Warning: A good amount of foul language, and a possible sense of abandonment.
" Listen," His dad gave him a serious tone as they parked along the curb next to the Hummel's, " I'm going to trust you to go the right thing. I don't want any drinking.." He counted off on his fingers, " Drugs..Sex...Any of that stuff. I know you want to be cool. Be in the in crowd and all that. Now that you've got yourself a girlfriend, take things slow. You're still young Artie.."
"I know dad, I know. I'll be careful. I promise." He heard this lecture a million times and the more his parents said it, the harder it was for him to pretend not to be bored.
Richard tapped his shoulder with a fist, " Thats my boy." He grinned. " Look, if you need any help getting home, one of these guys harrases you or something, you've got your phone on you. I don't want any of these kids pushing you down hills or anything like that."
" Really dad. It's fine. They're my friends." Just then, a knuckle was rapping on the darkly tinted windows.
" Hey Stephen Hawking. Come join the party you dumbfuck!" Matt was a few feet away from Puck, falling onto the lawn laughing. If there was one thing about Puckerman everyone knew, it's that he was incapable of filtering his thoughts before he said them.
Artie rolled the window down. Feeling the uncomfortable silence fill.
" It's nice to meet you too, son." Artie's father gave Puck a hard cold look from the driver's seat.
" Um..Hi Mr. Abrams." Puck put on a fake uncomfortable smile.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck
" Okay, I'm going to open the door for you now. I expect these boys to be able and help you up the driveway..?" He looked over to Matt and Puck increduously.
Puck replied, " Don't worry, Sir. I can assure you there are no safer hands than that of the Ol' Puckasaurus.
Mr. Abrams raised an eyebrow, unsure if the Ol' Puckasaurus he was reffering to was himself. He'd never met the kid and was a bit skeptical if he was genuinely a friend or not. "Well see, I guess." He gave in and released his son. Letting the wheelchair ramp slide to the pavement of the street. The mechanics returned back to his vehicle and waited for his son to roll by before driving off.
" Holy shit dude, I thought you were driving here!" Puck yelled in a whisper at him,
" Don't you guys have a, like y'know, a car you can pedal with your hands and shit?" He tried to demonstrate what it would look like to press the brake with your hand. Artie just shook his head in disbelief as Matt volunteered to handle pushing him up the small hill of driveway.
Mike looked through the window to see who was coming to the door. He turned to the other kids inside.
" Hey guys. Artie just showed up." The sweat from the plastic cup in his hand made him go over to the table and put it down.
Quinn opened the door and bent down to give Artie a hug. " Hey, I was wondering if you'd show up." She beamed, " It's so nice to see you."
" Goddamn it Quinn, could you let us through?" Puck asked forcefully. Quinn shot him an evil look before walking away.
For two people who just had a baby together, they were nowhere near happy with each other.
" Looks like you got your old body back." She was wearing a cute flowery top that hugged her figure with jeans, a pale yellow cardigan and sandals.
" Oh thanks." she looked down at her now non-existent baby belly. Her face seemed a little pinker than normal. Was she blushing? " Apparently, I get that from my mom. She never had much of a problem with getting really big after either."
"Yeah..You..You look good." The two exchanged a long glance with one another before he looked off into the room " Tina..Is she here?" He rubbed his lobe.
" Not that I saw." she clasped her music player in her hands, " Maybe you should call her. I heard Brittany and Santana aren't coming. They apparently had plans a few weeks ago..So, maybe she's not coming either."
Artie silently nodded to Quinn who walked over to an obviously shaken up Finn and asked if he wanted some dip.
He pulled out his phone and promptly flipped it open. He had her number on speed dial so it didn't take long for the call to reach her. After a few rings it went over to voicemail.
" Hi, this is Tina. I'm away from the phone but if you want, you can leave a message for me and i'll see if I can get back to you. Toodles."
He closed his phone immediately. Leaving voicemail always left him feeling awkward afterwards.
Guess she's not coming.
Mercedes came over to Artie and asked about making her some CD's with her favorite remixes on them to which he was happy to oblige.
An hour or so went by before he saw Mike busting back into the house with Tina thrown over his back, caveman style.
"Hey Artie! Got an early b-day present for you." His body rumbled with laughter while Tina squirmed and pounded his back.
" C'mon, I'm serious. Put me down." She didn't sound too serious because she was laughing in between words. Mike gently set her down as asked. Kurt was in the corner grabbing a sandwich turkey wrap and smiling while shaking his head.
Tina was in a cute little black number with worn out combat boots. Her favorite pair. Her hair was halfway up dark purple clip on extensions in it.
As always, she was the most beautiful girl in the room.
