He loved swimming. The water was the only place where Artie felt normal, unhindered, and free. After an emotionally-draining Monday, nothing beat spending the rest of the day in the pool. He planned to stay there until dinner. His mom was inside making spaghetti. Amy was currently on her way home from college, all packed up and ready to spend the summer at home with the family. After a solitary swim, his favorite dinner, and some quality time with his sister, he was sure he'd feel like himself again.

He glided across the water on his back, which was probably his favorite way to swim, ears submerged, eyes closed, hearing and seeing nothing, feeling nothing but the water beneath him. He reached back towards the wall, but rather than hitting the tile, his hand grazed a human foot.

"Aaauugh!" he let out a strangled scream as he righted himself in the water, awkwardly dog paddling with one hand and swiping his eyes with the other. The owner of the foot recoiled, drawing her foot back in surprise.

"Sorry, I did not mean to scare you like that!" Quinn apologized profusely. Artie grasped the side of the pool and recovered enough from the horror-movie moment to laugh. After a beat, she started laughing as well.

"You can put your feet back in," he offered. He hadn't heard her come in the backyard but he assumed she'd let herself in through the back gate. She'd probably tried to call to him, but with his ears submerged, he hadn't heard a thing.

She repositioned herself on the edge of the pool. She still moved a little slower, sat a little more gingerly than she used to, but to the casual observer, nothing was wrong with her. Artie hoisted himself up to sit on the opposite side of the corner, curious to find out why she was paying him a random visit. He retrieved his glasses, which were resting atop the cushioned seat of his wheelchair, and replaced them on his nose to get a better look at her.

"I was worried about you," she launched in with that, which was what he was afraid she was gonna say. "After you were so down today, so not yourself."

"Nothing a dip in the pool and mom's spaghetti can't fix," Artie assured her quickly "And Amy's officially on her way home for the summer. Want to stay for dinner? We always have plenty, and I know Amy would love to see you."

"Sure, I'd love to but..." Quinn frowned at him. "Artie."

"Yes?" he playfully mimicked her tone.

She frowned harder. "Don't do this," she admonished him. "You can talk to me. Usually I'm the one who brings all the drama, whether it's by getting pregnant or smoking, wearing all black, and getting a tattoo of Ryan Seacrest."

"So it is Ryan Seacrest, I thought so..."

"Not the point," she interrupted, cutting off any more conversation about that particular subject. "I just meant that I bring enough drama as it is, and you and everyone I know have to help me deal with it. And yet when you have a moment of your own, you refuse to let anyone help."

"Quinn, I'm over it," he assured her. "I had my moment, yes, I was sad, and now it's done. Let's move past it."

"Artie, no, we're gonna keep talking about it," she insisted. "That's why I'm here. You always do this. You've never properly dealt with your feelings. You always stuff it down and move on. It just isn't a healthy way to deal with hard things."

He fell silent and just stared. What did she want him to say? She stared right back until she had stared him down, and he was the first to break eye contact.

"I really am okay most of the time," he finally said. "It's only when... when... I don't know, I guess it's whenever it hits me that I'm missing out on something big. Like graduating on time and playing soccer during and after high school, like I thought I would. Who's to say I even would have even been good enough? But we'll never know."

Quinn bit her lip then. "I feel like I've made it worse for you this year." Now she looked away. "I know watching me go through my own journey reminds you of yours."

"Minus the near-complete recovery, yeah," he elaborated, as she confirmed that with a miserable nod. "Quinn.. it would be so wrong of me to be anything but happy for you. But I won't lie. Watching what you went through did bring back some hard memories."

The last words got stuck in his throat as he unexpectedly got choked up. He averted his eyes upward, willing tears not to fall, but it was impossible to hide now. He didn't really like to cry in front of people, especially for reasons related to his disability.

And as if crying in front of Quinn wasn't bad enough, it suddenly got even worse. Finn, Mercedes, and Tina suddenly and unexpectedly made their way into the backyard through the back gate, just in time to witness Artie's mini-breakdown. He didn't even have time to splash his face with pool water. He briefly removed his glasses to swipe at his eyes and willed himself to cease the waterworks before putting the frames back in place.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, silently praying they could all just do him a favor and not mention the fact that he'd been crying out loud.

Tina exchanged an uncomfortable look with Mercedes, who craned her neck to look at Finn. Tina was the first to speak. "Mercedes told me about the dream you had," she said. "Then we both talked to Finn and decided to pay you a visit. I guess Quinn had the same idea..." Tina looked at the other girl, before averting her gaze back to Artie. She must have decided to forgive him for being insensitive. "Artie, I don't get it. I thought you were happy about having another year."

"Part of me is and part of me isn't," Artie said, still trying to work out what they were all doing here. "Sorry, I'm confused. You came over to check on me just because I told Mercedes about my dream?"

