said, when she suggested swimming together on Monday, after class. "Sorry, that's one of those random old movies I like. This one's honestly a classic, though, and it's about this guy trying to survive law school. You should check it out. Anyway, I'd love to go swimming. But I can't right now. I'm gonna go to Disability Services to look into what we were talking about on the plane."

Tina has smiled, encouragingly. "That's good, Artie," she said. "I'm glad you're doing that. Okay, we'll catch up another time for swimming."

She hurried back to her dorm, as best she could in the boot, to face the horror that was putting on a bathing suit after the spring break of Artie's grandma's pies. She was examining her curves in the mirror, in her solid black one piece, when Lauren stepped into the door. Tina sucked in her stomach, then sighed. "I'm so bloated," she complained. "Artie's grandmother fed us way too many calorie-rich meals."

"Grandmothers have a way of doing of doing that," Lauren said. "Quit body-shaming yourself. So, your weight fluctuates a little, so what? I bet that suit's no bigger than, what, a large?" Lauren rolled her eyes. "I'm done with body shaming myself. Derrick says I'm beautiful the way I am. That's all I need."

Tina grinned, so thankful for Lauren, always keeping it real. "I want to hear all about the beach when I get back from swimming at the gym," she said, slipping her sweats back on over the suit. "Or you could come with, if you want."

"Can't," she said. "I've got work. But I'll see you later, I'm having grocery store sushi and I got enough to share, if you want." When Tina shook her head, Lauren exhaled loudly. "Fine. Eat grass, if you must, but you should know you're a twig bitch. See you later."

Lauren was probably, sort of, kidding when she called her a twig bitch, so Tina didn't take any offense, nor did she worry that Lauren was upset. She'd just figured she'd see her later and hear all about the beach. She was glad that Lauren was lucky in love. She also figured she'd withhold the news of the Quinn and Puck engagement from her, for now.

She fastened her trusty boot on, along with the nifty shoe lift for the opposite foot, and headed out. On the way, she appreciated the newly revised ramp outside the door. She'd already watched Artie go up and down a few times by himself. It also helped that the ice had all melted.

The campus gym was just a block away from the dorm. Tina felt sorry for not visiting it any sooner. She had just been so busy and overwhelmed, adapting to her classes and balancing a work schedule, that she had never made it over.

The pool was empty, except for one other swimmer. She removed her sweats and the boot in the locker room and stepped out in her bathing suit, carefully babying the weak ankle. The water was the perfect temperature, even if the air was a little chilly, and she felt her whole body relax as she went under. Tina was always a decent swimmer, and she could go hard enough to get a real workout. As she did her laps, two lanes over, another swimmer kept pace with her.

After several minutes of this, they both surfaced at the same time. This guy was Asian and, Tina couldn't help but notice, extremely cute. He wasn't quite Daniel Dae Kim from Lost, no, he was more like Booboo Stewart. Tina hadn't cared for the Twilight books or movies, but she did like the actor who'd portrayed Seth Clearwater.

"Hi," said, presumably, Booboo Stewart.

"Hi," she said back, wishing she weren't dripping wet, probably with eyeliner running down her face, at that very moment.

"Come here often?" he asked, and two seconds into the conversation, Tina already had the sense that he was sort of a nerd, even though he looked like the hot Asian in Twilight. She had a type, she supposed, and that type was attractive yet totally out of touch with societal views. See also: Artie.

"I'm going to start," she said. "I needed a way to exercise without running. You see, I fractured my ankle on some ice back in February. I've been in a boot since then."

"I see," he said. "I just started coming, too. My name's Kevin, by the way." He ducked under the rope and into the lane next to hers and, in an awkwardly former manner, held out a hand to shake.

"Tina," she said, smiling and shaking his hand. "I'm looking for someone to swim with. You and I seem to keep up with each other pretty well." Even she was impressed with her own flirting. She had never been this forward.

"It's looking like I'll be here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 3:10," he said, again giving off that slight nerd vibe that drove her crazy. "Does that work for you?"

