A/N: bold-Artie; italics-Quinn
So, I gave the cliched and typical Puck/Rachel song to Artie and Quinn because I feel like it fits them the best out of all the Disney songs I researched. I am fairly certain that by doing this story I have listened to every Disney soundtrack ever. So here is my favorite pair of the six. :]
–
'so, this is love'
chapter five:
open your eyes
"He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began."
-Leo Tolstoy
–
Quinn Fabray wasn't always the messy wreck that she happened to be now. She had once been strong, and independent, but somehow she had forgotten that side of herself and lost who she used to be. It happened around the time that she joined the Cheerios. That was a place where free will was banned, and conformity was rewarded. They were all to be perfect, and alike, so as to be more pleasing to the eyes of those who were watching them, and Quinn Fabray hated every minute of it.
That's really what led to her joining glee club. She had watched as Finn had found his place where no one was the same, and no one would judge you. She hadn't joined for Finn, she had lost her affection for Finn over six months before that point in her life. When she had found out she was pregnant she had thrown all she was into glee club for the comfort she so desperately craved, and she had found it there, among the freaks and geeks. That was her true place in high school, and those were her true friends.
Now that her life had seemingly fallen apart at the seams she was throwing herself back into glee as hard as she possibly could, hoping it could mend her broken heart as it had once before. She didn't mind having Artie for a partner. He was always nice to her, and would always give her a hand if she ever needed one. He was also kind of cute in that dorky way that all girls secretly thought was adorable, but wouldn't ever tell their cool friends.
Artie Abrams was always wishing he was brave enough to talk to Quinn. She was always so beautiful that he generally forgot whatever he was going to say to her. He usually lived his life without fear, especially after his accident. He appreciated that she never made a big deal out of his legs, even when she had to dance with him at rehearsal. He thought she would complain first and foremost, but she seemed to like dancing with him.
He was always looked at with pity, even when it came to Tina, and he hated it. He was more than his limp legs. He was a musician, a computer technician, a comic book writer, and he was a normal guy with normal hopes. He wanted to go to prom, and he wanted to find a girl that he could fall in love with that would love him back, walking ability or not.
He heard a knock on his front door and quickly maneuvered himself to where he could roll out of the kitchen and into the large room that held his red front door. He quickly reached out to open the door, revealing the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She was smiling, where a soft blue dress, her child swelling out from her lower abdomen.
"Hi, Artie." She said shyly, looking down at him with a small smile on her face.
"Hey, Quinn." He said, voice cracking a little. He then made a face that caused her to start giggling, and walk in the room, her laughter echoing in his mind as he tried to memorize the sound of it.
He rolled his chair throughout his small house, and eventually landed in front of a door covered in stickers of various bands, along with a map with all the places he wanted to go in his lifetime circled in bright red sharpie, he wasn't about to let any disability he happened to have ever stop him from accomplishing all the things he wanted in life.
"I have... had a map like that in my room at home." Quinn's small voice spoke up from behind him, and he looked at her.
"The first place I ever circled was New Zealand. I still hope to go there some day." She said, tracing his map slowly with her slender, pale fingers. He nodded, rolling next to her, lifting his hand to touch the place his heart most desired.
"I want to go to Greece, and see all the history." He said, and she followed his trail and lightly skimmed his hand with hers, causing both of the teens to smile at the other somewhat reserved. He backed away, not wanting to hope that she could ever be anything more to him than a good friend.
She watched him move away from her, and instantly wanted to be near him again. She racked her brain for something to fill the awkward silence between the two. She was hoping that he couldn't hear the thundering in her chest, or the fluttering wings of the butterflies that had suddenly taken over her stomach.
"So, are you excited about Saturday?" She asked, and wished she hadn't almost at once. His face darken ever so slightly and he looked out the window.
"That's where they took me after my accident." He said slowly, glaring at his lifeless legs. "That's where they told me I would never walk again."
She blinked back a few tears that were threatening to spill over, and wanted to take back the stupid question. He looked at her and winced at the tear running down her cheek. He reached up from his chair and rubbed it off her face.
