Artie

He was looking forward to sleeping in a little on Friday, then maybe taking Julie to a nice place for lunch for Valentine's Day and then showing her around Lima. If they had time, they might drop by Sam's family's new house and see the kids. Then, later on, they would all head to the school where McKinley High was hosting the middle school Regionals show choir competition right after school that day. A bunch of the high schoolers were planning on being there to cheer on the kids.

So, when Kitty called him before 8:00 in the morning on Friday, he was shocked and a little annoyed, but he answered anyway.

"Hey," he said, groggily.

"Sorry to bother you," Kitty said. "Study hall is the only time when I can use my phone. Listen, I heard you're home already, and we need your help." She laughed a little before she said the next part. "This sounds stupid, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's a glee club emergency."

Artie sat up in bed. "What kind of emergency?"

"It's Spencer," Kitty went on. "The block head went and fractured his ankle the other day. Four weeks before we go to Regionals. He already can't dance to save his life. Then, as if that's not bad enough, he brings in crutches and tries to dance on those."

Artie only remembered which one Spencer was because he was the gay jock who was dating Rory's cousin. Not a lot of gay jocks dating hipster Irishmen at that school.

"So, you want him to use a wheelchair," Artie said, slowly putting the pieces together.

"Exactly," Kitty said. "Can we borrow Big Red? I promise I won't let the clumsy oaf break it."

Artie laughed. "Yeah, okay."

"Okay?" she echoed. "Okay, great! Also, the other part is, we need you to come to practice this afternoon to help him work himself into the routines. Actually, he has gym class before practice, but obviously he has to sit out. So if you can come around 2:00, you could help him with the basics before everyone else gets there. Then, after glee club, we can all go straight to the auditorium to cheer on the kids.

"Kitty, it's Valentine's Day," Artie said, feeling weird pointing this out to his ex. "I had plans to take Julie around Lima today..." he trailed off. "I guess we could grab brunch and then I could bring her."

Kitty hesitated, then: "Yeah, bring her."

So that was how Artie ended up arranging an early brunch date with Julie instead, at the Lima Bean since it would be empty of school kids that day, and then they headed to McKinley High to meet up with Spencer during the second to last block of the day. Julie, being the good-natured soul that she was, said that seeing Artie's high school sounded like fun.

He felt like kind of a loser, for showing up again after having visited over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, too. They were bringing along the second wheelchair for Spencer, and Artie supposed he could have suggested she just push the empty chair and walk along with it, but instead, she sat in it and wheeled along beside him.

"Everyone thinks I've found myself some cute girl in a wheelchair," Artie commented, as she smirked and wheeled along beside him in Big Red.

Julie chuckled. "I do hope they're not thinking 'he could do better.'"

"They're not," Artie assured her.

They were meeting Spencer in the choir room, but he hadn't counted on Kitty to be there with Mason and Madison. At the very least, he was grateful for the group, to create a buffer for the awkwardness that was introducing the new girlfriend to the old girlfriend.

"Everyone, this is Julie," Artie said, as she quickly jumped up from the wheelchair and pushed it aside, tucking her hair behind her ears with a shy smile. "Julie, this is Spencer, Mason, Madison, and Kitty."

To his great credit, he managed not to give any indication that he felt as awkward as he did. He supposed he'd grown in this way, as the old Artie would have stumbled over the introduction and turned red.

Kitty, Mason, and Madison were in their Cheerios uniforms, the girls with their jackets and pants under the skirts, since it was freezing outside. Artie knew they still wore them anytime there was a school event, so he assumed it was to show their support for the middle schoolers later.

"Nice to meet you," Kitty said, and Artie tried to continue playing it cool as the two girls shook hands.

Kitty then gestured at Mason and Madison. "I got these two out of practice early so they could show you the routine," she said. "If anyone asks, though, they were never here. I... I have to get back to practice myself since I'm captain. Good luck. I'll back back later, for glee club."

Whether Kitty really had to get back to Cheerios practice or whether she was just making an excuse to leave remained unclear. Artie shook that off, however, and turned his attention to Mason and Madison. And of course, Spencer, his new protégée.

"I guess I'm a bit big for your chair," Spencer commented, as he took a seat and Artie examined him.

"Yeah, but seeing as you're not actually using it all the time, it works," he commented. "Take it for a spin around the room."

