"The world tour of the Cirque du Soleil tribute show, Immortal, to Michael Jackson is coming to Columbus in June," Blane was saying, as a group of Glee kids strolled through the hall, stopping to spin the combination lock on his locker, which was right above Artie's. It was weird, but ever since winning Sectionals, they'd all been hanging out in the halls. Even Santana didn't seem to mind being seen in public with them now. "We should all go."
"I don't want to see the spectacle that is Michael," Mercedes complained, as she held onto Shane's massive bicep. "I want to be the spectacle."
"Baby, you'll always be a spectacle as far as I'm concerned," Shane crooned. Artie briefly made eye contact with Santana and shared an eye roll. Everyone was getting a little tired of Mercedes and Shane, including possibly even Mercedes herself, though she'd never show it. Artie just had a feeling.
"I mean I want to do a Michael song," she clarified, after rising up on her toes and giving her boyfriend a quick kiss.
"But we already did Michael for Sectionals," Artie piped up, as he deposited his books from the previous class in his locker, in preparation to go to Glee club.
"You did," she said, depositing her own books in her locker, and Artie was reminded that Mercedes felt more than a little overlooked this year. First, he'd cast Rachel over her in the musical (though she did get to perform as her understudy for the matinee) and then she hadn't had a solo at Sectionals on any of the Michael songs. As one of the ones who had been featured, he felt oddly guilty for that.
She slammed her locker and said no more as they all headed into the choir room, minus Shane who kissed his girlfriend again before they parted ways.
"But guys, I heard the Warblers might do Michael for Regionals," Blaine interjected, catching up with Mercedes, who narrowed her eyes and shot him a suspicious look. Kurt sided up next to her and narrowed his eyes, too.
"And do tell us, how is it that you're privy to this insider information about the Warblers?" Kurt demanded. Blaine pressed his lips together tightly before heading into the choir room, the rest of them still on his heels. "Blaine? What gives?"
"Clearly once a Warbler, always a Warbler," Puck complained, from where he was already seated at the the back of the choir room.
"No, no, it's not like that," Blaine insisted. He hesitated, like he wasn't sure about what he should be admitting to under Kurt's watchful eye, but then seemed to decide that he'd better finish explaining himself. "I know they might do Michael because- because their leader, Sebastian, invited me to their holiday showcase over the weekend, okay? And yeah, maybe I went out for coffee with them after and... maybe we talked a little. But it's not like I gave up any information about us or our setlist!"
"Well, it would help if we had one," Artie pointed out. "We've been so busy with all of this stupid holiday stuff – I'm just glad I turned down that bogus idea you had for me to direct a holiday special for PBS, Mr. Schue, no offense. I mean, with Quinn and all..."
And plus, I said I'd never sell out and do TV.
"Bah humbug," Santana said, with a smirk. "I didn't peg you for a Scrooge, Artie. Tiny Tim, maybe..."
"None taken," said Mr. Schue, as he directed a sharp look in Santana's direction. "But that's why this week is about finalizing our set list for Regionals before we all leave for the holidays, so that we can come back and hit the ground running."
"I can't believe you didn't invite me to the Warblers' holiday showcase," Kurt said, still stuck on this as Blaine continued to try to convey how sorry he was. Per usual, these two were making it all about themselves. But really, it needed to be all about someone else, someone who'd join them if she could...
"Songs for Quinn..." Artie said aloud, half to himself and half to the group. "Mr. Schue, I've got it! Don't you think the perfect use of our Regionals set would be to dedicate the whole thing to Quinn?"
All murmured in agreement. Well, all save for Rachel, who put a timid hand in the air. "Artie, don't take this the wrong way," she began. "But why would Quinn want us to dedicate our setlist to her? She made it abundantly clear this year that she didn't want any part of Glee club."
"But that's all changed," Artie argued.
"Yeah," Santana, the last person Artie ever expected to agree with, agreed. "She told me she regretted quitting Cheerios and Glee. She said that after the accident."
"She told me that as well," Artie added, then turned to look at Rachel over his shoulder. "And maybe you'd know that, too, if you ever went to visit her."
