Author's note: I realised I hadn't actually finished this story a little while ago, but I've been majorly busy with Uni and work and blah, blah, blah. I had the day off due to sickness and I thought maybe I'd give the ending ago (I tried several times before but ending this was hard.) Anyway all storylines end ongoing because well that how the beginning of season two started- I chucked in some Mercedes/Artie friendship because I really want Mercedes to develop a healthy friendship with someone (hopefully in the process making her a three dimensional character.) also there is a bit of language in this chapter, but really they're teenagers and the situation calls for it. Anywho…

It actually took several days for anything to happen, and Tina should have known- she always got a couple of minuets-hours-days (depending on the severity of the situation) of a grace period before Artie really lost his shit, and did whatever he did.

The thing with Artie in pain though, is like a loaded gun, no matter where he points it everybody gets hurt- especially Artie. So she had expected some kind of horrific reaction, something cruel and cutting, what she got was infinitely worse.

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*This is Tina Cohen-Chang's phone, I'm either screening or I just hate you, please leave a message after the beep*

Tina- Tina, Tina are you there- fuck okay you're probably screening or… you really do hate me. Why- why do you hate me Tina I- I don't understand. You didn't even give me a chance you- I mean… Fuck. I just- I love you alright, but I get it, you don't LOVE me do you? Well just so you know I'm not- END OF MESSAGE

Tina it's me I'm- those were some stupid messages, right? I don't want you back. I'm so over you, you'll see, I mean there are lots of girls out there who want to get up on this *laughs* I'm better off with out you you'll see. END OF MESSAGE

TINA, TINA, pick up THE GOD DAMN PHONE! Why are you ignoring me, you said we'd still be friends but you didn't mean it did you; it's just something you say. Like I was just you're boyfriend Tina, but I wasn't I was supposed to be your best fucking friend. You know what fine I won't call anymore- isn't that what this is all about anyway. END OF MESSAGE

I-it's-fuck! It's over isn't it? END OF MESSAGE

For three straight days Artie did what he hadn't been capable of doing all summer. He called, over and over again.

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Kurt had felt the much more sharp end of Artie wrath, he understood why, it's not as though he could scream at Mercedes or hit Tina. Kurt was the logical choice. It didn't stop it from hurting, really hurting because- because well Artie was his best, and to be honest only, male friend.

"Why" Artie had croaked, he was still more emotional then angry, "why wouldn't YOU tell me, why wouldn't you think *I* had the RIGHT to know." Artie was crying and Kurt was doing his best to ignore it, because acknowledging that his friend was breaking right before his eyes wouldn't do any good for either of them. "I wanted to tell you" it's not true, Kurt hadn't wanted to tell Artie, he had been so sure they wouldn't break up. That it was a moment of weakness that Artie would never NEED to know. That Tina wouldn't do this to him, to them.

Or maybe it was just selfish. He hadn't wanted to be the one to break his heart, but it was broken now anyway and Kurt had just splintered it with every moment he'd known and hadn't told Artie. He wished Mercedes had never told him.

"I can't do this" Artie muttered and he pulled away, grateful that they were in Kurt's kitchen and not his bedroom where there was no way he could escape. "What?" Kurt's voice was high and painful, "you're what? Breaking up with me" it was supposed to sound ludicrous but instead it hit just a little too close to home.

"I love you Kurt" Artie told him sincerely, and Kurt was dumbfounded, because of course Artie would only tell him this as he decided they couldn't be friends anymore. "I do," and now Kurt was crying to, and he sunk hard into the wooden chair next to his kitchen table. It didn't make the décor, he thought hysterically, he would have to change it, or maybe change everything else in the room.

"Artie it was a mistake, I see that now but you and I don't have to stop being friends just because T-"

"YES WE DO" and Artie's anger while initially expected took him totally by surprise. "YOU choose her, and you didn't even talk to me first." Artie took off his glove and wiped his face, the first acknowledgment that he was crying. "I can't go to school and see you every day and call you my best friend any-anymore" he was tripping over words now but he looked up determined to finish. "Shit Kurt I don't even know how I'm supposed to see Tina every day. It's just too hard."

"Oh it's that it" Kurt snapped violently, "it's just to *hard* well isn't that such an Artie thing to say," Artie ignore him and turned to leave. "You can't just run away when things get to hard Artie."

"ARTIE" Kurt yelled and he rolled away, "you don't just run away from the people you love- you fight for them- you can fight for her."

