Big Long Author's Note:

(Which can be skipped at will)

I've added a few things that I've been thinking about to previous chapters… no need to go back to read them since they're only clips here and there. I'll just catch you up.

So here's what you missed on "Original Song!" -In Chapter 3, there is a hint of a possible future for Rachel and Finn. In Chapter 4 Santana shows a bit of obvious jealously for Brittany, and Puck actually shows a bit for Santana…

Ah, heck… they're so short, I'll just copy them here for you, and you can read or ignore them at your discretion.

Here's from Chapter 3 at Breadsticks after Kurt and Blaine describe the infamous diner scene from When Harry Met Sally to Rachel and Finn:

[As Burt and Carole returned to the booth, the boys were just finishing their description of what the diner scene is all about in the movie, so all four of them were laughing and talking and laughing some more and looking so happy, which was Carole's absolute favorite thing in the world. To see her children and their friends simply enjoying life. She also couldn't help but notice that her son always looks happiest when he's next to Rachel, and the fact that at this particular moment she was obviously finding excuses to grab his arm or slap his thigh through the laughter, and most notably the fact that Finn so quickly moved away from her when he saw his mother coming... Carole wasn't sure but it looked like he had been resting a hand on Rachel's knee, probably also with the excuse of holding onto each other from all the laughter.]

Here are the changes from Chapter 4, after Brittany is Slushied:

[Artie pulled his head back from Brittany's giggling kisses on his cheek to ask, "Who Slushied you, Brit?"

"Heehee! Slushieed? That's what it's called? That's so cuuute!" Everyone looked at Brittany as she said this, with looks on their faces that could only mean is it really possible for her to have been that oblivious all this time?

Santana filled him in, "It was a couple of bottom-row-of-the-pyramid Cheerios, and they said 'have fun in GLEE CLUB, dork' when they did it. The total loser idiots. I mean, who says 'dork' anyway? What dorks!"

Mercedes started to reach out to touch Santana's arm since the girl looked like she was about to snap, but she stopped short when she noticed that perhaps she had already snapped and it may be the last time she sees her hand if she touches that live wire. As she watched Santana in this moment, she couldn't help but notice that there was definitely something else going on in this girl's head besides defending her friend. Her face had pain and a very-rare-for-Santana vulnerability in it, which made Mercedes feel like reaching out to her even more though she knew it would do no good. It was how Brittany looked when she clung to Artie that made Santana look at Brittany as though she'd lost something precious and was perhaps realizing it for the first time.

Puck almost pushed Mercedes out of the way to grab Santana into a hug, but he got a swift shove to the chest and a "Back off, Cassanova!" from Santana, followed by "Just because I'm pissed off at some dumb Cheerios doesn't mean you should swoop in and pretend to help so you can get a little somethin'-somethin' for yourself!"

It was not lost on Artie that it seemed a little out of character for her to brush off Puck so quickly and soundly.

Santana took Brittany off to the restroom to get her to at least wash off her face and hair, Puck stalked to the back of the room to sit by himself and brood, and the rest of them explained it to Mr. Schuster who had just passed the two girls on his way in to the choir room with a huge what the heck is going on here expression on his confused face.]

This next part has no effect on this chapter as the above changes do, so you really can skip this. I only added in a description to the Warblers practicing Toto's "Africa" in Chapter 4.

[Kurt was finally singing a solo in one of the songs the Warblers rehearsed tonight. It was one of the classics of all classic songs done by acapella groups, Toto's "Africa." Kurt and Kenny took the leads on this one, and it was smooth and rich and beautiful.

Kenny was a natural bass, but was singing in a low tenor, almost baritone range for the song, and Kurt was bringing his voice down to the same, so each brought a unique and interesting quality to the same notes. They switched off practically every other line, from Kenny's opening "I hear the drums echoing tonight," to Kurt's final "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you," with the rest of the Warblers bursting into instant perfect tight eight-part harmony, joining Kenny and Kurt who held prominent notes floating above the Warblers all along the chorus,

"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you,
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do,
I bless the rains down in Africa,
Gonna take some time to do the things we never have."

Blaine seemed unable to stop his eyes from shutting in rapt appreciation at the sound of Kurt's voice blending incredibly with Kenny's every time they joined together which they did on the long-held words at the end of a bunch of the lines. It was just that Kurt's voice... did something to his poor heart. Ah, this is what fangirls mean when they say a famous singer's voice makes them melt.]

OK, that brings you up to speed!E

END AUTHOR'S NOTE.

(I do not own nor do I have anything to do with the development of the characters from Glee mentioned here, not even the super cute Artie and Brittany.)

This one's for you, Marte.