"I..." Rachel's eyes instantly filled with tears and Finn went on the defense, putting a protective arm around his girlfriend and glaring at Artie, who had the sense to turn around and feel ashamed for making a girl cry. Even if it was Rachel.
"Okay, well..." Mr. Schue looked like he was deciding how to regain control of his class. "Let's split up and take the rest of the day to look for songs that we can dedicate to Quinn. Artie, I think that is an excellent idea. Oh, and uh, just in case... we'll avoid any more Michael songs."
"Dammit," Mercedes stewed. "There are so many good Michael songs I could have dedicated to Quinn."
As they headed out in the hall, Finn got in front of Artie, stopping him in his tracks. Rachel went on ahead and Artie was glad, because he didn't really feel like apologizing to her right now. Though it appeared Finn was going to ensure that he did, because he folded his enormous arms and just glared down at Artie, towering over him.
"Okay, okay..." Artie got the idea, without him saying a word. "I'll apologize to her tomorrow, if you can just give me a day to swallow my pride. And if you can just acknowledge to me privately, right here and now, that I'm in the right."
"What you said was right, I guess, man," Finn said, with a sigh. "But you weren't right to say it to her. To call her out like that. She feels bad enough. She's really traumatized by what happened to Quinn. She's scared..."
"She's traumatized?" Artie exclaimed, as he caught sight of Santana lingering nearby, not-so-subtly listening in. "That's no excuse. Quinn needed her to be there for her, no matter how scary it may have seemed."
As he and Finn locked eyes, the other guy's expression softened, with the realization that Artie was no longer really talking about Rachel and Quinn. He bit his lower lip and took a knee, to be eye level with Artie.
"Look... I've been thinking about that a lot lately too," he said. "How I wasn't really there for you, dude, after your accident. And these past two years, when we reconnected over Glee, you were nice enough not to bring it up. But it bothers me that I wasn't a good friend to you. Our friendship was... a lot more than just soccer. I should have been there. More than I was. I know I was just a kid, but that's not a good excuse. I'm really sorry, man."
Artie swallowed hard. "Apology accepted," he said, reaching out to shake Finn's hand. He hadn't really realized he'd never properly forgiven Finn. Finn went in for a hug instead, and the two embraced for a long time.
"Anyway..." Artie went on, as Finn drew back and got to his feet again. "I... didn't know Quinn's accident was going to affect me this way. Make me think about mine and bring back this... like, flood of memories I guess I've sort of suppressed over the years. Sorry for being out of line with Rachel. I'll talk to her tomorrow, okay? I guess this wasn't really about her anyway."
"For a change," Santana quipped, and Artie flushed when he realized she'd been hanging around and had heard the whole thing. As Finn waved and headed off to catch up with his girlfriend, Santana surprised him by approaching him next.
"Let's team up on a song for Regionals," she suggested, out of the blue, as Artie's eyes bugged out of his head. "Okay, you can stop looking so shocked. It's not like this is the first time I've ever been nice to you. I got you flowers when you directed the musical, didn't I?"
Handed me the flowers, Artie thought, for he was fairly certain that Mike and Tina were the ones who actually went to the store and bought those. But whatever. He just nodded, as Santana continued to look proud of herself for being nice to him.
"What's your idea?" he wanted to know.
"I want to do a mash-up of 'Fly' by Nicki Minaj and Rhianna with 'I Believe I Can Fly,'" she announced, proudly. "I'm pretty sure you're the best guy in Glee to carry the R. Kelly part. But, I mean, if you'd rather, I could ask Blaine..."
Artie was grinning, though, because this was a great idea. Also, he was flattered that she thought he could do R. Kelly. "No, don't do that," he said. "I love it. Sure, I'm in."
After much discussion and more texts than he'd ever dreamed of exchanging with Santana, they'd enlisted Mercedes and Blaine to sing the other parts with them for this mash-up. Mercedes would sing Rhianna's parts while Blaine would pick up a few lines of the Nicki Minaj rap.
Mr. Schue was giving them most of the week to prepare on their own. Then on Friday, the last day before break, they'd showcase the three songs for the group and nail down the setlist. During the two weeks off, Mike and Brittany intended to work on choreography in between holiday
Surprisingly, however, Mercedes turned them down. She was working on a project, she said, with the remaining girls in Glee. She'd rather furtively replied that it was going to be a "surprise," when Artie asked her for more details, and left it at that. Artie explained this all to Santana on Wednesday, when they'd arranged to meet up.