"Sure," she'd said, and because he was kind of a nerd, she was feeling all the more brave when she did what she did next. Hopping out of the pool, she half-walked/half-limped to where her phone and towel were. Coming back over, she asked, "What's your number? You know, in case you ever need to change the time."

"Oh, I'm pretty punctual," he said, as she handed him her phone for him to put his number in. "It's under Kevin Nguyen. That starts with an 'N,' by the way."

She sent her full name to him via text, smirking as she did so, in this unfamiliar way that was so not her and yet, with this slightly nerdy yet adorable looking Asian guy, she surprised herself with an unprecedented confidence. And even while limping, bloated, and dripping wet. Who even are you? Are you even Tina Cohen-Chang?

"You just left with the guy's number, just like that?" Lauren looked impressed, when she finished telling the story of how she'd met a cute Asian guy at the gym. "Did you verify heterosexual status and did you make sure he didn't have a family waiting at home?"

"Lauren, I've just barely introduced myself," she said, sitting down on top of her bed, across from Lauren. "But you would have been proud of me. I was confident, kind of domineering, and I just decided I was getting his number, and that was that. I'm fairly sure he's not gay or married, but I'll try to confirm it on Wednesday when I see him again."

"'Atta girl!" Lauren exclaimed, then after a beat, she seemingly just remembered. "What about Artie?"

"Artie?" Tina echoed, feeling her face flush.

"Well, yeah," Lauren went on. "Before you went with him to visit his extended family, which by the way, should have already told you something... you and Artie were constantly being flirty. Derrick wanted to know if there was a reason you looked like you were ready to sling an axe at the little blonde girl when you both came to Stumpy's that one time."

Tina sighed, falling back against her pillows. "Lauren, I think I know why Artie doesn't want to date me, and I actually believe that it's really not me, it's him. I know it's an old cliche, but in Artie's case, it's true." She closed her eyes, playing back his words. To be perfectly honest, Tina, I never wanted to drag anyone else into it.

"I'm confused, is he gay?"

Tina laughed. "No, Artie Abrams is definitely straight," she said. "But he's also afraid of letting anyone too close. He's so private about his life, you know, and everything to do with the chair."

"He kind of told me the same thing," Lauren remembered. "You know, we talk sometimes when we're lifting weights. And well, you know I don't hold back. This was awhile ago. I just straight up asked him why he decided to become such a little slut in New York."

"And?" Tina asked, curious now.

"And he tells me, it was easy because he didn't really know those girls," she said. "And they didn't know him. So he said it was easy to just sleep with them and move on."

That was much more than Artie had ever shared with Tina, but it was nothing she didn't know already. The same could have been said for Brittany and Sugar and that random girl at the wedding. He didn't really know any of them, so there was nothing to lose. It was beginning to make a lot more sense.

"So, what are you going to do with that?" Lauren asked, when Tina didn't say anything.

"I'm not doing anything else," Tina said, shrugging. "I said what I wanted to say, I told him how I felt, and he's not willing to go there. I'm leaving it alone. Anyway, enough about me. I want to hear about you and Derrick."

"Here, I'll show you instead," said Lauren, moving to sit by Tina on her bed.

She flipped through some pictures and began taking her through their beach trip to Gulf Shores that week, starting with some pictures that showed the house and them hanging out with Derrick's family. She then moved on to some of them together at a county fair, on the Ferris wheel, playing games and holding the stuffed animals they'd won as prizes, eating corn dogs, playing in paddle boats, and finally, some rather intimate shots of them sitting on the beach at sunset, Lauren looking especially tan in a white sundress and Derrick looking nice in a white shirt and khakis.

Tina sighed. "That's amazing," she said. "I'm so happy for you, Lauren."

Two weeks later, Tina had now been swimming with this guy, Kevin, five times. She was having fun, and as an added bonus, she'd also finally been able to lose the boot on the Thursday before they'd planned to meet up for swimming again on Friday.