At first, Spencer couldn't even seem to wheel in a straight line. "Push both wheels at the exact same time," Artie called, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. C'mon, dude, it isn't rocket scientist. Don't you play sports? He bit back the snide comments in his head.

After he got the jock straightened out, no gay jokes intended, he began teaching him to do simple turns. He only had a short time to teach the basics, though, because then Mason and Madison had to start showing him their choreography to the first song, so that Artie could work out something for the chair.

'Pompeii' was a great choice for an opening number. It was upbeat, there were lots of opportunities for different soloists to be featured, and you could dance to it.

"Okay, so when they do a turn, you have to start a half second earlier than the group, to be in sync with them," Artie advised, as Spencer listened intently and nodded. "Make sure you go the same direction, too, or else someone will probably bump you. I'm thinking let's just leave you on the end, next to one of the better dancers, so they can work around you. Although in some parts, it may look better to have you in the middle."

He'd never explained this to anyone. He'd just done it. During his years in glee club, once he worked up the nerve to be in the dance routines instead of hiding behind the bass with the band, Artie just always figured out his own choreography and worked himself in, as they learned the steps together. By the end, he was even able to throw something together the many times they'd made up a routine on the spot. But teaching his strategies was something new.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Spencer announced, proudly, when he finally managed to execute a turn in time with Mason and Madison.

Julie applauded from where she'd perched on one of the chairs in the top row of the risers. Unknowingly, she'd actually taken Kitty's usual spot. Artie tried not to dwell on that.

"We have two more numbers and we're almost out of time," Madison said. "Everyone's gonna be here pretty soon. I guess we'll just rehearse this one today, with the group."

Artie hesistated. "Well... I guess I'm going to have to come back," he said. He glanced at Julie, who just nodded. Maybe she'd be willing to come along. Maybe he could repay her by flying to Arizona with her sometime, if they could find any plane tickets they could afford.

"Sorry to create such a hassle," Spencer said, looking down at his foot. "Maybe I should just sit this competition out. It would give us an even number of people on stage."

"You will not do that," Kitty said, as she entered the room with Marley, Ryder, Jake, and Unique not far behind. The junior class still stuck together, as they always had.

"You will not do that because," she went on, as Spencer stared up at her from his seat. "It never stopped Artie, and it won't stop you. The judges never deducted anything from us for having a wheelchair on our stage before, and they won't start now."

"You'll be learning from the best."

Artie turned to see that it was Amy who had said that, as she entered with Will and Sam, while the rest of the club members entered right after them. Artie blushed fiercely as they all took their seats. (Since Julie was in Kitty's, she kindly took another seat without saying a word about it.) Being the center of attention wasn't his thing, but he appreciated their compliments just the same.

"Listen up," Will said, with his usual clap of the hands. "Ms. Abrams needs to go round up the middle schoolers and get them into their costumes, but before she does that, she wanted to stop by and say something to us."

"Thanks, Mr. Schue," Amy said, stepping forward. She looked so different, dressed in a nice outfit and with her hair curled. Artie thought she actually looked like a real teacher, for a change. She tugged nervously at her dress. "Um, so, I just wanted to stop by and formally invite you all to the show this afternoon. It'll be on our campus, as you know, this year, and it would mean so much to these kids to have you in the audience."

"We wouldn't miss it for anything," Kitty spoke up. She was clearly the leader here, just as she was for the Cheerios, and everyone was nodding and murmuring in agreement. Kitty had a talent for rallying people. It was something Artie really admired. If anyone was 'the new Rachel' of this bunch, it was Kitty.

Amy left with Sam then, to go get her kids ready for the show. The New Directions still had their rehearsal, though they intended to cut it short that day, in order to get to the auditorium and get enough seats for everyone. Once they'd finished working Spencer's wheelchair into 'Pompeii,' Mr. Schuester announced that was all they had time for that day. Without further adieu, they all headed to the auditorium to see the show.

"I can't wait to have some of these kids in high school with us next year," Marley was saying, as a large group of the high schoolers gathered at Breadstix to celebrate the middle schoolers and their big win.

"They still have big shoes to fill," Jane added, rather diplomatically, as her boyfriend and senior, Mason, put his arm around her and gave her an appreciative grin.

"Ms. Abrams has done a great job training them up," Roderick, who didn't seem as shy as he once did, added. He grinned proudly at his brother, Gregory, who'd been the one featured on most of the numbers.

