AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you so much to gigundoly for her contribution of a Quinn and Artie flashback to this chapter!

Chapter 19: Memory Lane

ARTIE

"Okay, now try one of these," Ella said, closing the refrigerator door behind her and unscrewing the lid off of a jar of pickles.

Sebastian vehemently shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Nope."

"Seriously?" Artie asked, dumbfounded as to how anyone could dislike this many foods. "C'mon, they're good!"

"I'm telling you, it's not going to happen," Sebastian insisted from where he was sitting on one of the barstools at the kitchen island. "Don't come any closer to me with those abominations, Ella Abrams, I mean it," he warned, his facial expression tainted by a look of panic as his step-sister set the jar containing the harmless condiments on the counter. "I know where you sleep at night, you know."

"Okay, this is crazy," Griffin laughed, sticking his hand in the pickle jar and taking a spear for himself, munching down on it hungrily. "I knew you were picky, but I didn't think you were that picky."

Come Monday, the four siblings had found themselves in a bout of to-be-expected summer boredom and had currently busied themselves by pulling common foods and condiments out of the fridge and pantry, forcing Sebastian to take a little bite, and doubling over with laughter as he gagged at each one. It was amusing– not that they liked torturing their brother, per se, but more in the sense of utter fascination as to how someone could have gone seventeen years of his life and grown to be well over six feet tall without eating anything that didn't come straight off of a restaurant's kids menu.

So far Sebastian had taken on plain oatmeal, a bite of a white chocolate bar, and a spoonful of ranch dressing– each causing him to have a more visceral reaction than the last. Seb had been a pretty good sport up until this point, though, stepping out of his own comfort zone to entertain his siblings. He seemed to have met his match in the pickle, however, so Artie took that as a sign to call off their little game and let Sebastian off the hook.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. Back off of him," Artie said to Griff and Ella as he reached for the jar and tightened the lid before putting it away in the fridge. "That was fun while it lasted, though."

"Speak for yourself," Sebastian complained, chugging what was left of his glass of water to rid his mouth of all of those (not so) strange foods he'd been presented with.

"God, you're even worse than Hadley," Griffin remarked, shaking his head. "I didn't think that was possible 'cause she hardly eats anything besides, like, bagels and grilled chicken."

Artie had always liked Hadley, the girl that Griffin had met during his first semester away at Ohio State and had been dating ever since. She was from Canton, which was close to where their dad lived in Akron, so they tended to see her a lot whenever they spent time in the eastern part of the state. Hadley was on the dance team at OSU, and Artie had always felt like she would have been great friends with some of the nicer Cheerios he knew. She just had that sweet, popular girl, prom queen energy– all of the same qualities that he also found in Quinn. Hadley must be universally liked, Artie assumed, and he thought that she and Griffin– the former football captain who'd also been in the top ten of his graduating class– complimented one another perfectly. He wouldn't have picked her as the type to be such a picky eater, but then again, Sebastian had surprised him in that department as well.

"Well, you can add french fries to that list," Ella said with a laugh. "Because she seemed to like those the other day at Cedar Point."

"At least she kept them down," Griffin retorted, glancing pointedly at Sebastian.

Artie raised his eyebrows and followed his older brother's gaze to their step-brother, wondering what the story was there. Aside from their quick phone call Saturday afternoon, they hadn't gotten the chance to debrief their respective days yet. And as Artie was learning now, there seemed to have been a lot that he had missed out on. He was beginning to wonder if he'd made the wrong decision by opting to stay home from the day trip.

"If I never go to Cedar Point again, it'll be too soon," Sebastian remarked, continuing that day's streak of complaining every time he opened his mouth. "The other day was a disaster. My vertigo only just wore off."

Artie remembered that he had heard something about the rollercoasters having some kind of effect on Sebastian, back when Griffin had FaceTimed him as they'd taken a break in the shade someplace between rides…

Artie and Quinn had heard the back door open, so they had a few moments to get themselves situated before Leo and Sasha descended upon them. Aside from Quinn's hair being a tad messier than it had been earlier and the way that Artie was nervously trying to lick the remnants of her lip gloss off of his lips, they'd covered themselves up fairly well. Well enough that the kids didn't suspect anything, at least. They made eye contact with one another as the kids went running by– barely sparing them a glance– which caused the two of them to burst into a fit of giggles at their shared secret. They hadn't even fully recovered from that yet when Artie's phone began to ring.