"Hey!" Artie caught up with her after their last class on Friday. "So, how does it feel?" He gestured to her ankle.

"Not bad," Tina said. "I still find myself trying to baby it a little. The doctor told me to try to walk normally, to build the muscle back up."

Artie nodded. "Hey, I wanted to join you for swimming today," he said. "I brought my trunks in my backpack. You still going?"

Tina froze. She hadn't told Artie about the handsome Asian guy she'd started swimming with. "I'm... going," she said. "I've been meeting a guy there. His name is Kevin. I just met him the Monday after we got back from break..."

"Oh, okay," Artie said, shrugging and almost convincing Tina that he wasn't bothered by that. "Well, sure, no problem. Maybe I'll just catch you another time."

"Artie, wait," Tina said. "You're welcome to join us." What she'd expected, though, was for him to decline.

"Okay, sure," he said, brightly. Tina was flabbergasted. He really doesn't care, she thought. He doesn't even care that I like another guy.

"Great," she said, hoisting her duffel back onto her shoulder and falling into step next to Artie as they headed towards the gym.

Kevin, ever the punctual one, was already waiting for her in the pool at exactly 3:10, as Tina exited the locker room first, clad in her black one piece again. She'd bought a couple of other suits, since she'd begun her swimming routine, but she tended to like her black one best. Artie was still changing in the mens' locker room.

"Hey, you got rid of your boot!" Kevin exclaimed, smiling at her. "I bet that's a relief."

"It feels much better," she agreed, slipping into the water beside him. She adjusted her bathing cap, which she'd just started wearing to protect her hair from the chemicals. She was surprisingly unconcerned about looking weird in it around Kevin.

"I'm glad it's the weekend," he said. Then he tried but failed to sound smooth as he shifted into his obviously pre-planned speech. "So, uh, speaking of the weekend. What do you like to do when you're not going to class and swimming?"

"Oh, um..." Tina had started to say, but before she could get her words out, Artie rolled up to them. "Oh, hey Kevin, a friend of mine wanted to come swimming with us. This is Artie."

Artie reached down to shake Kevin's hand, as he locked his chair into place with the other. Tina felt bad that Kevin was caught off-guard, but she hadn't had a chance to warn him that she was bringing another guy. Hopefully, it wouldn't come out too soon that Artie was an ex-boyfriend.

"Kevin," said Kevin. "Nice to meet you."

Artie grabbed one leg and then the other, setting his feet on the ground as he eased himself down. Then, with the same motion, he slipped into the pool and sighed deeply. "First swim since summer," he said. "This feels amazing."

Artie immediately began floating on his back, leaving Kevin an opportunity to finish what he'd been trying to ask Tina.

"So, back to what I was saying about the weekend," Kevin began, awkwardly. It was strange, that a guy as attractive as he could be so painfully obvious about his advances. "Would you, uh, like to go out with me sometime? Like maybe this Saturday?"

"Sure," said Tina, noticing out of the corner of her eye, that Artie had popped his head up and moved to hold onto the side of the pool nearby.

"Kevin, have you ever been to Stumpy's?" he asked, and Tina raised her eyebrows at him. She instantly realized what Artie was up to, and she was annoyed by his meddling. If he was going to reject her, then fine, but why was he then interfering with her future dating prospects?

"Oh, the axe-throwing place?" Kevin replied. "Yeah, man, I love that place. Hey, Tina, do you want to go to Stumpy's on Saturday?"

"I'd love to," said Tina, breaking her death stare that was pointed at Artie to smile blithely at Kevin.

"We should get a group to go," Kevin went on, and it was then that Tina decided she was going to be holding Artie under water for a few minutes, if Kevin left first. "You want to come, Artie?"

"Sure," said Artie. "I have someone I can bring." Tina was fairly sure he meant Kitty, and she and Artie had to be the last two people Tina wanted to go on a double date with. (Well, save for Mike and Noelle.)

"Great," said Tina, through clenched teeth. "It's a date."