"That's weird, is she working with Brittany?" Santana asked, from where she sat cross-legged on Artie's neatly-made bed, and Artie had never dared to imagine any scenario where she'd do a thing like that. In fact, he ended up being wildly flustered when she just suggested they go back to his room to work on the song. Especially since she'd arrived before Blaine. Artie was pretty sure she just wanted to toy with him. Which was working.
"Uh, what do you mean?" Artie asked, doubly-flustered that she'd bring up Brittany. Even if that was ancient history by now.
"Brittany has some top secret project, too," Santana explained. "She asked me to work with her but I said I already had something going with you."
At this, Artie arched an eyebrow and just had to ask. "And you turned down Brittany to, um, to work with... me?"
"Well, I had to," she explained, with a smirk. "What, don't look so shocked? I want to be featured at Regionals, and I figured the best way to do it is to work with the best." Then she paused. "Let's get Rachel to take her place."
At this, Artie just gave her a blank stare. She threw back her head and laughed out loud. "What?" she asked again. "Rachel is the best, or second-best next to me anyway, whatever you think of her awful personality and giant toddler outfits. And if you ever tell her I said that, I'll deny it, so don't bother."
"So you... Rachel... Blaine... and-and me?"
Santana sighed loudly. "Is this you trying to pretend you're not just fishing for compliments?" she asked him. "Yeah, you. You have one of the best voices in Glee. And the loudest, I can always hear you over everyone else." She smiled then. "And you always sound good."
Artie just blinked, dumbfounded, thinking that he'd probably always remember this moment, the day that Santana sat atop his bed and gave him a bunch of compliments.
"Santana, are you staying for dinner?" Amy's voice startled him, as she parked herself in the open doorway. Probably, she was hovering out in the hall, listening in, because she knew Santana Lopez and didn't trust her as far as she could throw her. They'd cheered together, of course, when Amy was a senior and Santana was a freshman, before Artie ever entered high school. He wondered what that had been like, with Amy being the senior captain, in charge of Santana. And Quinn.
"Depends, what's for dinner?"
"Tacos," said Amy.
"Did you just assume that's what I'd like?" Santana asked, with a mischievous grin. "Sure, I'll stay for tacos."
"Great," Amy said, sounding like she meant the opposite and catching Artie's eye for a fleeting moment. "Well, uh, we eat in like half an hour."
As Amy left again, Santana looked at him. "Well, let's get started," she said. "I've listened to both songs over and over, trying to figure out the best way to overlap..."
On Friday, the unusual pairings continued and they finally got to see what a Mercedes and Brittany collaboration would look like. The whole thing, Mercedes was proud to tell the group, was all Brittany's idea as the two of them stood at the front of the choir room, with nearly every member of the Cheerios standing behind them.
"Always knew you were a genius, Britt," Santana said, lifting her chin and directing a proud smirk in the blonde's direction, as the other Cheerio just blushed and looked away shyly.
"I just asked them if they wanted to dance to a song with us for Quinn at Regionals and they said yes," Brittany explained, pleased with herself, as it wasn't everyday she came up with an idea that didn't involve Lord Tubbington.
"Can she do that?" Rachel Berry would naturally find some way to feel threatened by the presence of outsiders. She rose from her chair, looking down to Finn for support. "I mean, none of these girls even auditioned for us."
"We do have nine guys and only six girls, Rachel," Tina pointed out. "I, for one, am not the least bit threatened."
"Thank you, Tina," said Mercedes. "And on that note, we'd love to have any girl who wants to join us for the number that will feature the Troubletones."
"The what?" Rachel asked.
"The Troubletones," Santana answered her, smirking and rising from her seat to join them up front. She addressed Mercedes and Brittany, taking her place front-and-center. "Thanks so much for working me in yesterday, ladies. This is gonna be fun."
"You definitely need my talent," Sugar stated, matter-of-factly. "Just make sure you put me in the front, too, because I'm awesome."
