Author's Note: Credit for the first half of this chapter goes to QuinnAbrams. Her amazing contribution inspired the rest of this chapter to be written pretty quickly.

I'd love a review to hear what you liked, didn't like or want to see more of in this story!

Artie

Upon leaving the elevator, it didn't take Artie long to spot his date for the night, standing by the dorm building's front desk.

"Hey, Julie!" Artie greeted the girl with the short brown hair with a wave as he wheeled over. She was wearing a pretty maroon colored knit dress with a long grey coat. Artie couldn't help but think of how weird it was to see her in nice clothes and not a swimsuit. "You look nice," he commented as he pulled his wheels to a stop.

The girl blushed and tucked a piece of her straight, shoulder-length hair behind her ear. "Thank you, Artie, so do you," she replied.

Artie smiled. It was already a production for Artie to get himself ready to go out, but tonight it took even longer, if that was possible. He changed his mind about his outfit three times before settling on a pair of nice fitted khakis, a gingham button down shirt, and his winter jacket. Artie had grown accustomed to leaving the top few buttons undone, per Sam's direction. Speaking of Sam, Artie had hoped to see his roommate before he left for his date tonight, to get his opinion on the clothes, but Artie had to leave before Sam made it back from his appointment with his advisor.

"So, uh, I was thinking that we could head to the Italian place a couple blocks away — Salvatore's —for dinner before heading to the student center. A kid in my Biology lab said that they're having a karaoke night tonight, and I thought that that could be fun. Do you sing?" Artie realized that he had just dumped a whole lot of information on Julie all at once. When he got nervous, he tended to talk really fast, which Amy had always referred to as "word vomiting."

If Julie was bothered by this, she didn't show it.
"I sing sometimes, usually just in the privacy of the shower, though," Julie confessed. "But I really like that plan. Should we get going?"

Artie grinned and nodded as he pushed himself toward the exit. At the last minute though, Julie stepped in front of him, opening the door and holding it open for Artie to wheel through. This stunned him for a moment — he totally could have handled that door on his own — but he decided not to say anything, and to simply flash Julie a grateful, tight-lipped smile.

The two new friends made small talk and recapped their busy weeks as they made their way to the restaurant. Though they had hardly spoken, save for the couple of conversations they'd had at the pool, Artie realized very quickly that he liked Julie. She was bubbly and witty, and she laughed at all of his lame jokes and got all of his film references without him having to elaborate. She was so different from the type of girls he had dated in high school, and he was excited to get to know her better tonight.

Artie had called ahead at the restaurant, so a table for two, with one chair pulled away to accommodate his wheels, was awaiting them when they arrived. The restaurant wasn't fancy by any means, but it was definitely a step above what their Dining Dollars usually allowed them to eat. Plus, Artie had some extra cash now that he had his job as a reader for the visually impaired.

"How was your Thanksgiving?" Artie asked Julie, pulling off his black fingerless gloves and tucking them in the pocket of his coat. "This was your first time going home all semester, right?"

"It was," Julie confirmed, nodding. "I loved getting to see my friends and family again, especially my dog. And it sure is a lot warmer in Arizona this time of year than it is in Ohio."

Artie laughed. "I could use a little warmth," he said. "I hate the snow. I'd love to live in a place like Arizona..." Artie wished he could rewind that. Now it sounded like he was planning their life together on their first date. He blushed and quickly stopped talking, before he could say anything else that dumb again.

How was your holiday?" Julie asked, sparing him the embarrassment by not acknowledging that last comment. "I think I remember Sam saying something about his family coming and staying with your family?"

Artie nodded.

"Sam's family lives in Kentucky now, so he came back to Lima with me and his parents and siblings drove up for the week," Artie explained their somewhat complicated arrangement. "We mostly hung out with our high school friends from glee club."

