Author's Note: We're updating! It seems to seldom happen but...it does happen lol. Thank you to those who have been reviewing! :) Read and review!

And remember, DryadSpeaks is writing the Artie parts and I'm writing the Quinn/Rachel parts.

Chapter Seven: Unplanned Encounter

Curiosity concerning whatever Artie had to discuss had overtaken Quinn and made it nearly impossible for her to get any sleep. When she woke up that morning from her slumber, which had been brief, she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at her reflection in the mirror. Dark bags accentuated her bloodshot hazel eyes. Sighing, she ran a brush through her hair before pulling it into a haphazard ponytail. After her shower, she put on her cheerleading outfit and headed out of the house, sending Artie a text to let him know she was on her way and would meet him in the same classroom where the yearbook had been meeting.

7:00. Artie glanced at his clock, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He usually got up much earlier, but, after having an incredibly restless night, he decided he could cut a few corners, stay in bed longer, and still make it to school on time. Once he was up, he grabbed some clothes from his closet, and headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

As Artie hurried to eat some breakfast before heading out the door, he heard his phone beep. He glanced at the screen, reading Quinn's text. He wasn't quite ready to leave, but he lived closer than she did, so he'd still make it on time. After a few minutes, he headed out the door, thinking about what he would say to Quinn.

Glancing at the time, and noting it was a little past 8:15, the agreed upon time, Quinn removed her calculus book from her back pack and began working on a few problems. She had gotten through three when she heard a noise. Lifting her head, she saw Artie approaching. Despite her fatigue and stress over a variety of things, she smiled brightly at him. "Good morning, Artie."

"Hey Quinn," he said, wheeling over to where she was sitting. "How are you today?"

"Tired," she admitted, rubbing her temples for a moment. "I didn't get as much sleep last night as I would've liked. How are you?"

"About the same," he answered. "But, I'm pretty sure I'll live," he added, grinning at her.

Laughing a little, Quinn closed her math text book. "Me too. Now, what did you want to talk about?"

Artie averted his eyes a bit and blushed slightly at her question. He still wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say, but he was there with her...there was no going back.

"Um..." he started, shifting his weight in his chair. "There was just something I overheard the other day," he went on. "And I thought I should talk to you about it."

"Is this a complaint about Jacob?" she asked, tapping her fingers on the desk. "Because I've already gotten…" Closing her eyes, she counted in her head, "…five or six. I know, I know, I need to talk to Miss Pilsbury about it." Sighing, she rested her chin on her hand. "This yearbook is more…I don't know, just more than I thought it would be." Not sure why she was opening up, and to Artie of all people, she bit down on her bottom lip, trying to stop herself. But then it kept coming. "I kind of think Santana and Rachel are...I don't know but I see the way they've been looking at each other and the whispers, laughing. Something's going on. I'm not stupid. And homecoming's in like two weeks and -" Clamping her mouth shut, she shook her head. That was a bit too personal. He didn't need to know that Finn still hadn't asked her to the dance. "It's just a lot," she almost whispered, deflating a bit.

Artie bit his lip as several thoughts went through his mind, before he realized he actually had to say something.

"No, it's not about Jacob," he said. "Never mind," he muttered a few seconds later. "I shouldn't have said anything in the first place. Sorry."

Tucking a hair behind her ear, Quinn watched as Artie sat there for several moments before he snapped himself out of whatever daze he had been in. "Oh." Swallowing, she immediately regretted opening up to him. Clearly, her outpouring of words had freaked him out. Looking down, she blinked, taking a few steadying breaths.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "If I had known you were already stressing about stuff, I would have just kept my mouth closed. We don't have to talk about this anymore. What are you working on?" he asked, gesturing to her homework, hoping she'd go along with his change of subject and not question him about what he had been going to say.

"No, no," she assured him, forcing herself to make eye contact with him again. "It's sort of my job as student editor to listen to any concerns, complaints, etc, that you may have. I'm not that stressed, I promise." The lie fell easily from her lips and she hoped he would be convinced. She would hate for him to think she was failing at her job as student editor in any way.

"Still..." he trailed off. "I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."

Artie glanced around the room nervously, hoping SOMETHING would happen to distract both of them from the situation he was starting to wish he'd never created. Unfortunately...there was nothing.

By this point, Quinn was beginning to grow frustrated, as well as somewhat fearful about whatever topic Artie was now attempting to avoid. "Just spit it out already, Artie," she snapped. "What is it? Tell me. Now." She straightened her back, hoping that she appeared somewhat intimidating to him.

"I heard Santana and Rachel talking about something that sounded like undermining you," he blurted out, his eyes widening slightly. "And then I asked Rachel about it, and she said they were up to no good but wouldn't tell me what's going on. I'm sorry. And I don't know why I'm talking so fast," he finished, hoping that the floor would just open up and swallow him.