"And because we all saw how much it was bothering you today, dude," Finn said, gesturing to Artie's face. "Kind of like now."

"The chlorine is irritating my eyes," Artie blatantly lied, clearly not believed by any of them. He sighed when he was met with four skeptical faces "Okay, fine. Does it matter? I do have these vivid dreams sometimes where I'm walking, and yeah, it bothers me. But I don't need a pity party..."

Finn took a seat next to Artie as Mercedes and Tina sat on opposite sides of Quinn. Both girls were wearing flip-flops and kicked them off to stick their feet in the pool. Finn first had to unlace his trainers, which he was wearing without socks. (That was pretty gross. Artie, who didn't even sweat through his feet, would never do such a thing.) Artie couldn't help but cringe a little as Finn's feet slid into the water next to his. They remained quiet, like none of them knew what to say to his last comment. So, Artie broke the ice with one of his wise cracks.

"... if you must throw me a pity party, at least wear bathing suits next time," he concluded. "Then it can also be a pool party."

"Pity is not what I think of when I think of you, dude," Finn insisted. "Regret, maybe, for how I acted towards you after the accident. I know we didn't have soccer anymore, but it shouldn't have changed our friendship..."

"We were just kids," Artie said, shrugging and telling Finn what he had tried to tell himself for years. "We didn't have our own cell phones. We didn't have access to each other. No more practices and games. I wasn't even in your same grade anymore."

"I remember what I did," Finn said, darkly. "Or rather, what I didn't do. When you tried to come back to school, I could have been more supportive. I've always felt I was partly to blame for you leaving. Like I could have done something, like I should have convinced you to come back to school."

Artie didn't know what to say to that. He was initially stunned by Finn's confession. He'd never considered that perspective, never thought that maybe others felt guilty after he'd decided that first week back was just too much.

"I could have said something, too," Mercedes added, filling the silence. "I know we were just neighbors, that I didn't know you as well as Finn did, but I did know you pretty well, considering all those years of school we had together."

Artie finally found his voice. "I never blamed either of you for not reaching out to me," he said. "Well, for one thing, you were eight. But for another, it was my family's decision. And a lot of good came from me waiting to go back. I devoted that time to learning all the skills I needed for life in a wheelchair."

"And don't forget, you met me..." Tina added, timidly. "If you were graduating this year, Artie, we wouldn't have been best friends." She paused. "And we wouldn't have next year together either."

"A lot of things would probably be different," Artie agreed, thinking of his dream and the warped world his subconscious had created. "Dunno if I would have really been all that interested in exploring creative stuff like singing and making movies if I still had soccer."

"I can't imagine Glee club without you in it, Artie," Quinn said, coming up behind him and wrapping his towel around his shoulders, having been the one to notice him shivering slightly. "I know Rachel's a big part of it all, but next year, when she's gone, it's down to you to lead..."

Artie noticed Tina open her mouth but then close it again, as though she'd almost interjected something in that moment but thought better of it.

"You're the glue, Artie," Quinn went on. "The glue of Glee."

Once again, he found himself at a loss for words, an unusual position for someone who normally said too much and usually said the wrong thing at that. He was saved from another moment of awkwardness, though, by someone opening and closing the back gate.

"Thought I'd find you out here," Amy said, jovially announcing her presence. She was carrying a laundry basket full of dirty clothes. Setting it down on the pavement, she hurried over to bend down and give her brother a dutiful hug. Then she acknowledged the others. "Didn't realize you were having a pool party."

"Sort of," Artie said. "They're not swimming. They just came over to, uh, to cheer me up..." he trailed off, looking at everyone surrounding him and then explaining to Amy, just to get it out of the way. "I was sort of depressed today because I had this dream that I was graduating last night."

"Oh." Amy took these kinds of things in stride. She was used to hearing stuff like this. Even more when he was younger. He'd wake up with a story about scoring goals in his sleep. "Yeah, it's not all it's cracked up to be, college. Enjoy being a kid while you can."

"Well, that's depressing," Mercedes commented.

"Mercedes!" Amy squealed, sliding over to hug her as she got to her feet. Everyone but Artie did this, as he dried his body and grabbed his chair, taking an opportunity to transfer back up while they were distracted by his sister without eyes on him for the tricky floor-to-chair maneuver.

"Good to see you too," said Mercedes, as they embraced.

"I was so upset when I heard from Artie that you might not get to perform at Nationals."

"Yeah, I learned a valuable lesson about food and travel..."

Amy exchanged hugs with Tina and Quinn next, as Artie finished getting himself back into his chair. Just as he was positioning his feet, their mother poked her head out the door.

"I made enough for everyone," she called out. "Good thing you called me, Finn."

"You called my mom?" Artie gave him a strange look. This day just kept getting weirder.