"It definitely helps," Mr. Schuester added. "We're losing a lot of great talent next year." He didn't fail to say that, for the benefit of Mason, Madison, Joe, Rory, Harmony, and Sugar. "But it looks like we stand to gain a lot of talent. I just hope we'll continue in the tradition of starting them young."

"To Nationals!"

Everyone raised their glasses, as Leah led the toast, her older brother giving her an amused smirk. Puck had showed up that day to watch his sister. The "mini-Directions" (someone had given this name to them, un-officially) were last to go on, so he'd almost missed it, in true Puckerman form.

"Is Amy alright?" Julie whispered to Artie. She'd left her seat at the table as soon as they'd sat down, and now she was nowhere to be found. It had been several minutes, and the waiter had shown up now, to take their orders.

"I'll go check on her," Emma volunteered, getting up from her seat now and heading in the direction of the ladies room, to check on Amy.

"I'm sure she's fine," Artie whispered back to Julie. "Listen, um, you know we don't have to do this group thing. I'd be perfectly fine if you want to get a different table, just the two of us. It is Valentine's Day, I mean."

"It's no problem," Julie assured him. "You took me out earlier. And anyway, we have all day tomorrow. I want to get to know your friends."

They'd almost all finished ordering by the time Amy returned to the table, Emma trailing along behind her. Sam stood up immediately and went to her side. Her face was shockingly pale and her curled hair had fallen limply around her face. It looked like she was trying to preserve whatever dignity she had left.

"Sorry, guys," she said, weakly. "I must have a virus or something. Um, Sam's gonna drive me home."

Artie hadn't ordered yet, and neither had Julie. He looked at her and she nodded. "We'll head out, too," he said. "I mean, we shouldn't stay, in case we've got what Amy has."

Amy opened her mouth, looking like she might say something in protest, but then she closed it without speaking. She turned and left with Sam, without another word.

"Will you still come back next weekend, to help me with the choreography for the rest of the songs?" Spencer asked Artie, breaking the uncomfortable silence. He'd left Artie's old wheelchair at the school and had traded it for the crutches when they'd left.

"I'll try," Artie told him, as he backed his chair away from the table. "In the meantime, use my old chair while you're at school. You'll learn a lot just navigating the halls on wheels, and it'll help you look more comfortable onstage."

"I actually think he ought to stick with the wheels after his foot heals." The jab had come from Roderick, who was the last person one would expect to see teasing the jock, but Spencer just laughed and gave a nod of agreement.

"I guess we'll see you again soon then," Kitty added, smiling in Artie's direction from her seat by Ryder. "It was nice meeting you, Julie."

"You too," Julie said, smiling politely at Kitty as she stood up to leave with Artie.

Julie knew exactly who Kitty was, that she was the girl that Artie had confessed he still had feelings for, back when she and Artie had met in November. And yet she was able to be mature in the situation, as was Kitty. Artie was pretty grateful for how smoothly it had gone.

As they left, something occurred to Artie. "You shouldn't spend the night with Amy," he said to Julie, as they headed out, the freezing wind hitting them sharply in the face. "Maybe... we could just go on home. Back to OSU, I mean. If I have to, I can come back to get Sam, or he could always catch the train or the bus."

"Are you sure he won't mind?" Julie asked, wrapping her coat tightly around her body as she gave a shiver.

"Positive," he said. "I'm sure he'll want to stay behind and take care of her while she's sick. But I don't think we need to be exposed any more than we already were."

Artie already knew that a stomach virus could be even worse for him, than the average person, and that was something he could do without, on Valentine's Day weekend no less. He'd just have to call Amy later to check on her. Sam would take care of her.

"Well, that sounds good then," Julie said. "Um, so let's just swing by the house and get our luggage and the we can get something to eat in Columbus later."

"Hey, Abrams!" Artie turned in surprise to see that Puck had followed them out of the restaurant. He pivoted and stopped to see what the other guy wanted.

"Hey, sorry to bail," Artie said. "I don't want to expose anyone else to the virus, because we've both been around her since last night. We're going back to Columbus."

Puck chortled at this. "Dude," he said. "I hate to break it to you, but I think someone knocked up your sister. And my money's on Evans."

Artie took a minute to process that, then laughed at that ridiculous notion. "Dude," he echoed back. "I think Sam knows I would murder him if that happened."