"It's Griff," Artie said, taking a look at who was calling and holding up his phone so that Quinn could see. "They went to Cedar Point today. Wanna say a quick 'hi'?"

"Yeah, of course!" Quinn replied, running her fingers through her hair before scooting closer to Artie on the couch so that she was in the frame as he answered the call.

"Hey!" Artie greeted his brother. "What's up? How's the park?"

"Good," Griffin answered. "Just calling to check in. Oh, hey, Quinn. Working hard on those college apps, I see, Art."

Artie laughed. "Yeah, I gave up on that in favor of something a lot more fun. You caught me."

"Well, you were probably right to stay home today," Griffin told him. "It's crazy hot outside."

"Just like I warned you it would be," Artie reminded his older brother smugly. Then, he wasted no time getting right to the point of what had been burning in his mind. "Have you ridden Millennium Force yet?!"

"We… did. Yeah," Griffin answered after just the slightest hesitancy. The pause was so brief that it was nearly imperceptible, but Artie had caught it.

"Good. I was hoping that you would," Artie told him, hoping that maybe if Griffin could hear a hint of excitement in his voice, it would be enough to make his brother stop feeling guilty for something that he had no control over.

It wasn't that Artie had opted out of spending the day with them because of his disability (though, theme parks could sometimes be a drag for people in chairs). He really had been intending to make some progress on his applications. But it had also been his hope that his siblings would take advantage of his absence and use it as an opportunity to go on some of the bigger and more daunting rides that he usually had to sit out on. It was nice of them to pass on them out of solidarity whenever he was there, but, really, he never asked or expected them to do that. He wanted them to have fun. That was what he always wanted. He was glad to see that his unintentional reverse psychology trick had worked.

"So far, we've been on Gemini, Maverick, and Millennium Force," Griffin filled him in. "And now we're taking a little bit of a break. I think somebody is a little queasy."

"Yeah, where's Seb at?" Artie asked, having a nagging feeling that he was the 'somebody' that Griffin was alluding to.

"He and Ella went to go order food."

"Is he having fun?"

"I mean, his head isn't in the nearest trash can yet, if you know what I mean, but I think the day's starting to take its toll on him," Griffin laughed, confirming Artie's suspicions. "He doesn't seem to be all that fond of the rollercoasters."

Quinn and Artie exchanged a wary glance. They both knew that Cedar Point was not for the faint of heart, especially while tagging along with two-thirds of the Abrams kids, who'd inherited the adrenaline-chasing trait from their father.

Artie was surprised to find that a pit had settled in his stomach. While he was enjoying spending the day alone with Quinn, hearing about the fun his siblings were having together made part of him wish that he hadn't missed out.

"Seb and Ella are back now with our food," Griffin commented in a most cheerful manner, probably so that Sebastian wouldn't have a clue that he'd been talked about while he was gone. "Here, say hi."

Sometime after their phone call had ended, they must've gone on some more rides that had gotten the better of him, because Sebastian, Ella, and Griffin were all still laughing about that now, at Sebastian's expense. Now that Artie was sitting with them in the kitchen, listening to them recall the memories they'd made together, he found that the pit in his stomach had not only returned, but it had even doubled in size.

"You good, Art?" Griffin asked, waving his hand in front of Artie's face to snap him out of his daydream. Reflecting on that conversation had caused him to space out. "You look upset about something."

Artie shook his head. "No, I'm not upset. Just wondering if I made the right decision, is all."

"Decision about what?"

"To stay back," Artie confessed. What reason did he have to hide the truth? "I mean, don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful day with Quinn– away from you clowns– but I just…"

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty," Griffin nodded, sparing Artie from further explanation by understanding what he meant in a way only his older brother could. "I always find myself regretting things after the fact, wishing I'd gone in another direction. Now you'll know for next time."

"Exactly," Artie said, relieved to have validation for his rare moment of FOMO.