–OK because I meant to start it with Artie and Brittany or at the coffee shop but neither of those happened along first as it turned out. Both of them come after, though!

Chapter 9: What's Natural

Puck had been dating Lauren for a few weeks now, and it kind of shocked him how stuck on her he was. He didn't even think about cheating on her once, not that he regularly cheats on everyone, just that he thinks about girls all the time so even when he's dating one girl exclusively for a while he doesn't usually have his mind on her at all times. But for some reason with Lauren Zizes, he could never even think about another girl even if he tried. He wasn't sure why.

One problem he had with her was that no matter what kind of charm and masculine powers he tried to work over her, she simply never seemed as into him physically as he was into her. Man, she turned him on. He couldn't figure out why she seemed so slow to even warm up to him at all. He'd never had that problem with a girl before in his life! Why would he think he had chemistry with someone who felt none for him?

Why was he so determined to make her love him? He kept thinking it was because she was so badass and could so easily keep up with him and stand up to him, and even exceed him in her tough attitudes and skills. She didn't take any crap from him and he liked it. He figured she reminded him of his mother in that way, which kind of creeped him out when he really thought about that.

Today, though, something happened that changed everything. As usual, she was pointing something out to him that was definitely true – he knew she was right when she said that he does things bordering on the illegal and sometimes crossing that border not because he really wanted to for any reason he had himself but only in order to get people to see him as cool – and while she was talking, it was very much not his mother she was reminding him of, it was Santana.

All at once, images and memories and scents and feelings washed over all his senses. Santana. She was the one who stood up to him and matched him attitude for attitude and action for action. But she didn't stand up to him as much as stand up with him. She didn't run him through his paces or try to change him like Lauren did; she just naturally brought out the best in him. He felt entirely himself when he was with her.

With her. Oh, man. Being with her. Those lips, even just watching her in glee club, when she's belting out a song and she throws her head back and her whole face shows a passion for the lyrics and a deep soulfulness infusing her own electrifying quality into the notes flowing out from… ahh those lips… wow. His mind ran down from her face to the sultry shape of her neck and her shoulders and those arms that seem to wrap around him twice with her dancer's flexibility and grace of movement. Damn, that whole rockin' body which he has been lucky enough to see when it becomes languorous, being the lucky, and skillful if he must say, one to make her melt into him and change in a moment from hard and tough to soft and supplicating.

He shook his head and tried to stay in the present moment so he could figure out this thing with Lauren and maybe… well, he'd have to think about all this by himself for a while.

The barista at that great (and colorful) college coffee shop near the science museum could hear Kurt, Finn, Mercedes and Blaine coming down the sidewalk before they even came into view of the windows. Or at least he could hear Kurt and Mercedes. Finn for all his size is surprisingly quiet, and Blaine doesn't tend to cause a ruckus anywhere off-stage.

"Hey there, Medium Drip and Raspberry Fields!" The sandwich maker at the coffee shop had called Blaine and Kurt that last week, the second time they'd ever been there, and apparently it stuck because the barista had obviously adopted the names for them as well.

"Hey, Greg!" Mercedes sidled up to the counter.

For her, he had a little conspiratorial lean onto the counter, "Miss Mercedes. It's always nice to see you. Every Saturday now for a while, huh?"

"Oh, you know I need my coffee before I try to handle all those kids and science experiments! A girl's got to fuel up for that kind of crazy on a Saturday morning!"

The barista automatically started making a medium drip and non-fat mocha, having learned that those two of Mercedes' companions will never be persuaded to try something different no matter how persuasive he may be, (and he certainly is). "Well, Peter is going to be very sorry he missed you."

"Oh, please."

"Oh my gosh, he practically breaks his neck every Saturday morning craning out toward the windows watching for you to walk in."

"Peter? The one who makes the sandwiches? Oh, well… I guess that's kind of creepy… I mean I'm in high school and he's like in his 20's or something."

"Nah, he's 17. Peter's a freshman." He handed Kurt his coffee and returned to finish Blaine's. "He's off today because a couple of his high school friends are visiting from their colleges for the weekend, and they started a band in high school, so they're throwing some stuff together today and then playing a gig at the Side Walk Café tonight."

Noticing Mercedes' almost-undetectable raised eyebrows, Kurt turned to Blaine, and with only a glance they had silently decided to be sure to take her to that gig tonight.

"Medium Drip!" The barista said it to Blaine in a way that could equally be calling his name or announcing the drink he was handing to him, and then took the drink orders for Finn and Mercedes.

Finn was being grilled about Rachel by all three of his friends when Greg walked over to see if they'd like anything else or if he could provide them with any services possible on this fine day. Manning the coffee shop all alone, he wasn't quite as goofy and outgoing as he was with Peter there to egg him on, but he still had all the charisma and charm with his customers, and he had a way about him that could always connect so easily and comfortably with everyone.