They were interrupted by their waiter, coming to take their orders. Julie ordered a caesar salad and Artie opted for the chicken parm, hearing Sam's voice in the back of his head telling him to order some protein that would "bulk him up". Over their meal, he and Julie discussed everything from their favorite movie directors (for him it was, of course, Spielberg, but he learned that she preferred Scorsese) to their extracurriculars in high school (she was on the swim and Academic Decathlon teams, and Artie made sure to tell her about the time McKinley's Brainiacs won the "Smarty Pants" TV game show).

Artie was having such a good time with Julie that he was disappointment when the dinner portion of their date was over. Lucky for him, they still had the second half of their date ahead of them, and Artie was really looking forward to singing in front of a real audience again, even if it was just karaoke on campus. She'd acted coy about singing in front of people, but during a moment earlier that night when she'd been trying to recall a song from a soundtrack, she'd sung a few lines and Artie was reminded of Quinn's subtle but charming alto voice.

He was really going to have to stop comparing girls. Besides, aside from some similarities between her voice and Quinn's, she really was unlike any girl he'd ever been out with before.

The snow had started falling again during dinner, which prompted an exasperated eye roll from Artie as they exited the restaurant. Julie, on the other hand, reacted as though she'd seen something miraculous.

"I'll never get used to this!" she exclaimed, doing a little twirl ahead of Artie and then stopping to look back at him. "It's magical, isn't it? Oh... sorry, I forgot, you said you hate it, huh?"

"Just when it accumulates," Artie commented. "Flurries aren't so bad. You're right... they are kind of magical." He was totally lying though, because he hated snow with a passion, and she saw through it, giving a laugh as she fell into step beside him.

"Sorry you hate it so much,"'Julie replied. "Is it just because it's hard to push your wheels through snow and ice?"

Artie wasn't going to tell her the story of how he'd once tipped over backwards on the steepest ramp at his high school because of a bunch of ice that the janitor neglected to treat. He hadn't even meant for his wheels to come up in conversation that night.

"Yup," he said, keeping it uncharacteristically short and sweet.

Following a slight lull in the conversation, as they started off in the direction of the student center for karaoke, Julie started up their routine of asking questions to get to know one another again. "So, what's your major? Or have you picked one?"

"Thinking of pharmacology," he said. "Only because it seemed like something I'd be able to handle, as far as the coursework goes, and you know, there could be an actual career waiting for me at the end of it. What about you?"

"I haven't decided yet," Julie said. "Ugh, I hate saying that, because at one point, I was set on going to film school and making movies. You know, like you..."

"Well, a chemistry lab doesn't exactly ignite my passion either," Artie admitted. "Er, no pun intended..." She'd giggled at the bad pun somehow. "I honestly don't think I really know yet either. I thought I was set on film school either. But the closer I got to graduation, I don't know... it felt like everyone was telling me to be more realistic. Even though, to be fair, no one actually discouraged me. It was all in my head."

"You just have to let your old dream become a part of your new dream," Julie said, as her hand brushed his shoulder in a way that caught him off-guard. "The Paralympics, right? Sam said your goal is to get there by 2016, when the games are in Rio. Well... if you do that, don't forget to document it along the way. It's going to be a powerful story, Artie."

Artie paused. He thought about his story, in light of the bad news he'd just received about his back. It was definitely the plot twist in the story, and if he was going to tell it, it wouldn't be a really good documentary if he didn't tell it all.

"You think you could help me with that?" he asked, earnestly.

"Of course," she said, and then ducking her head shyly, she added, "I want you to know, that even though I think you'd make a great subject for a documentary, what with your story about preparing for the Paralympics, that wasn't the basis for my interest in you, Artie."

The way she kept ending her sentences with his name kept getting his attention. And the fact that she'd just said she was interested in him. I mean, obviously here she was, on a date with him, but her saying it out loud meant even more.

When they reached the student center, Artie realized it was a lot more crowded than he'd anticipated. If there was one thing he disliked more than snow, it was crowds, but they managed to make their way through and find themselves a spot at a little round table along the side of the room. Someone was on stage absolutely butchering 'Time After Time,' and Artie found himself thinking about Rachel and Sam's rendition at the house party. And about Ryder and Kitty, dancing behind him, while he'd tried his best not to look their way...