"Well, I had to see if you were home," his tall friend explained. "You weren't answering your phone. You have a bunch of texts and missed calls from me."

"Oh." He'd been in the pool, of course, so he had been ignoring his phone and pretending the outside world didn't exist.

So that was how a bunch of his friends ended up around the dinner table. They ate in the dining room, instead of the kitchen, on account of the extra guests. His dad slipped in right as they were all sitting down to eat, having actually made it home before dinner for a change. He'd hurried home because it was Amy's first evening back, eager to greet her. Though she didn't stray far for college, she still didn't get back much during the school year. And, with his dad working as much as he did, Artie and his mother were typically on their own for dinner most nights. A table full of company and family was a welcome change. When Artie thought about how it would be a year from now, when he actually was getting ready to go off to college somewhere (like maybe Brooklyn), he couldn't help but think of his mom and feel sad. He imagined her eating dinner alone. She'd taken care of him for ten years after the accident, and this was how he'd repay her? By leaving?

He didn't dwell on this thought for the time being, though he was sure he'd return to it later, because he was watching Amy talk to Finn. Many years ago, it was Finn's mother who had taken Amy in while Artie's parents tended to him at the hospital in Dayton. But when he and Finn later grew apart, he was fairly certain Amy had held a grudge.

After dinner, even though it was a school night, it still wasn't all that late. His mom made brownies and while they waited, they played games at the dining room table. All the while, Artie was trying to push back thoughts like: Everyone is just being nice. They don't really want to be here. They're just doing this to cheer me up.

He couldn't figure out why he was like this. Why couldn't he just accept that others were actually having a good time with him? Why couldn't he convince himself that they wouldn't rather be doing something else?

As they played a rousing game of Phase 10, he kept looking over at Tina. Because of those two years in junior high of being each other's only friend, there had been a time where he'd never really worried about that when it came to her. But ever since she had started dating Mike, that had changed. Right now, it amazed him that she was actually here, without Mike, when he knew that she'd been savoring the days they had left before Chicago.

He gazed over at Quinn, who had just finished telling him a couple hours ago by the pool that he'd "never properly dealt with his feelings" about being disabled, feeling like a burden to his loved ones, and feeling like everyone else would rather not have him around. How exactly did he go about dealing with it though, when mentioning it to anyone only increased those feelings?

Quinn noticed him staring. "Your turn," she told him. "I just skipped Tina."

"Oh, right."

They were all somewhere between phases eight and six by the time brownies were ready. His mom pulled out ice-cream and toppings for them, too, and Artie had to take in the sight of his friends pigging out together, for he didn't know if this particular group would ever get to do this again. A lot of last times for this or that lately...

"Finn, what are your plans after high school?" his mom wanted to know. After he and Finn's childhood friendship had fizzled, Artie knew that their mothers hadn't really stayed in touch either. Considering all the time the two had once spent together as soccer moms, Artie never really thought about the fact that she too had lost friends after the accident.

"Community college," he said, between giant bites of brownie and ice-cream. "I considered the army, like my dad, but decided against it after Burt got sick. I'm gonna take a couple of community college classes and help him out at the garage."

"Burt's sick?" His mother blinked a few times in surprise.

"Cancer," Finn confirmed. "It's treatable, but yeah... it's gonna be a long road. Gotta be here for him, Kurt, and my mom."

"Oh. I didn't know. I need to call Carole and see how she's doing..."

Artie had to admire his mother, who evidently wasn't going to harbor resentment towards the other woman or her son, especially in light of the news about her husband.

Finn looked a little uncomfortable just then, as he caught Artie's eye, and Artie knew he was thinking about the reason their mothers lost touch. Initially, Finn and Carole had been his first visitors. And, when the whole soccer team was supposed to visit him in rehab, Finn and Carole were the only ones who showed, along with Puck who came with them against his will. But even they stopped coming later and stopped calling. And, when Artie didn't want to come watch the games and didn't stay in the same grade, that was it. Friendship over. Between Finn and Artie, as well as Nancy and Carole.

Both broke eye contact at the same time. Artie noticed Amy watching them from across the room. She averted her eyes but it was too late. And he realized she was thinking about it, too.

Someone had changed the subject. His mother was going around, asking each senior about their plans, and Mercedes was up next. She was in the middle of telling her what she planned on doing in L.A. while trying to get noticed and catch her big break. Mercedes had a variety of connections already, and for anyone else, the idea of going to L.A. and making it big would seem farfetched. But not so for their incredibly talented friend. She'd been working on this plan ever since the first time she'd seen Beyoncé in concert. Artie just knew someday he'd be telling someone that he knew the Mercedes Jones. (Or maybe she'd drop the 'Jones' and just be Mercedes. Even her name sounded like she should be a star.)

"Well, of course I know what Quinn's doing," his mom said, moving to the last one with a smile. "When do we have to lose you to Yale?"