"Well, take it from me, you didn't miss much," Sebastian said. "Had I listened to my body, I would have known after we went on the first ride that rollercoasters aren't for me, but no such luck."

Sebastian's attempt at lightening the mood and getting Artie to smile worked, and Artie was able to return a half-hearted smirk of his own.

"What about you and Quinn?" Sebastian asked, resting his elbows on the counter and leaning forward with interest. "What did you guys end up doing?"

Artie shrugged. "Not much. She needed to babysit, so we went to her place. It was hot, you'll remember, so I had no choice but to lay low, and she respected that. We mostly just talked. She's going to her dad's this weekend, and she was kind of telling me about her complicated feelings about that."

"I don't know how she could ever talk to him again after what he did," Ella said, shaking her head. "That was unforgivable."

"Well, that's why she was bringing it up," Artie replied. "She was talking about how she's been wary of accepting that kind of love from either of her parents since the incident. And… and how she's just looking forward to leaving for Yale so that she won't have to think about them."

"Oof," Sebastian groaned, wincing. "That's a mood killer if I've ever heard of one. She said that?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't blame her," Artie said, quickly coming to his girlfriend's defense. "It's not like it has anything to do with me, or us, or our relationship."

Griff and Ella were nodding along understandingly, but Seb didn't look convinced. That irked Artie to no end. He hadn't even been there, who was he to judge?

"I just told her that I'd be there for her and that she's always gotten through all of the tough times life has handed her. She's been that way for as long as I've known her. Since we were kids."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask…" Sebastian said, leaning back in his seat now and looking at Artie. "How long have you and Quinn known one another? I mean, you've mentioned that there's a history there, but that's all you've said. I feel like I'm a little behind. Care to catch me up?"

"Well, we were in the same kindergarten class," Artie said. "But things were… different then." He stopped short of explaining Lucy to Sebastian. It was true that he had changed his ways in recent months and wasn't nearly as evil as he'd once been, but Artie still didn't think that Quinn would appreciate the other guy knowing all of the secrets that she'd kept so carefully preserved for so many years. "I mean, we were six, so it wasn't like we had much of a friendship aside from sharing crayons. Though, actually, I think I do remember us playing 'house' in the little toy kitchen area during our free choice time once. She'd brought a baby doll from home to school with her for show-and-tell and insisted on me being the baby's dad."

The sweet memory brought a smile to Artie's face. He'd have to bring that up to Quinn and see if she remembered that day the same way he did.

"Oh, wow." Sebastian raised his eyebrows in surprise. "So she knew Artie B.A."

"What?"

"Before accident."

"Oh." That was a strange way of putting it, Artie supposed, but also not wrong. "Then, yeah."

"Well, hey, good thing she didn't choose you to be her real baby daddy, huh?!" Sebastian said, a rather wicked grin spreading across his face as he playfully nudged Artie who wasn't having any of it.

"You know, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop slut-shaming my girlfriend," Artie told him, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Oh, come on, Art. I was just making a joke. It was supposed to be funny." Sebastian rolled his eyes dramatically. "You're so touchy. You should really work on that. And don't frown like that because you're gonna get wrinkles." That comment didn't do anything to help the situation. It just made Artie more irritated, causing him to further deepen the crease between his eyebrows. "Plus," Sebastian continued, apparently not knowing when to cut his losses and shut up. "Even if that was the case, I'm sure you'd have had the good sense to wear a condom, yeah?"

"You should have quit while you were ahead," Ella muttered, for she'd seen the look on Artie's face. It was always harder for him to channel his negative energy into something that didn't involve hopping up out of his seat. He just tended to grip his armrests and turn bright red instead.

"They were all my friends, Sebastian," he said, through clenched teeth, trying to control his emotions. Griffin pretended to be tip-toeing away, motioning for Ella to follow. But in reality, neither of them were going anywhere, for they both wanted to hear this. "What was happening with Puck and Quinn was upsetting for all of us."

"It caused a major rift on the football team," Griffin recalled. "Finn was only a sophomore but he was so talented that he'd already made starting quarterback. And we couldn't have him feuding with Puck while trying to play as a team. There were several games that Puck got benched for, simply because he and Finn couldn't get past the Quinn thing…"

"Alright, Griff, I'm glad you know some stuff," Ella interjected, hopping up onto the countertop and averting her gaze to her other brother. "So, Artie, what do you remember about Quinn during this time?"

