This one's going to be a little short, and a little slow, but I promise it'll definitely pick up next chapter! Just you wait.


Quinn treaded lightly on what she was about to say. There were many ways this could go wrong, and she wanted to make sure that Mercedes understood why she'd done what she did. A pink fingernail rimmed her glass slowly, while Quinn looked guiltily around the coffee shop and waited for Mercedes to join her at the table. Finally, when the woman walked over, heels clicking and latte steaming, Quinn couldn't stop her mouth from blurting the words,

"Puck thinks Artie is my boyfriend."

Mercedes stopped in her tracks, her expression ranging from excited to mortified to confused, before she finally took a seat across from her best friend. "Who, what, when, where, why, and how?" she demanded. Quinn could tell that the emotion the girl had settled on was fury.

"Who and When? While you were away, Puck has been getting on my case about getting back together. What? Well, you kept talking to me about Artie when I was not looking to date anyone. Where? At the magazine. I'm pretty sure he only began mopping their floors because I'm planning their party. How? I lied and told him I had a boyfriend, and then you sent me that first picture of Artie, and he asked if that was him. I agreed. And then I kind of got carried away. Why? Because I'm an idiot." Quinn remained nonchalant about the ordeal, though she was freaking out on the inside. There was a guy in Mercedes' apartment right that moment who seemed like a great person, and she took advantage of him without even knowing him.

"You are in some deep shit, girl." Mercedes rolled her eyes and pressed her mug against her lips. She knew when Quinn was freaking out, even if she didn't show it. "How could you have done this? You totally made me believe you wanted to be with him."

"I know." Quinn gave a sigh and sipped her own drink. "And I'm sorry. How can I make it up to you?"

The sly smirk on Mercedes' face elicited a squint of confusion from Quinn's. "Well, first off, I really want you to get to know this person that you screwed over royally."

Quinn was quick to shout, "No!" before Mercedes even finished. Ignoring the disapproving glances from hipsters on their laptops and sixteen-year-olds on dates, she lowered her tone. "Look, I don't want to lead him on any further."

"I'm not saying to date him, I'm just saying…get to know him, tell him your situation, maybe he'll throw you a bone and not hate you. I mean, he is my new close friend, he's getting pretty close to Sam as well, and you're my best friend. I don't want things to be awkward since you hyped him up only to let him down."

Sucking her teeth and rolling her eyes, Quinn reluctantly agreed. Mercedes was right. It was only fair to smooth out the wrinkles with Artie before totally ruling him out as a potential friend. "Fine." She muttered. "But, just to be clear, you're never going to let me live this down, are you?"

"Yeah, probably not." Mercedes smirked. Quinn shook her head at the girl with a smirk on her face.

"Damn, I knew being my best friend would rub off on you somehow."

That next day, Quinn walked into that same coffee shop, nearly blown in by the biggest windstorm in California in years. Her pink skirt billowed around her as she tried to pry the door open against the currents. Finally, she was able to get inside with messy hair, a flustered expression, and leaves in places no girl should have leaves. But she figured it'd be for the best- Artie didn't need to see her as "attractive".

She zeroed in on him sitting at a table a few down from the one she'd shared with Mercedes the day before, and gave him a small wave before going to the counter and ordering her coffee. As she added the perks- creamer, sugar, all that good stuff- Quinn couldn't help but look at him from the corner of her eye. Artie was wearing a polo shirt and jeans, with suspenders and a pair of fingerless gloves for protection against his wheelchair. He looked nice, and it made her even more uncomfortable than before. She didn't look attractive, thanks to the wind, but sure, he had every right to when she was trying to make this easy on herself. Quinn made her way over to Artie and sat across from him, unable to meet his blue eyes.

"Well hello, Mizz Fabray." He said, pink lips turning up into a smirk. "I've heard many great things about you."

"Oh?" was all Quinn could say.