"Not for the whole summer, right?" Artie asked, looking hopeful and realizing that they hadn't even talked about this yet. As Quinn began looking sheepish just then, he had horrible flashbacks to this time last year and finding out she'd decided to spend the summer with her dad, in the interest of avoiding her mother and sister. "Wait, what are you doing this summer?"

"I haven't even told you yet," she said, and those horrible flashbacks just wouldn't stop. "So, at Nationals, Shelby came up to me and asked if I'd be interested in working for her this summer. See, she's decided to teach credit recovery, plus the Akron Community Players are doing Wicked, and well, they want her for Elphaba and won't take no for an answer."

"You should go out for Galinda," Tina piped up.

"I'll be taking care of Beth," she said, with a smile. "Besides, I may look the part but I could never carry those solos..."

"That sounds like a fun summer!" Tina said brightly, before getting a look at Artie's crestfallen expression. "Oh. I mean..."

"How soon do you leave after graduation?" Amy wanted to know.

This depressing day just kept getting worse. Now Artie really was depressed, as he dug into his ice-cream for some chocolate-covered comfort.

"We haven't worked out all the details just yet..." Quinn trailed off. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't pass up an easy opportunity to earn some extra money for college. Living in New Haven's gonna be expensive, especially since I don't plan on taking anything from my father. Plus, I'll get to spend time with Beth."

There was an awkward silence just then, which his mother promptly filled by turning to Tina and asking her if she was still planning on attending Brown, like she'd always talked about doing.

"Oh, that's the goal," Tina said. "Only I'm quite sure I'm going to need to be Valedictorian to do it. I've got the top spot right now, but from what I understand, number two isn't far behind..." And with that, she elbowed Artie in what was supposed to be a friendly way, only she jabbed him a little too hard.

He just stared back, unsure of why she did it. "You," she clarified. "You're currently second in our class. Did you not know?"

"Oh, am I?" He knew, of course, but he played dumb anyway. Tina was onto him, and let out a strained laugh. Amy arched a single eyebrow in their direction. Next year was going to be interesting. Artie had no intention of going easy on her. He might need Valedictorian to go wherever he ended up going, whether that was Brooklyn or somewhere else.

"Mike's Valedictorian this year," Tina went on, steering the conversation away from she and Artie as the other let out a quiet, relieved sigh. "His parents almost made him apply for med school again when they found out. But he's standing his ground and going to Chicago to dance."

No one was able to stay all that long after dinner and dessert. Everyone had final exams all week. One by one, they let. Quinn waited to be the last to go. As his mother cleaned up the kitchen, Quinn lingered in the entryway with Artie and Amy.

Sensing they wanted to talk alone, Amy said, "I'll go help mom cleaned up." She gave Quinn a tight hug, adding, "I know I'll see you again before you go to Akron, so I won't say good-bye. I'll just say see you later."

"See you, Amy," she said, and then averted her gaze back to Artie when the other girl was gone. "Artie, I'm sorry, I just decided to spend the summer with Shelby, and I haven't had a chance to talk with you about it."

"It's okay, you need money, you love Beth, I know..." Artie trailed off, as Quinn's lower lip trembled. "Q, it really is okay. Akron's not that far. Definitely not as far as New Haven. That's the move I'm most upset about, but I knew that one was coming."

"Yeah..." she trailed off, as tears finally escaped and Artie swallowed a big lump in his throat, struggling not to cry right along with her. "Your sister's right. This whole leaving for college thing isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Glad I have another year," Artie joked quietly, earning a laugh from Quinn. She bent down and hugged him tightly once more. "See you at school tomorrow, Q. For one more week."

He returned to the living room to find his sister settling back down on the couch, having finished helping their mother in the kitchen. He pulled his chair next to her and silently transferred over. Saying nothing as he pulled his feet up and curled himself into a ball, he settled his head against her shoulder. She knew what he was sad about now without him saying a word.

"It was weird seeing Finn at our house again," she said, her sudden comment about that taking him by surprise. "Two years ago, when I heard from mom about how he rescued you from that bullying incident with the porta-potty and pushed you all the way home, well, I was just glad to know he listened to me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just that when I was a senior and captain of the Cheerios and he was a freshman football player, I reminded him that you'd be starting high school after I graduated," she said. "Told him the least he could do after forgetting all about you would be to look after you, to make sure you were insulated from all the bullying."

Artie gasped and lifted his head off her shoulder, turning to stare at her, open-mouthed. "You did not."

"Well, I felt like I had to," she countered. "Back then, anyway. I don't have to worry about you now. You'll be fine on your own. I know you like having people like Finn and Quinn around you and that you feel cooler, protected even. But you don't absolutely need them."

"No, I guess not. I've got... Sam..."

They both laughed at that.

"You're you," she said, putting her head on his shoulder. "And that's enough."