So much for being smooth, he thought to himself, as he glanced up, trying to gauge her reaction from the look on her face.

For what felt like five minutes, but was in fact only one, Quinn stared at him, flabbergasted. She could hear the seconds ticking by and she was sure he could too. Finally, she jumped to her feet. "Aha!" she cried, jabbing a finger in the air. "I KNEW it. But why you are apologizing? You weren't in on it, were you?" She barely hesitated before going on. "Of course you weren't. But why would they even want to…" Frowning, she fell back into her seat, immediately lifting a hand to rub at her eyes, fighting the tears that were already beginning to slip out.

"This feels like something I should apologize for too," he muttered, almost to himself. He wasn't sure whether he should be glad that she broke the silence, or upset at the fact that she looked like she was about to cry.

"Quinn..." he said, softly. "Look...maybe it's nothing," he mumbled. "Maybe I just heard them wrong..."

It seemed a breakdown was imminent. Quinn barely heard Artie's words but, after regaining some composure, they registered and she said, "You heard them right. I know you did." She hated how hoarse her voice sounded. Artie must know she was on the brink and that was embarrassing. "Just get out," she muttered, desiring to be alone, mostly so she could cry without anyone seeing her.

"I can't just leave you here," he said softly, moving to place his gloved hand over hers, before rethinking that action and placing his hand back in his lap.

She wanted nothing more than to scream at him but she knew that if she did, it wouldn't really be him she would be screaming at. She would just be using him, taking out her frustration and hurt feelings on him. That wouldn't be fair and certainly would do nothing to make herself feel better. Gulping down her emotion, she shrugged. "Thanks for telling me. I don't know what I'm going to do but thanks."

"You're welcome," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Then, before he could stop himself, he reached out, gently placing his hand over hers. "If you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me," he added, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry..." he muttered, pulling his hand away quickly. "I know my gloves are rough...I forgot I was wearing them."

Before he'd even finished uttering the words, his brain screamed at him to be quiet. He was sorry about his gloves? He hoped she hadn't heard that last part.

"Wh-what?" Quinn murmured, tilting her head. "Your gloves?" Sniffing a little, Quinn closed her eyes. "I appreciate the gesture, Artie. But right now, I just need to clear my head."

"Never mind," he muttered, staring down at his lap. "Maybe I should go..." he went on, reluctantly. The last thing he wanted was to leave her there alone, in the current state she was in.

"Probably." Standing, she gathered her stuff. "The bell's about to ring." Shoving everything into her bag, she moved out from behind the desk, then put a hand on his shoulder, pressing her fingers gently against the sweater he was wearing. "Promise me that you'll keep me in check because I feel old Quinn surfacing and I don't want to let her out." Then, without giving it a single thought, she leaned over, brushing her lips against his cheek.

"I...ok," Artie trailed off, as he felt her warm breath on his cheek. Did she just kiss him? Where did THAT come from?

He raised his eyes, staring into hers. "Quinn..." he said, softly, before realizing he didn't know what he was going to say next.

When their eyes met, she had to catch her breath for a second. Confused, she sent a half smile his way. "Artie." Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she contemplated on what more to say. She was spared the effort of thinking on it when the bell rang. "See you…later," she hummed, turning on her heel and rushing off down the hall, getting lost among the throngs of students heading to class. She didn't stop until she reached the bathroom. Pushing the door open, she went inside, coming to a stop when she saw Rachel, brushing her hair in front of the mirror. "Rachel…you're going to be late for first period," she said, her voice high and artificial in her own ears.

"Oh," Rachel replied, a weird smile on her face. "I don't have a first period this year."

"That's nice." Standing in the spot next to Rachel, Quinn fished the tube of lip gloss out of her bag and began to liberally apply it. When she was done, she spun on her heel, opening the door. Before she left, she said, as quietly as she could while Rachel could still hear her, "And Rachel? I know." The door shut softly behind her, leaving a horrified Rachel frozen in front of the mirror.

After Quinn left, Artie sat for a moment, his mouth twisted in deep thought. The encounter hadn't gone at all how he had planned. Not that he had had a plan to begin with...but if he had...it probably would have been radically different than what actually happened.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he noticed that people were starting to file into the classroom.

Grateful that he always had a few extra minutes to get to class if he needed them, he wheeled towards the door, and entered the sea of students.

He was almost at his class, when he spied Rachel walking quickly towards him. He glanced up, briefly meeting her eyes and smiling. Rachel averted her eyes, and made a sharp turn down the nearest corridor.

He thought to himself that that was slightly odd, before turning to his left and entering his classroom.