"Oh, don't cry, Quinn, it's not your fault. God, I'm sor-" But Quinn placed a finger over his lips, and looked at him for a second before asking, "Artie?" His eyes flashed to hers with curiosity dancing within them. "Yes, Quinn?"
She sucked in a deep breath. "Can...could you hug me?" She asked slowly, feeling like an idiot. Artie felt like he might faint. "Yeah, just-" and with one fluid motion he had pulled her down on his lap, and wrapped his arms around her.
Quinn leaned into him, breathing in his warm scent, trying to remember the last time she'd had a real hug that meant something. He carefully placed one hand in her hair, and stroked her blond locks slowly, and she squeezed him tighter to her.
"I feel whole with you here." He said cheesily, hoping she wouldn't hear his stupidity. She laughed into his shoulder.
"Me too, Artie. Me too." He grinned down at her head, and she pulled back, a spark in her eyes.
"I have an idea for our song." She said, and suddenly stood, offering him a hand to come with her.
He would rather have died than not be able to follow her in that moment.
–
They stood, and he was ringing his hands while she fixed her hair for the fourteenth time that day. He watched her, his love for her growing by the moments that they spent together. He would give anything just to hug her like he had done nearly a week ago. To feel her trusting him so thoroughly, because he would never hurt her.
Quinn was watching Artie out of the corner of her eye, as his gaze followed her, as it had for the past week. He had been next to her at school, and spent several of his evenings with her, helping her get caught on their homework. She was used to having him there, and she didn't want this to end because that meant she could lose him too, and she didn't think she could handle that. Not Artie, not now, and not ever.
"The next pair are very excited to be here. Please give it up for Quinn Fabray and Artie Abrams!" Quinn smiled at him before she began pushing him out to where they would sing.
She stood on one end of the room, while he set himself up towards the back. He lifted his mic.
"Before we start, I just wanted to say something to you guys." He began, all the sick children looking up at him curiously. "When I was eight years old, I was in a terrible car accident, and I was brought here. The doctors and nurses tried their best, but I was told I would never walk again. At first I hated it, and I wished I could just die." He said, surveying the room, seeing several nods. "Then I joined my glee club, and now I have hope. Just don't forget that there's always someone there, no matter what. Even if that's me, because I believe in all of you, because someone believed in me." He said, and smiled at Quinn, who was crying again from her hormones.
He took his place with her as she stood behind him, and raised the mic to his chapped lips.
"I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me princess, now when did
You last let your heart decide?"
He asked, looking at her, offering his hand to her and she placed hers in his, and twirled around his chair as he continued serenading her.
"I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride"
She smiled at him, as he sang, his voice clear and perfect always.
"A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming"
She lifted her mic, and his hand in hers released all of the nervousness she had felt before. He soothed all of her worries, and it was like it was just them sharing that moment with each other, and nothing else could possibly matter.
"A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But, now, from way up here
It's crystal clear
That now I'm in a whole new world with you"
She quickly leapt into his lap and he quickly began dancing with her, as if they were spinning together through the sky.
"Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feelings
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky"
She was smiling so much that it hurt, and she wouldn't trade this happiness for anything else in the entire world. She had never felt this way with Finn, there was no energy like this. She was comfortable, and this was effortless.
"A whole new world
(Don't you dare close your eyes)
A hundred thousand things to see
(Hold your breath it gets better)
I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
I can't go back to where I used to be"
Artie could feel through her voice how much she truly meant what she was singing, and he wanted her to win this competition so that she would be happy. He loved seeing her smiling, it was like it was all that mattered to him now.
"A whole new world
(Every turn a surprise)
With new horizons to pursue
(Every moment red-letter)
I'll chase them anywhere
There's time to spare
Anywhere, there's time to spare
Let me share this whole new world with you"
She was looking at only him, seeing a new side of him, one she wished she had seen months ago. A beautiful side to him.
"A whole new world
That's where we'll be
A thrilling chase
A wondrous place
For you and me"
The song faded out, and she sagged against him, hugging him to her once again, not daring to even think about letting him go. He was hers and she was his in that moment, and every member of the audience could feel the new love flowing through the room from the two teens in the very front of the room.