"She was still beautiful," Artie said, fondly recalling the girl he'd mostly admired from afar back then. "I thought so. So did everyone. She just stayed in Glee Club with us throughout that time, hardly even talked about what was going on after a while. Kind of hid under long, flowing dresses. It was only right before we went to Regionals that year that she started to fall apart. I remember this one time we studied for a big honors history test together…"

"I'm home, Mom!" Artie called before he remembered that his mother wasn't home. Ella and Griffin weren't either– they'd gone to their father's house that weekend, but Artie had stayed behind because he didn't want to miss the New Directions' set list selection party at Mr. Schue's apartment.

Unfortunately, that hadn't gone well. The pizza didn't even taste good after the bad news about Regionals. Coach Sylvester was now a judge, and she was going to see to it that they couldn't win, even if they deserved first place.

"Hold up, how did she get to be a judge?" Sebastian interrupted, as Ella and Griffin simultaneously shushed him. "Okay, nevermind, we'll circle back to that. Go on."

Mr. Schue's apartment was within walking distance (and rolling distance) from Artie's place, so he'd been able to get there on his own. On the way home, he saw he'd missed a text from none other than Quinn Fabray. Mind if I stop by to get your notes from today's review? No sooner had he read the text than he heard a light knock at the door. He opened it to reveal an uncertain-looking Quinn.

"You didn't answer my message, and I knew where you lived, so I just came by," she said, sounding almost apologetic. "I missed the whole review today for the test, and well, I'm screwed if I don't have those notes for Monday."

"Sure, come on in," Artie said. "We could even go over them together. Want to stay awhile and study? I know it's Friday night, and, um, probably only nerds study on Friday nights…"

She let out a bitter laugh. "It's okay," she said. "Honestly, look at me, what else have I got going on?"

What she had going on was a heavily pregnant belly at Artie's eye level that he actively tried not to stare at. He did remember to offer her a drink on the way in, and she asked for some water as she settled herself onto the couch and propped her feet up on the ottoman. After getting Quinn her water, Artie parked his chair next to the couch and got the notes out. Quinn meticulously copied them into a blank spiral notebook, and Artie filled the silence by talking through the notes, practically having committed the lecture to memory. As Artie talked, he couldn't help but notice how Quinn shifted her position constantly, unable to get comfortable, he guessed.

"Thank you so much, Artie," she said when he finally finished explaining all the notes. "I have to go to the doctor weekly now, and they aren't always able to arrange it so I don't miss school."

"You're welcome," he said, and there was a small lull in the conversation where he hadn't known what else to say to her. She wasn't getting up yet, and since she'd just said she didn't have any Friday night plans and he certainly didn't have plans… "You want to just hang out and watch a movie or something?"

"That would be great," Quinn said. "Get our minds off this drama with Regionals and… everything else." Artie guessed 'everything else' was probably the baby. He didn't know what was even happening with the baby after she was born.

He nodded and proceeded to go find something he thought she'd enjoy. "Want to watch this movie, 'The Shop Around the Corner'?" Artie asked. "You've probably seen 'You've Got Mail' with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, right? That movie was based on this one. It's from 1940. I like old movies…"

"That's 'cause you're an old soul and I love it!" she exclaimed, with a laugh. "Sure, I've never seen that, but I do love 'You've Got Mail'."

Quinn was quiet while watching the movie, totally enveloped by the story. She continued to shift around often, trying to get comfortable, and eventually ended up using the throw pillows on the couch to aid her efforts. After getting them popcorn, Artie eventually moved out of his chair and onto the couch next to Quinn, something he debated doing for a while. He hadn't been out of the chair much in front of her before. She didn't act like there was anything unusual about it, though, and even scooted a little closer to him to share the popcorn.

At the end of the movie, she was crying. "Stupid pregnancy hormones," she said, laughing at herself as Artie just grinned at her and passed her a tissue from the box on the side table that his mom kept handy for tear-jerkers.

"We could just watch TV or something if you want to stay any longer," Artie suggested. "You're living with Mercedes, right?"