"What are you going to sing?" Julie asked. Someone had placed booklets of song choices at each table, and she began leafing through it, tilting it in Artie's direction so he could see it, too.

"Don't you mean what are we going to sing?" Artie asked, grinning slyly at her. She, in turn, made a horrible face. "Oh, come on, I heard you sing a little at dinner. You have a nice voice. I bet we'd sound good together."

"Fine, let's do 'I've Got You Babe,'" she said, eliciting a huge eye roll from Artie. "What? I could sing that. Except I'll do Sonny Bono's part, you can be Cher..."

"Let's do 'Time of My Life,'" Artie suggested, seriously. "Everyone likes that song. And you could carry the girl's part well. Your voice is really similar to my friend, Quinn's, and this was her duet with Sam for our glee club sectionals performance during my sophomore year."

Julie sighed. "If you insist," she said. "But I'm serious, I haven't sung in front of people, I'm gonna choke... is, uh, is something wrong?"

Artie had noticed just then that the makeshift stage really allowed no means for him to wheel up there. Someone would have to lift his chair up, some stranger, and he was going to feel helpless and just plain weird in front of his date. He really wasn't up for that, not tonight. He had to come up with something to say.

"I understand," he said, quickly. "Don't let me pressure you. I'm sorry, Julie, if you don't want to, we won't do it..."

"Its nearly twenty-fourteen," said a voice behind him. Artie froze. "Nearly twenty-fourteen and yet we still encounter accessibility issues in the public arena. Tsk, tsk."

He turned slowly to come face to face with none other than his sister. Behind her, a sheepish-looking Sam scratched the back of his neck and looked very uncomfortable. Artie couldn't believe it.

"Spy much?" he asked, incredulously. He noticed Julie looking back and forth between them, very confused. He sighed. "Julie, my sister, Amy. Amy, Julie. And of course you know Sam."

"Pleased to meet you," Amy said, turning her attention back to Artie after she'd briefly addressed his date. "Artie, everyone in this room would be morally remissed if we didn't get to hear you sing. Now, come on, just let me and Sam get you on stage. We can yell at someone later for not putting up a ramp."

But Artie had his face buried in his hands now. He couldn't excape her. He supposed Amy was going to keep coming around, every chance she got, to see Sam on the weekends. He just couldn't get over the fact that they'd found him here.

"I swear to you, I didn't know even she would be coming today," Sam was saying, quickly defending the fact that he'd brought her here.

"We really don't have to sing," Julie was saying.

But Amy could be quite the crusader for the cause of accessibility. She'd stopped short of trying to find out exactly who had planned the thing but forgotten to make sure their venue was ADA compliant. Normally, Artie didn't mind, and even appreciated, his sister's passion. Not now. So much for a night focused on something other than his wheels.

But, once he was onstage, he managed to forget the trouble it had been to get there. He was able to belt out the song that he and everyone who had ever watched 'Dirty Dancing' knew by heart. And he was able to smile at and encourage Julie, who had barely been audible at the start of the song, to sing her heart out by the end.

"You two sounded great together," Amy said, after she and Sam had helped to lower Artie's chair down from the stage to the floor again. Now she was following Artie and his date back to their table, as though she and Sam's intrusion was instantly going to be forgiven and forgotten.

"Well, it was great seeing you guys," Artie said, loudly, for he had to yell over the group of girls who were now blaring 'Hey, Mickey' from the stage.

Amy, taking that as her and Sam's cue to get lost, had the decency to do just that. "Well," she said. "We better get going. Sam's taking me back to my friend Hayley's place for the night. Nice meeting you, Julie."

And as they took their leave, Sam turned and shot Artie the most apologetic look on the way out.

Julie fixed Artie with a curious stare. "So, what's your sister doing with your roommate?"

Artie rolled his eyes. "Exactly."