Mercedes asked him, "OK. Tell us this. If you knew two people who used to date, and they were perfect for each other, and now they always seem to end up doing things together, and sitting next to each other in school activities, and are trying to write songs together even…. What would you tell them to get them to stop being stupid and just get back together?"

Greg squeezed his eyes up to show he was really thinking hard about this but in a theatrical way, and he said, "Well, to me anyway, perfect couples are pretty boring actually." The other three at the table laughed out loud at that, but Mercedes acted Not Amused.

"Aw, don't worry though; I can make exceptions for couples like you two (gesturing toward Kurt and Blaine) who have been together forever because you're perfect for each other, but you're fun and a little crazy so you still amuse me. See, my thing is that if I don't have the perfect relationship with anyone, then seeing perfect couples just bugs me. If they amuse me, then they're still OK and I can be around them."

"Oh my gosh, Tina and Mike!" Holding his shoulder where Mercedes had just punched him as she had said that, Kurt let out an "Ow!" and glared at her. But Finn answered her. "Yes! I KNEW there was something that bugged me about them, but they're such a perfect couple I couldn't figure it out."

"They're boring!" Finn and Mercedes exclaimed it almost at the same time to each other, laughing.

Kurt frowned. "Why are they boring just because they're perfect for each other?"

Unable to punch him again because he moved away too fast, Mercedes said to him, "Don't you get it, Kurt? There's no drama, they have no flaws or humorous problems in their relationship, so there's nothing to amuse us, like Greg says!"

With a nod to the table and an expression that said I believe my work here is done, Greg started to head back. Before he could, Blaine stopped him, "Hey, Greg… What made you say that Kurt and I were together forever?"

"Oh, well… I guess it's kind of obvious, the way you seem to telepathically communicate with each other and know everything the other's going to say or do next or even order, and all that. But… I guess I would only know for sure that you'd been together at least prior to my first meeting you which was I guess about two weeks ago."

Now Kurt was curious. "We weren't even together when we first met you."

Greg was genuinely shocked. "You can't be serious. That day you came in here with the whole 'Raspberry Fields Forever' musical and the (he did some waving hand gestures toward the both of them) touching, and the medium drip pre-order that would have been presumptuous for anyone who's not together?"

"Well," Blaine cut in, "we weren't together that day, but we were, like…" he turned to Kurt doing math in his head while conferring silently with his boyfriend, and Kurt supplied the answer first, "three days later."

"And now two weeks later you're already finishing each other's sentences." This made the table laugh.

In a sudden bold move, Blaine decided this was the perfect time to kiss Kurt for their first one in a very public place. Simply reaching up to run his hand along his boyfriend's chin, he placed a soft kiss on Kurt's smiling lips. The only one who didn't look downright beaming at this action was Finn, and he honestly didn't look at all as uncomfortable as he used to. He actually smiled a bit.

"Alright, come back in a month and if you're still this perfect we'll have to do something about making sure you're not completely boring to everyone around you like that Tina and Mike you were talking about. Not that I won't still love hanging with you and dancing for you here at the café any time, but it would be nice of you to entertain your poor single friends with some flaws or some crazy once in a while!"

Smoothing his bangs and shaking his head once as a dramatic pause, Kurt said to his friendly college barista, "Greg, if you ever get bored, just ask me to tell you the story of trying to make out with a girl and thinking I could pull off the plaid flannel shirt look." With that, he rolled his eyes and the rest of the table burst into laughter as Greg put on an overly-understanding look and clapped him on the back and patted his shoulder, shaking his head in commiseration.

"I don't want to be a perfect couple," Finn said suddenly, surprising everyone. "I mean, I don't care if I'm boring, but… I also don't want some perfect girl who's always bugging me to act all boyfriend-y and stuff. I want to be with a girl who just lets me be. I want to be able to act however crazy I am that day, you know?"

"Finn! Rachel is that girl, you idiot!" Kurt burst out, also adding out of the corner of his mouth, directed toward the others at the table, "Who's more crazy than Rachel?"

Trying to change the subject, Finn said, "You know who's kind of perfect? Brit and Artie."

Mercedes looked around the table dramatically, "Actually… you know… there is something really interesting about that. You should have seen how Artie was watching her and Santana and Puck after she got Slushied…" and she began to tell the story of the four-way jealousy she had witnessed that day.

Artie was once again surrounded by pink and orange. And… fluff. And fringy things. But he never minded this really, because Brittany's room was so… Brittany. And he loved Brittany.