" Hey Boo..Lookin' fine." He examined the wonders of her feminine shape.
Remind me to thank her parents for those ridiculously hot genetics..
" Hiya Sweetie." She leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
She tastes like cotton candy
" Having a good time?"
" I am now.." He continued to gander at her form.
"Oh, you." She teased, looking over the room once or twice. " How 'bout we sit down over there? It''ll give us more privacy." Tina suggested, pointing to the couches a few steps away.
Well, Artie was already sitting but he understood what she meant and led the way.
" So, every summer my parents and I go visit all our relatives. Last year we went to New York to see my aunt Margaret. The year before we went to Hawaii. Anyway," She looked around for a second before continuing, " I thought maybe this year, instead you and I could-"
" Tina, you've got to- Sorry to interrupt but you have just GOT to see what I did to my room. I totally redesigned it. It is so fab!" Kurt gushed as he daintily held onto his virgin cherry martini. " Oh, and if you want to see it to Artie, you're more than welcome. I tried to show Mercedes earlier but something kept me sidetracked." He then scowled at Rachel and Finn who were dancing together to the Black Eyed Peas.
" Okay." Tina nodded and stood up from her seat. Everything was going fine until they reached the steps to Kurt's room.
" Your room is in a basement?" Artie pointed down the steps.
Suddenly, Kurt and Tina realized a problem. His face turned red from embarrassment.
" Oh, I'm sorry Artie. I totally spaced on that one. God, I suck!"
" It's okay Kurt. Really, you guys go down there. I'll find something to do."
Tina laced her finger in betwixt his and cocked her head to the side.
" Y'sure babe?"
He shooed them away, giving off a tiny smile to assure the two.
"Dude! You cannot believe what Santana just sent me!" Puck jumped out at him. " It's a hot ass pic of her and Brittany. Check it out, bro." He put the phone in his face.
" No, please. I don't care to know." Artie pushed the his hand away.
" Get over here, man. We're playing BullShit." Matt said as he dealed the cards.
Artie looked over at Burt who was so wrapped in his basketball game, he didn't care to notice what was going on.
Artie decided to join, assuming that in a few minutes, Tina would come back up and he could just drop it all for her.
About 20 minutes roll by and he she finally comes up, slightly sweaty.
" That was fun!" She panted, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.
" I know. I can dance to Beyonce all day and never get sick of it. I hope incarnation is real just so I can be reborn as her." He sipped on some sparkling water, " She had a killer pair of stems."
" Finn, no! WAAH!" A loud splash crashed into everyone's ears.
" Woah. Kurt. You got a pool? Oh hell yes! I'm all up on that shit!" Without any hesistation, Puck threw off his shirt and ran outside.
"Puck, please don't! The PH levels are all off and-"
Too late..
Another splash echoed off in the distance.
Everyone followed Kurt outside to the in-ground swimming pool in his back yard.
Apparently, from the looks of it, Finn had pushed Rachel into the pool and jumped in with her. Her clothes were soaking wet and clung to her body. She swam around frantically like a wet cat.
"Remind me to kill you!" She growled. Puck tossed some water on her face playfully, " Cut it out, Noah!"
" Ugh..Stop calling me that, woman!"
Matt and Mike looked at each other and smiled ear to ear. Without any words, they took a hold of Tina and tossed her into the pool. Sure, she was suprised but not very resistant. The water would cool her down and her parents owned a laundromat on the east side of town. Finn laughed his head off watching her mascara run down her face like black tears.
" So, you joining them?" Quinn looked at them all, joking around having a good time. Kurt was freaking out when Puck jumped out and tried to hug him.
" This is my last Alexander McQueen!" He ran frantically in circles, trying to avoid the water.
" Even if I wanted to, there's no way I could." The pool was too shallow for Artie to swim in. He'd need a deep end and lots of room to be able to suspend his body in water. Even then, He'd have to drag himself out, wet and somehow manage to get back into his chair while his whole body was slippery.
" What about you?"
" I don't," She kept looking out into the distance, " I'm not really in the mood for swimming...I'm not really in the mood for much of anything actually."
Artie looked at his girl. Having fun. He didn't want to drag her down. She was better off not worrying about him for the rest of the day.
" I think I'm gonna call it a night. I'm real tired and stuff." He fiddled with his hands.
He's so lying..
" Oh, okay." Quinn frowned, running her hand through her hair. " I know we won't see alot of each other anymore..So, text me every now and then, kay?"
Who was this person?
This wasn't the Quinn he remembered from the beginning of the school year.
I guess being a mother really changes your perspective on life..
" Don't worry." He looked up at her brown eyes shining, " I will.."