"Yeah. Mercedes says that her best friend is driven, smart, professional, hilarious, and beautiful."

Her eyes scanned the table as she shook her head, chuckling. "Mercedes said all of that?" she inquired.

"Well…I added that last one." He retorted.

Quinn sucked in a breath- No, she could not succumb to his charm. Not now, not…ever. "Look, Artie, I'm sure Mercedes mentioned that even though I lead you on, I'm not really looking to be with-"

"I know, I know, I know…" Artie said, holding his hands up in surrender. "But I'd hate to let that get in between you and The Artie Abrams Experience." He locked his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "Everyone should experience alla' this at least once in their lives."

She couldn't hold back a hearty laugh, but decided to shut herself up with a sip of her coffee. It was too hot, but she didn't really care. "Artie…" Quinn began again, "…I've been using you."

"You…hardly even know me." His brow furrowed, and Quinn breathed a quick breath before moving in to tell him.

But then, her ear was taken by the jingling of the shop door bells, just as one Noah Puckerman walked in. She didn't know what to do- hide? Run to the bathroom? Those options were out of the question once Puck's green eyes settled on her and raised an eyebrow. As if by reflex, Quinn took Artie's hand across the table and looked into his eyes, all the while looking at Puck out of her peripherals. The boy's face across from her grew more and more confused. Quinn looked at Puck, who ordered his coffee black, and was then quickly moving toward them. Quinn cursed under her breath.

"Hmmm. So this is the famous boyfriend, eh?" he asked.

"Well, actually, we just m-" But before Artie could ruin absolutely everything, Quinn tightened her grip on his hand to the point where he was red in the fingertips. The guy got the hint and, with a strangled expression, he said through his teeth, "…Yep. Yep. Boyfriend. Uh-huh."

Quinn let go of his hand. "What about you, Puck? Are you here with any girls? Any Rachels?" She cocked her head to show her bitterness about their past, to which Puck rolled his eyes.

"Nope. Just me. Gearing up for a hard day of work. God knows I'll need it." She watched as he gulped his coffee and winced at the temperature, just as she had. "Well I'll see you guys around. Nice to meet you, man, outside of your pictures and stuff." He strode out, albeit passive-aggressively, and finally, Quinn could relax. But not for long.

Artie looked at her, and finally Quinn was able to look him in the disappointed eyes. He shook his head, and unlocked his wheels before rolling out as quickly as he could. Quinn debated what to do. It would be awful of her not to run after him, but was she really trying to be not-awful now? Quinn grit her teeth and followed Artie out of the door and onto the sidewalk, on the windiest day in LA history.

"I tried to warn you." She shouted after him, using something to appropriate her actions. Quinn's hair whipped around her face as her heels clicked on the pavement, and she could see Artie through her wisps of hair. He refused to turn around, and simply shouted back.

"About how you took advantage of me? You're lucky that guy is a jerk, or I'd have totally ratted your ass out."

Quinn ran a hand through her hair. "And for that I owe you big-time, okay? I'm just not looking to be with anyone right now, especially not Noah Puckerman. And I don't exactly have the best past with him, so I needed something strong to keep him away, alright? I'm sorry."

"Not to be cliché, but you're sorry you got caught." Artie stopped and turned to her. "Mercedes hyped you up to be this goddess, and you lead me on for days. She kept telling me that you were calling me cute and asking for pictures- I should've figured that something was weird when you refused to take my number. I should have figured when someone as gorgeous and successful as you was actually showing interest in…me."

"I'm an awful person." Was all Quinn could say to that. It had never dawned on her that maybe he was really getting his hopes up about her, or that girls didn't normally like him as he'd said.

Artie clenched his jaw, backed his wheels up again, and wheeled away to his car. Quinn gulped, astonished by her own emotions toward this. She had a job to take care of. She had a million projects to get started on. She had to unpack her new apartment. She didn't have time to break hearts and feel guilty about doing it, yet that was exactly what she was doing.