She had been talking about a problem Santana was facing, and he had been brainstorming right along with her for ideas to help. After a while, he started thinking that today Brittany had been talking about Santana a lot more even than usual.

"You know, Brit… I've been wondering something."

"Yeah, sugar pumpkin?" Brittany seemed to come up with a new nickname every single time she addressed him, which was amazingly cute, but also bizarrely consistent for someone who once confused a musical "duet" with a home-goods "duvet."

"Did you notice how upset Santana was the day you got Slushied?"

She nuzzled her head onto his shoulder. "Yup."

"No, not just upset about the Cheerios doing that to you, but… did you notice that she was getting upset, like, maybe because you were going to me instead of her afterward?"

Brittany thought about it and nodded her head, still resting on his shoulder.

"Puck got all jealous that she was jealous for you… and it was kind of… crazy. Right?"

She picked up her head to give it the justice of a bit more thought. Artie was studying her face looking for any reactions, but she really had none at all.

Artie knew that it wasn't because there was nothing in her head, like when you ask her a question about vocabulary or spelling. She does have some pretty amazing intelligence, just not for most school subjects. Well actually Artie had been surprised to find that she is freakishly good at math, but that's a story for another day. What really shows her true intelligence is the way she can relate to people. She always knows when someone needs a kind word or to be left alone. She always knows exactly what to do to make someone feel included in a group that if you weren't her boyfriend and watching with interest everything that she does, you never would notice that it was something she did on purpose. It's a total knack she has for making someone feel like they did it themselves. It's one of Artie's favorite things about her. She loves people and is just so good with them, and so brilliantly skillful at relating to them.

So the fact that her face showed no reaction to the idea of Santana liking her, or to the idea of Santana being with someone else, did not make Artie think that she didn't know what to make of that. It made him realize that she had no problems with either issue.

And with that, he was done. No problems there.

Curious about Santana, though… after all he is a guy and they are two unbelievably hot girls, he had to ask, "Um, Brit… You and Santana used to, um…"

"Hook up?" She supplied helpfully.

With a cough, he replied, "Yeah! Hah. Uhhh, so… was it, like…"

"Hot?"

All he could do was laugh nervously at that.

She crawled the few inches that were between them on the couch like a bobcat stalking prey, tossed the big pillow that was beside him away and replaced its support of his posture with her own arm, sliding her palm on the couch until her hand was under his thigh holding her there, "Yeah of course it was hot, Artie. She's hot, I'm hot, we got each other hot…" her breath was hot on his ear as well, and he had to capture some of that heat with his lips, pulling her in for a little bit of what he always called "Artie Lovin'!"

"So Artie, the thought of two girls turns you on, huh?"

"UH, I'm a GUY… Yeah!"

Brittany just giggled and took off his glasses to give her more spots to kiss.

Thinking he should continue this sexy talk while he had the chance, Artie started again, "So, uh… did she… ever touch you… here? Brittany giggled as he nuzzled her neck with his nose.

"Yeah…."

"Did she… touch you… here?" His fingers trailed along her collarbone down toward some cleavage. "Ooh, Artie… my goodness." She feigned shyness. "Did she?" he asked again in the same teasing and playful way. She replied "yeah…" as she leaned forward to kiss him. He didn't allow the kiss. Just yet. First he had some more teasing questions to ask.

"And… here?" His hand breached the collar of her top and slid under the strap of her bra.

"Maybe…"

"More than a few times?"

"Mmm hmmm…"

His hand moved further and she took a breath in sharply, causing his voice to become a little deeper in reaction, "There too, then?"

"Yeah."

His other hand went somewhere else quite suddenly, a place where we all know it's been before, probably many times at this point, but to Brittany it always seems like the first time and she reacts as such, which always drives Artie to distraction. He had to lean way forward to follow her as she arched back with her head thrown against the back of the couch, and asked with his breath against her ear, "And here?"

After a moment, her reply was, "Well… never… like you Artie!"

His deep (probably an octave or two lower than normal) laugh in her ear was the final straw, and she grabbed him up into her arms and with super Cheerleader/Dancer strength, practically catapulted him onto her bed.

Possibly more than a half hour later, Artie was gazing into her smiling eyes, and his last question was burning to be asked. "Brit…"

"Mm hmm?"

He placed a hand purposefully over her heart and gave her a tender kiss, asking, "Did Santana ever touch you… there?"

She blinked at the ceiling for a minute and turned to look into his dreamy eyes that were so intently trying to completely know her, and with her heart feeling like it was melting toward him to surround him and everything in her room with him, she said simply, "You're the first one who's ever touched me there."

Chapter 10 should get back to figuring out some plans for Regionals, I imagine...