The door slammed.

You could fight for me, for us. We used to be friends.

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Mercedes had been working on the last of her summer homework, there was almost no time left and she had barely even started on her reading list. There had been papers and books stretched out on the floor, she had highlighters and sticky notes and anything else she might need to be a productive student and she was going to get some work done today damn it.

She was not going to be distracted by project runway reruns or by Kurt's array of messages in her phone she had yet to look at. That was all just going to have to wait. She had just underlined a quote from Pygmalion talking about how those two gay dudes wanted to play dress up with some poor girl on the street and flicked to the end to find the bit where he grew accustomed to her face when there was a sharp knock on the door.

"I'm busy dad, if you brought snacks just leave them on the desk" she called through the door; she really didn't have time for a father-daughter chat. The knock just grew louder; "uh, uh" she called again "don't pretend your hands are too full or nothing, because how else would you be knocking."

The door creaked open, and Mercedes didn't bother to look up, "well gee, was that so hard," she circled the page number and folded it down, she'd defiantly need it for the essay. "I suppose not" a soft, distinctly not her daddies voice replied, she looked up sharply. Tina hovered in the doorway.

"Hi" she waved timidly, her smile was stretched thin but she seemed to glow a little- probably from all the Mike Chang lovin- Mercedes thought a little bitterly. She had been hoping if anyone was gonna come and see her it would have been Artie, but after he lost it at Kurt he went into hibernation, pretending nothing had happened and hanging out with Finn, who they were under express instructions not to tell.

"Hi" she replied dismissively and looked back down, Tina frowned at her, Mercedes couldn't see it, but she knew a angry frown when she couldn't see one. "What the hell Mercedes? You haven't seen me in months and you don't even look at me."

Mercedes looked up deliberately and slowly, "Hi Tina" and then looked down again, there was silence for a long time after that. Tina sank to the floor, back to the door and watched Mercedes work. And Mercedes to her credit actually tried to get some work done.

"Do you hate me?" Tina asked suddenly, and Mercedes looked at her, her eyes were red, "no" Mercedes said without even thinking about it. "I'm never going to hate you Tee" she winced at herself, the nickname was Artie's not hers, "I'm just mad at you right now- I just… need time." She gripped her book tightly, the binding was giving way under the pressure and with one good rip it would break.

"Are you happy?" she asked, she couldn't actually look at Tina when she asked, "yes" she replied quickly. "No your not," Mercedes told her, Tina looked angrily at her "yes- yes I am, I'm not going to be unhappy just because you want me do be. I love Mike," Mercedes scoffed "no you don't, we both know this isn't about Mike."

"Well then tell me Mercedes" Tina stood up, dusting her long cobwebbed skirt off "what is it about?" Mercedes didn't forget the lack of denial but didn't want to make things worse. "I- don't know Tina, I don't know what you want- I can't tell you" the book was split in half now, she'd have to find a stapler "It's not going to be easier just because you don't love him as much."

Tina kicked open the door, "what would you know."

The hit landed and stung for hours, because right. What would *she* know?

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It was two days before school when Artie turned up on Mercedes door, he wouldn't go home for a week, but neither of them told anyone. He stared at her bedroom wall and she made him cup after cup of green tea which he which doesn't drink- at least while she's in the room, when she's out he gulps them down and pretends he's thrown them in the pot plants. She knows and smiles, it's such an Artie thing to do, pretend like he's not a nice guys for her. So she doesn't have to feel bad- it doesn't work, but that's okay.

"Do you think I'm pathetic" he asks her, hoping the answer isn't yes, because she's really the only friend he has left that matters anything. "No" she tells him and hands him her French book so he can compare notes, "they let you into French then?" he asked looking down, pretending that conversation hadn't slid into horrible clarity several days before.

"It's alright, I guess" she tried to make it as clean of any metaphor as possible. "it's okay to like French Mercedes" he rolled his eyes, "okay- but it's not okay for Kurt to like French?" she responds her eyebrows raised, "er- Cedes I was actually talking about French."

She stared at him, and then giggled, and then laughed and he followed her in fits of laughter, "we'll be okay" he told her utterly unconvincingly, "I just need time to fix this- I've messed it all up." Mercedes put a hand on his shoulder, "maybe a little- with Kurt I mean," she massages his shoulder comfortingly, "but not with Tina, I don't think you should go there."

"I love her Mercedes"

Mercedes sighs, "I know honey" and she almost cries because of it, "I know."