AN: Hopefully I didn't throw you guys off too badly with that last chapter, it might have seemed a little out-there (but is loosely based on true events, I've studied criminal justice and that sort of thing does sometimes happen). This chapter is a lot less depressing, I promise! Only one more after this one!
Also, a special thank you to PiperPaigePhoebe01 for adding this story to her C2. It makes me feel really special, so special that I decided to make the end of this story even sweeter and fluffier than I had originally planned it to be. If you guys like the end of the next chapter, you'll have to thank her. :) As always... Enjoy!
I'm bawling like a baby again. Some point in the story I realized I couldn't stand up any longer and I sat down heavily. Eve and Artie never let go of my hands and I'm grateful. It keeps me grounded, reminding me that I'm here and not back in that place again. No one talks when I'm finished and they wait for me to calm down. When I look up at them Eve looks like she's torn between a desire to commit murder and wanting to cry. Artie looks so stunned I'm afraid he might need medical attention.
"She didn't speak when she got here," Eve says quietly. She's looking at me but I know she's talking to Artie. "It's took a full week to get her to talk at all, and when she finally did her stutter was so bad it must have taken five minutes for her to say her name. It wasn't until Grace got her to join the choir that she finally relaxed and we could understand her when she talked. For some reason, her stuttering never affected her singing."
"She h-h-heard me singing to myself in the y-yard," I say quietly. "It makes me f-feel better, c-calms me down. That's when she t-t-t-told me I needed to join choir."
Artie still hasn't said anything, staring at me so wide eyed that behind his glasses they are magnified to almost cartoon proportions. Then suddenly he lifts his free hand to rub under his eyes, (I ignored the fact that they were so watery for the sake of his pride – men and crying, you know), and then looks back down at me. "That's it?"
This is so far away from the answer I'm expecting that I stare back at him just as badly. "W-w-w-what?"
Artie gives a breathy laugh. "The way you were making it sound, I thought maybe you'd gone on a shooting spree or built a chain of nuclear warheads in your garage," he says in awe. Eve snorts in laughter.
I cannot even describe the wave of relief that's sweeping over me. In my mind, my crime, while not really my fault, has always seemed like this huge thing. And Artie, my best friend who's always abided by the rules, thinks it's nothing. Before I can really process, I get up on my knees and pull him into a tighter hug than I've ever given anyone before. I can tell he's shocked because he stiffens up, but he wraps one arm around me and pats my back awkwardly with the other hand.
When I finally let him go, I sit back on my heels and laugh. "Nuclear w-warhead?" I ask him in amusement. "I'm n-no good at chemistry, you know that. You do most of my homework."
"Wow, I think that's the least stuttering I've ever heard," Eve says, sounding impressed. "You're making progress." I'm laughing when I tug her into a hug too.
"Th-thank you, both of you," I say, taking one of their hands each again and squeezing them. "You two are the g-greatest best friends ever."
"I know," they say at the same time, and when they look at each other in surprise I can't help but burst into laughter.
"I don't know about you two, but I should probably get back inside soon," Eve says when she's done laughing. "Grace has been watching us through the window this whole time and now that you're smiling again they'll expect us inside. If I don't go soon they'll think we're planning a runner."
"I'm not sure runner is the appropriate term in my case," Artie says.
Eve rolls her eyes. "I meant a runner for me," she says. "You guys are visitors, you can leave whenever you damn well please."
"Let's go in," I say, standing up and dusting the dried grass off my knees. I take a few deep breaths, wipe the tears from my cheeks, and then nod to them both.
"I might need a hand, Tee," Artie says and for the first time it really occurs to me that his chair is out on the grass. Like yards away from the sidewalk out in the grass. I know how hard it is for him to move his chair on something so soft and I glance up at Eve.
"Don't look at me," Eve says, guessing what I'm thinking, "I didn't help him. He was so hell bent on getting out here he did it on his own. Gotta give him this, Shorty's got some killer arms; kept up with me the whole way, even on the grass."
Artie's blushing again and he gives me that shy smile that makes my chest flutter in a funny sort of way. I'm pretty sure I know what it means, but my day has been so crazy I don't even want to think about deciphering any more emotions. I just step forward and help him to turn his chair back towards the sidewalk, and then take my place behind his chair.
"We're going to get a lot of weird looks when we go back in," Eve says and I laugh.
"You m-mean I'm going t-t-to get looks," I say and I realize it's true. My glee friends, Mr. Schue, Grace, they're all going to want to know what happened and why I freaked out. It's not a discussion I'm looking forward to.
"No, I mean we," Eve says. "Rolly-poly and I got into a bit of a shouting match in front of the security office, I'm sure our voices carried back to the auditorium." I'm so surprised I nearly stop walking. Eve shouting, sure that I can see, but Artie? "Speaking of which," Eve says and looks down at Artie, "sorry about the 'broken cracker boy' comment."
"Eve!" I say indignantly but Artie just shrugs.