"Right," Quinn confirmed, biting her lip then as she returned to reality. Movies were a great escape but she probably couldn't forget about her condition for long. Instinctively, she cradled her bump as she spoke. "I should probably have let her know I was staying longer. Everyone watches me like a ticking time bomb these days."

Artie just nodded as Quinn took out her phone and relayed a quick text to Mercedes. "I just let her know I stayed at your place to watch a movie." She was thoughtful for a moment before saying, "We don't have to watch anything though. We could just talk."

"Of course." Artie didn't know what had come over her, to make her want to spend time with him, of all people, but he was glad for her company.

"Can I use your bathroom first?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure!" he said, as she jumped up like it was a bit urgent and hurried off.

"Sorry, she's just right against my bladder these days," Quinn said when she came back, sitting down slowly and sighing deeply as she did so. "I'm ready for this to be over. Hardly a minute goes by that I don't think about being pregnant. Or what it's gonna be like when she comes. The times I'm able not to think about it or talk about it are few and far between." She paused. "Like with you, tonight. That was nice."

"The times I'm able not to think about being in a chair are few and far between." Artie didn't know what he was doing exactly, comparing their situations, but she smiled. "Like with you, tonight. I agree, that was really nice."

"We all need a little bit of that," she acknowledged. "To feel normal, and not like some kind of exhibit at a zoo." A horrified look appeared on Quinn's face as she contemplated how her words could be interpreted. "Not-not that you're not normal, or that–"

Artie cut her off with a laugh. "No, you've got it exactly right," he assured her as she turned bright pink, but looked relieved that she hadn't managed to offend him. "Normal's overrated. That's what I try to tell myself, anyway. But, hey, that's why I like Glee Club. We're all a little bit different from everyone else at school. All of us get to be losers together, which somehow makes us all less loser-y."

"Loser like me," Quinn repeated. "You know, that sounds like some kind of anthem Mr. Schue would have us perform."

"It does," Artie laughed. "It'd probably be super cheesy, but what are we if not a whole bunch of cheesy losers?"

"You have a point there," Quinn said, nodding. She got a wistful look on her face just then as she sighed. "You know, this is the first time I've ever felt like I have a group of friends that I can depend on."

"Me too," Artie admitted, scrunching his mouth to the side. He didn't know why– maybe it was because of the humble position she currently found herself in– but he felt like he could tell Quinn things that he probably wouldn't tell anyone else. "It's been nice not to feel like I have to always sit out of everything. In Glee Club, my disability is never an issue." He shrugged. He couldn't believe he was letting himself get this vulnerable with her. "I'd kind of forgotten what it was like to be seen as Artie, and not just the kid in the wheelchair."

Quinn gave him a sympathetic smile and covered his hand with hers in a show of friendly affection. He knew that she understood what it was like to be othered– both in her past and over the last eight months of her pregnancy. Her life hadn't been a walk in the park either.

"I never wanted to be the kind of person that has 'followers' instead of friends. But that's what happens when you're Head Cheerio, I guess." She rolled her eyes. "But they all ditched me the second things got hard and my life wasn't picture-perfect on the outside. That's why Glee Club has been one of the biggest, most unexpected blessings for me. Especially this year, after my fall from grace and while the rest of my life continued to crumble around me. If you all hadn't supported me the way you had, who knows what would've happened to me?"

Artie didn't even know what to say to that. He didn't want to think about anyone feeling as lost or alone as he had been before Glee came into his life. But, in reality, all twelve of them had a story of their own like that. They'd all come together for the same reason: the love of the music and the sense of community they'd found in one another.

"I just can't believe it's all almost over," said Quinn, shaking her head sadly.

"It won't be," Artie told her, in what he hoped was a convincing tone. Because it very well could all be over soon, if Regionals didn't go in their favor. And with Coach Sylvester on the judging panel, off to 'destroy the Glee Club' by voting with her interests in mind, they could almost count on the club being disbanded. "We're going to place. No, scratch that. We're going to win."

"I really hope you're right. Because I can't bear to lose all of you as friends."

"No matter what happens, you'll always have us," Artie assured her. "Me, especially."