"So, you already have a name for this show-choir-within-a-show-choir?" Rachel sputtered. "Mr. Schue, can we even do this?"
"The show choir handbook says not every member has to perform every song," Artie casually pointed out, as Santana directed a huge grin in his direction.
"Where does it say that?" Rachel wanted to know.
"Well, I don't know the specific section and bylaw, but- but it's in there," Artie informed her.
"You don't know the specific section and bylaw?" Rachel echoed, incredulously.
"Well, no, I didn't memorize the entire handbook," Artie told her, rolling his eyes. "I'm not a robot."
"Could have fooled me," Brittany said, grinning ear to ear. "Mr. Schue, if it's alright now, we'd like to perform the song."
Mercedes and Santana traded off leads for the verses, which brought them to the chorus of the second song in their mash-up. They'd paired up 'I Will Survive' with 'Survivor' by Destiny's Child. And even though neither song was about surviving a car accident, Artie supposed it wasn't too much of a stretch to say all of this was dedicated to Quinn. For being "a survivor." At any rate, she'd certainly appreciate seeing a bunch of the Cheerios performing with the Glee club in her honor.
Exactly an hour later, they were officially on Christmas break. And Artie was paying yet another visit to Quinn, except this time, he'd be seeing her at home. She'd gone home earlier that same day.
His mother let him in and showed him the little room on the first floor she'd fixed up for Quinn. This room was sort of like a second master bedroom, with hardwood floors and complete with a bathroom. Since Quinn was sleeping soundly, tired from the trip, her mother showed him the bathroom.
"Shower chair, bars by the toilet, I got everything they said she'd need... for the time being," Judy Fabray informed him, as though seeking confirmation that this was right.
"Looks like you covered it all," Artie assured her, feeling like he was violating Quinn's privacy in some way just by seeing this. Judy nodded and excused herself to finish making dinner, leaving him alone with Sleeping Beauty. He rolled himself to her bedside and found himself staring at the empty wheelchair.
"She would have to show you my bathroom," he heard her mutter, and he startled at the realization that she'd been pretending to be asleep. Quinn opened one eye. "I know she's trying to help, but she's driving me crazy."
Artie nodded. "I can see how she would," he said. "She's obviously a little overwhelmed, so I guess she's over-compensating, huh? Do-do you need a hand?"
Quinn was trying to sit up, but she always stiffened up after she'd been sleeping, she'd said. Artie leaned as far forward as he could to extend her a hand and help pull her to a seated position. She looked uncertainly at her chair.
"I can spot you," Artie assured her. "Really, I-I'll dive out of my chair to catch you if I have to."
"Thanks," she said, giving him a small smile. "I have to pee. Like, urgently, I hope I don't pee on you. I know that's sort of gross."
"Not gross," he assured her, saying more than he meant to. "A miracle, actually, that you know when you need to go and you don't need to cath and schedule everything."
She nodded, then focused her attention on the transfer, gripping the armrests tightly and grimacing as she moved her body over. "Yeah," she said, when she was safely in the chair again. "Uh, we haven't talked about that, I guess. That was one of the first things to come back."
"You're lucky," he heard himself say, before really thinking it through. Stop comparing, stop comparing!
"You've definitely taught me not to take anything for granted," she said, with a wry smile, before wheeling herself to the restroom. She took a long time, which gave Artie plenty of opportunity to overthink everything he'd just blurted out. But when she finally returned, she added something else that surprised him. "I heard you were happy to see me moving my hands, when you first came."
"Er, yeah, well, I don't take the use of hands for granted," Artie admitted, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "How did you hear about that?"
"Rachel," Quinn explained. "She finally came by to visit me yesterday. It was the day before I went home, but still. We had a nice chat. She mentioned that when you all first came to see me, you came back all excited over me squeezing your hand."
Artie smiled at that, pleased to know that he'd made an impression on Rachel and that, even if she didn't admit it to him personally, she'd seen the err of her ways. He spotted Quinn again, as she moved back to her bed, still not strong enough to sit in the chair for any length of time.
"Quinn, I... I can't wait for you to see what we have for Regionals. I think you're gonna like it." He said no more, not wishing to ruin the surprise.
She nodded and gave him a sad smile. "I really wish I could join you guys."