A/N: LOL the word 'mallards' was in my word verification when I signed in to write! Brittany!

A/N - 2: Something happened and chapter 2 took several hours to show up online. It was only showing up in my profile. *stews* Hopefully, it doesn't happen again...

A/N - 3: I can't help but notice I don't get as many reviews on this one. Is the idea of the original character turning people off?! Or have I made Artie screw up one time too many? ROFL.

Artie could only remember feeling this uncomfortable following that time he had lied to Tina. After Mrs. Ortiz excused herself, much to Artie's relief, a still-scowling Olivia suggested that they talk about this outside on the porch in order to escape questions and comments from "the peanut gallery," otherwise known as Olivia's three younger siblings. She took a seat on the porch swing, dropping her crutches below. Artie parked his chair next to the swing. The girl stared at him, saying nothing. It was clear that she wouldn't be the first to speak, but Artie was relieved that she was even willing to let him talk.

He cleared his throat. "Obviously, I never meant for you to hear what I said," he began, and it looked like he had already chosen the wrong words, for Olivia scrunched up her face at this. "But... you heard it anyway. Regardless of whether you heard me or not, it was still totally uncalled for. I'm really... really sorry."

Olivia stared at him, moving her legs, making the swing go back and forth. She did not look Artie in the eye, but appeared to be looking at a spot on the ground instead. Artie followed her eyes and, upon closer inspection, realized she was staring at her crutches. There were a few stickers scattered here and there. Artie realized that she even had stickers shaped like music notes. He had similar stickers on the arm rest of his wheelchair, also music notes to reflect his greatest passion.

"Have you ever been called a cripple, Artie?" she said, softly.

"Uh," Artie fumbled. "Yeah, every... day? Every other day, at least. That's kind of my nickname, according to the jocks at school. After awhile, I guess you sort of become numb to it. Kind of like how your face literally becomes numb after you get slushied. Ever been... slushied?"

"Almost," Olivia said, and she nearly smiled at this. "It was one of the Cheerios, last year. Not one of the glee club Cheerios. I suppose they became a bit nicer after joining New Directions, didn't they? Anyway, my mom caught a hold of her arm before she could throw it in my face. And then Mom shut down the slushie machine for an entire week. Well, the jocks became pretty restless that week, and I heard that everyone ganged up on the Cheerio who was foolish enough to go after me. Mom turned the machine back on, after Principal Figgins complained that it was a crucial source of school profit, and the jocks went back to giving out slushie facials. But I was safe from then on. It can be embarrassing, having your mom work in the cafeteria, but it can also be helpful."

Artie couldn't help looking impressed. "Lucky for you," he said. "But I wouldn't count on being immune to getting slushied when you join glee club. The jocks would consider it heresy if you got away with that."

"But I thought I wasn't joining glee club," Olivia said, indignantly. The light, almost friendly tone of the conversation disappeared when they returned to the topic of glee club. The biting sarcasm returned. "You did say the club had reached the cripple quota, didn't you? I take it one token cripple is the quota. I wonder... could direct me to the section in the rule book concerning cripples?"

Artie dropped his gaze. "Alright, I deserved that," he muttered. "But it might interest you to know that I was sent here to talk to you. Mr. Schuester wanted me to tell you that you're on the team, if you'll still accept your spot. He was really impressed with your audition. We all were." He looked up at her again. "You're good, Olivia. But I don't have to tell you that."

"I see," she replied. "So you were sent, were you? What is this, your punishment?"

"No," said Artie, in a very small voice. "My punishment was being thrown off the team."

"You? But you lead the band, you sing all the best songs, you're the best guy they have!" It was an accidental compliment, and she blushed as soon as she'd said it. Artie blushed, too, not expecting to receive praise from the person he ought to be complimenting instead.

"Well, I did a stupid thing," he went on. "I might have cost us a new member. And this new member, if she were willing to join, sang Rachel Berry's solo from Sectionals better than Rachel herself. I think Mr. Schuester did me a favor, actually. Because once it got out that I was the one who stopped you from joining, the rest of them would've rioted against me. They're pretty impressed, you see."

"So, it's two cripples... or no cripples?" Artie winced as she said the word again.

"Please... enough with that word."

"Cripple," said Olivia, delivering the word so forcefully that Artie actually winced. "Cripple, cripple, cripple! What's the matter? I thought you said you were numb to that word. Or did you think that nobody else minded being called a cripple just because you've gone and decided it's okay? Because maybe we should just go survery all the other cripples out there to find out what they think!"

Artie exhaled impatiently, getting frustrated with the girl. The rational voice in his head was reminding him that he was supposed to be smoothing things over, not stirring up more trouble. But he was starting to get fed up with her obsession over this one little slip of the tongue. When was she going to cut him a break?

"I've apologized for that," he said, controlling his temper carefully. "If you aren't going to accept my apology, that's fine. But it's all I can do at this point. I wish I could go back and un-say it, but I can't."

"I admired you, Artie," she confessed, meeting his gaze with such intensity that he had to look away. "I have to admit, I saw the sign up sheet go up last year, but I didn't dare to try out. I thought to myself, 'How could a girl on crutches be a part of a team that has to sing and dance?' So, although I love singing, I didn't try out. And then I see you up there, in the center of it all, doing that... that really erotic song..."

Artie blushed deeply. "Push It," he cringed as he named the song, though even he had to admit that the song had been kind of fun. Artie secretly thought he'd be an excellent R&B singer, perhaps even a rapper. But regrettably, he had eventually come to terms with the fact that he was white. He was, in fact, whiter than white. Kurt once said that Artie might as well be clear. But Push It let him live out some of his greatest fantasies - being a gansta, slapping Tina's ass...

Olivia almost smiled for the second time. "Yeah, that was a great performance," he said. "But the best part about it, for me, was seeing you. You were fearless out there, Artie. By the time the song was over, well, I guarantee you we weren't thinking about your wheelchair! When I saw that, I almost tried out for glee club. And then... I don't know... I stlill wasn't as brave as you. I chickened out again. So now, a year later, I finally build up the courage to try doing what you did. I tried to make my crutches, my disability, disappear."

"And I go and ruin it," Artie supplied, feeling ashamed again. He waited for another verbal beating from Olivia, but she was looking at him thoughtfully, and he could feel the tension lifting. "Look, I want you to join without any reservations. The team has been good for me. I don't know if you knew about this, but we even did a whole number with everybody in wheelchairs. And that was quite possibly the single best thing that's happened to me since I had my accident. I want you to be part of New Directions, Olivia. And not just because I want my spot back, although I have to admit, I want it pretty badly. You deserve to have a moment like that. Like I had when we did Proud Mary."

"The thing is, I really can't do much on my crutches," she said, looking thoughtful. She studied Artie, then smiled slightly. "As long as I'm using them, I can't even use my arms to dance. But I think I may have an idea to remedy that little issue. Anyway, Artie... I... I still don't know if I really want to join. Not just because of what you said. I was close to backing out before I even heard what you said. I'm worried that I may not be able to work up enough courage to go through with it. Can... can I think about it and let you know?"

Artie agreed to this request, because it was all he could do. At any rate, it seemed like Olivia was on her way to forgiving him for the rude comment and for this, he had to be grateful. But he went home feeling disappointed. His fate with New Directions was still in question. If Olivia didn't join, he could kiss it all goodbye.