AN: Sorry this one is kinda later than normal! Hope you liked the Puckleberry goodness from last chapter! Sorry this chapter is void of it, but you gotta give Artina a little love! Lol ;o) Please R&R! Thanks :o)
Five Batches of Cookies
"Artie, can you get your mom to make her awesome cookies for our party next week?" Finn asked.
Artie looked at his friends. They were discussing their mini-Christmahanukwanzaa party they were having to celebrate the end of the semester. Artie had been lost in his own thoughts when he heard Finn say his name.
"Oh, sure," Artie said, shrugging like it was no big deal.
Only it was kind of a big deal. His mom was out of town and would be for the next week or so. His great Aunt Ruth was being put in a nursing home, and his mom went to Illinois to help get her settled.
The problem in all that? His mom's famous cookies didn't have a recipe. His mom made them from scratch, and the recipe was in her head. Artie looked at his friends who were now satisfied that they would have Mrs. Abrams' delicious chocolate oatmeal cookies He knew his friends really liked her cookies, and he didn't want to let them down.
"Are you okay?" Tina whispered for his ears only.
Even a year later, Artie still had to readjust his ears when Tina spoke. After she had confessed she didn't have a stutter, their friendship had taken a turn for the worse. Artie had been so hurt at her lie that they didn't speak for weeks. The other Glee clubbers didn't care that Tina didn't have a stutter, but then again, they didn't ever share the special connection Artie and Tina had.
It had taken a lot of work and daily reminders that no one is perfect, but Artie forgave Tina. They were still in the process of getting their friendship back to where it was. So, things were a little awkward at times.
"Yeah, I guess," Artie confessed.
Mr. Schue then dismissed them all, and Tina fell into step by Artie's wheels.
"Are you sure?" Tina pressed.
Artie stopped rolling. He knew she wouldn't let this go.
"No," Artie confessed. "My mom is out of town and can't make the cookies for our party."
Tina's eyes widened momentarily, but she reeled her surprised look in.
"Well, you can make them, can't you?" she asked.
"No, I can't," Artie bit out, starting to get irritated. Then, he felt ashamed for taking his frustrations out on Tina. "I'm sorry, T. It's just I don't have the recipe."
"It's okay," she said quietly. She paused. "Why don't I help you? I'm sure we could recreate the recipe!"
Artie thought about this for a minute. It could work, he guessed. He glanced at Tina who was pleading silently for him to accept.
Tina held her breath. She was hoping Artie would let her help him. She had already apologized so many times; they were friends again, but it was different. She wanted them to get back to where they used to be before she had screwed up.
"I guess so," Artie finally relented.
Tina released her breath with a whoosh. "Great!" she smiled widely.
After school, Tina followed Artie and his dad home. They had stopped by the grocery store to buy the ingredients Artie could remember off the top of his head. Artie's dad remembered some things they needed, so it was good to have him along.
"All right," Artie's dad said when they got settled in the house, "I'll just let you two get started."
And with that, he shuffled out of the kitchen, leaving Tina and Artie staring uncomfortably at each other.
"Well, let's start mixing. I know Mom starts with the butter and sugars," Artie said.
Tina got a mixing bowl and the electric mixer. They started pouring in ingredients, a little bit of this and a little of that. Thankfully, they had a base recipe and just tried to add in the "special Mrs. Abrams' ingredients."
The first batch of cookies was absolutely disgusting. They were bland and chunky. So, they added more sugar and mixed the dough better.
The second batch of cookies was too sweet. They tasted pretty good but not like Mrs. Abrams' special cookies. Tina thought they needed more oats.
The third batch of cookies burned. They didn't even want to taste them to see if they tasted okay.
The fourth batch of cookies was no good because Artie had accidentally forgot the brown sugar. They found the cup filled and ready to be added when they were getting the cookies out of the oven.
"This batch is going to be it, I can just taste it," Tina said, tasting as she mixed and formed the dough on a sheet, which Artie found completely gross.
"I can't believe you're eating the raw cookie dough," he said, shaking his head.
"I can't believe you never have," Tina teased, holding up a spoonful for him to taste.
Artie inched away, but Tina began to follow him. So he turned and started rolling around the kitchen, but Tina chased him persistently. Artie grabbed something off the counter, but Tina wasn't paying attention.
"Come on, Artie, just a bite!" Tina giggled.
"No!" Artie yelled over his shoulder.
However, he didn't get away fast enough, and Tina backed him into a corner.
"Artieeeeee," Tina sang, swerving the spoon of dough like an airplane toward Artie's mouth.
She was moving closer and closer to his face, and Artie could smell her perfume. It reminded him of happy, simpler times. The scent clouded his thoughts, and he found himself instinctively inching forward.
Tina saw Artie inch closer, and she panicked. She wasn't sure what was going through his head, but the light mood had suddenly disappeared. Was he going to kiss her? She closed her eyes instinctively, and just then, she felt a huge poof of some kind of powder in her face. Her eyes flew open to see Artie laughing at her.
"Did you just–?" she asked.
"Yup," he answered, popping the p with his mouth.
Tina's face was covered in flour. She blew the hairs that were in her face, and a cloud of flour filled the air.
"Oh, it is on!" she squealed.
However, the timer on the oven goes off.
"Saved by the bell," Artie murmured.
"Oh, I'll get you back," Tina tossed over her shoulder, heading for the oven.
The cookies looked good. They smelled better than the other four batches. Tina swatted Artie's hand away from the hot cookie sheet.
"They have to cool, Silly!" she giggled.
Artie laughed too. The mood was considerably lighter than it had been at the beginning of the afternoon. He felt good to know that he and Tina had made a lot of progress.
"Wanna watch a movie?" Artie asked suddenly.
Tina blushed. She hadn't been ready to leave, and now he was asking her to stay.
"Sure," she said. "I think we've waited enough for these cookies. Fingers crossed, Artie!"
Artie laughed heartily at that. He grabbed two and handed some to Tina.
"Ready?" Artie prompted.
Tina nodded, and the two of them tasted the cookies at the same time. Tina's eyes rolled in the back of her head at the taste.
"Oh yeah, this is it," she mumbled around the crumbs.
"You know what? I think you're right!" Artie agreed.
They high-fived, very glad the cookies turned out right. Tina suggested writing down the recipe they ended using for the last batch. Artie found a notebook and wrote it out, while Tina stacked the good cookies on a plate and began to clean up around the kitchen. As she leaned over to throw something in the trash, Artie brushed her shoulders of the excess flour. She smiled at him, and he returned one. He grabbed a cookie from the plate and gobbled it up in two bites.
"Artie, these are amazing. You are really a baking machine!" Tina laughed as she stuffed another cookie in her mouth.
"Yeah, well that's how I roll," Artie chuckled, popping a wheel.
They laughed and brought the plate of good cookies with them to the living room. Tina curled up on the edge of the couch closest to Artie. They were close enough for her to lean her head on his shoulder as they popped in White Christmas.
Artie smiled to himself. He was glad to have Tina back. It only took the five batches of cookies, but in the end, the cookies turned out about as perfectly as their renewed friendship.
AN2: I hope you liked this chapter! I am finding it harder and harder to write anyone but Puck and Rachel! Hahaha! I promise more Puckleberry coming up soon! Remember, R&R = Love! :o)