"What?" Eve asks, unconcernedly. "I was upset and he was being annoying. Casanova here chased me out of the auditorium when I ran after you, and kept telling me that no one was going after his best friend without him, wheelchairs be damned. I kept pointing out that I was the one who knew where you would go and had known you the longest but I think the wheelchair affects his hearing because he didn't listen to a word I said."
"I listened," Artie says, "I just made the executive decision to ignore and disregard everything you said."
"H-how did you know I'd b-be here?" I ask Eve curiously.
Eve looks at me and raises an eyebrow. "Seriously? You always came here when you were upset. Like remember when that girl made fun of your stutter? You came out here and sang to yourself until they finally found you."
"Oh r-r-right, Renee," I say, grimacing. "You b-broke her nose."
"And got my time extended, yeah," Eve agrees. She shakes her head when I give her an apologetic look. "Don't even say sorry again, Chia, or I'll break your nose. You know me, I like it in here. Nobody here knows what they'd do without me." I laugh, but the sad truth is she isn't exactly lying; she really has been in here for a while, more than a year before I showed up, and I know she's not all that eager to get out. She always does some little minor thing to get an extra couple months tacked on, but never anything bad enough to get her sent back to juvie.
"I have a question," Artie says, tilting his head back to look up at Eve.
"What the hell is this, a classroom?" Eve asks, laughing. "If you got a question then just ask the damn thing, don't raise your hand."
Artie is trying not to blush again. "I was just wondering what's with the 'Chia' nickname?"
Eve and I exchange amused smiles. "It's l-like those commercials for the p-plant things," I explain because Eve doesn't look like she's going to bother.
"Chia pets?" Artie asks. Eve and I both nod. "I still don't get the connection."
"Ch-ch-ch-chia," Eve says in a sing-song voice. "It's because of her stutter."
Artie looks scandalized. "You broke the nose of another girl for making fun of her stutter," he points out.
Eve just shrugs. "The other girl wasn't her best friend," she says simply. "Best friends have special privileges."
"You don't let me make fun of your stutter," Artie says and I can tell he's trying to pout. Unsuccessfully, but he's trying.
"Th-that's because you're too nice a guy," I say. "You wouldn't even if I l-let you." Artie seems to think that over for a minute and then nods in agreement.
"That is pretty creative," he admits.
"Well thank you, Professor X, your approval means so much to me," Eve says dryly.
Artie's eyes go wide. "You are into X-men?"
"Oh please, Wheelie Boy, I am way more than just into them," Eve says and I roll my eyes. I had learned the hard way after making a Spiderman joke that you don't get her started on comic books unless you've got the time to spare. "I am the resident expert on everything graphic novel, and especially on Marvel."
"Only because n-no one else here has actually r-r-read them," I mutter but they both ignore me as they launch into debating about different comic book characters and I think I've only ever even heard of half of them, and most of those just in passing. They keep this up all the way back into the building, where Grace comes out of the security office to join us.
Leaving the other two to their conversation, Grace stops to pull me into a hug. "It's good to see you again, honey," she says. It feels good to be in her hug again; she's sort of like an older sister I never had. She doesn't say anything more than that, just keeps her arm around my shoulder as we follow Eve and Artie back to the auditorium.
There's music from inside and when we get in we can see that both choirs are singing together. It's surprising how well they are getting along, since when we showed up the Jane Addams girls were frowning at the McKinley kids and the McKinley kids were terrified of the Jane Addams girls. Now they are all intermingled throughout the stage and front rows of the auditorium, singing together.
The music breaks when we are spotted in the doorway and instantly there's a little group running at us. "Tina!" yell Kurt, Mercedes, Rachel, and Brittany, all of them running up to practically dog pile on me. Finn is following just behind them and right behind him are Quinn and Puck and Santana. Mr. Schuester is hanging back with Ms. Pillsbury, but he smiles at me and I can see the relief in his face.
"Do not worry me like that," Kurt chides. "This stress will counteract my nightly facial treatments and if I–"
"–and you had us all wiggin' out, girl! It was like–"
"–all of us expressed a great deal of fear over you, and we are all so incredibly pleased to see you return–"
"Alright, alright!" Grace shouts and everyone looks up from the giant group hug I'm being crushed in. "Let's get back to this rehearsal. We've still got a lot of work to do. It looks like the New Directions might just have to stay for lunch as well." To my surprise, there aren't any complaints about this. A few people even look excited. I mean, I know that the McKinley kids and the Jane Addams girls are both great, I love them both; I just didn't expect them to understand that so quickly, let alone take to each other so eagerly.
"Are you feeling like you missed something too?" Eve asks in a whisper. Artie and I both nod. "Good, glad I'm not alone."
"C'mon girl," Mercedes says and gestures for me to follow her as the McKinley group filters back down to the auditorium seats. I sit on the end of the row, so I can sit next to Artie, and the rest of the kids create a bit of a half-circle around me. None of them bother me about what happened, even though I can see they are all dying to know, but I feel like they are trying to keep me fenced in and protected. In a weird sort of way, it's touching.