AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The fourth installment of my Step-Brothers Universe is finally here, though, it seems that I've written them all out of order! This story comes after "Sibling Rivalry" and "Getting to Know You: The Sibling Stories", and takes place before "All in the Family". If you haven't read those, please read them first before you dive into this one! This story takes place during the summer of 2012, between seasons 3 and 4.

Be sure to follow and favorite this story and make sure that you have your e-mail alerts turned on for the website so that you never miss an update. If you're reading, be sure to sound off in the reviews! And, of course, if you are reading along and there is something that you'd like to suggest for the story, my PMs are open! I love to hear what you all think.

*As always, I don't own any of the characters that Glee created, only the ones that I have developed for the purpose of this story. All rights for Glee and its characters are owned by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, and FOX.*


Chapter 1: The End of the Beginning

ARTIE

"Who I want to be with has been right in front of me. You."

Since Quinn had said those words at his mom's wedding to Sebastian's dad on Saturday night, Artie hadn't been able to stop replaying the moment in his mind. It felt too good to be true. As if any minute now, he'd wake up in his bed, satisfied yet disappointed all the same. He was continuously pinching himself and finding that if this was a dream, it wasn't one that he was meant to wake up from.

Quinn Fabray– the girl he'd admired from near and far for as long as he could remember– wanted to be with him.

Her friendship had always meant a lot to him, but he'd never expected there to be a time and place where they'd ever be more than just that– friends. And, whether he wanted to admit it or not, Artie owed all of this to Sebastian and his persistence in meddling in Artie's business in order to find him a wedding date, no matter how many times he was told to butt out.

After Quinn had said that when they were sitting together at the table, the rest of the wedding night had consisted of lots of dancing, hand-holding, and a surprising amount of little kisses (they were just pecks on the cheek and occasionally on the lips, but Artie had blushed like a madman each and every time) between the two friends who had known each other for years. Artie couldn't remember a time that he'd felt so carefree and relaxed with someone so quickly. It was like Quinn had this ability to know exactly what to say and do to keep his mind from defaulting to his usual worried state. She had told him that being his date to the wedding had opened her eyes to what had been right in front of her all these years, and maybe his had been opened too.

They spent the rest of the weekend talking, and now, the Monday of their last week of classes had rolled around, and Artie had yet to come down from this Quinn-induced high.

"Hey stranger," a familiar voice said from behind him as Artie was retrieving his books at his locker before first period began.

"Quinn!" Artie greeted her with his usual enthusiasm as he glanced over his shoulder to see the girl who had hardly left his thoughts. She held a coffee in each hand. "What's this?"

"Well, I stopped at The Lima Bean, and I figured that if I was a little groggy this morning, you must be too. Being the son of the bride, and all of that. I don't know what your usual order is, so I just got you what I get, with an additional shot of espresso."

"Thanks, Q! That was really thoughtful of you," he told her, gratefully accepting the drink. "I've definitely been a little on the slower side this morning. I feel like I'm operating the way I did after Rachel's one and only house party last year. And I didn't even drink this time! Sebastian did, though, and he was really reaping the consequences of that yesterday."

Artie felt himself nervously rambling, and Quinn seemed to notice too, based on the way that he saw her suppressing a grin as she glanced down at him. He quickly cut himself off and felt his face begin to heat up. "Anyway, thank you. For the coffee. I need it!"

Quinn giggled, which caused Artie to do the same, and soon they were both fully laughing in the hallway next to Artie's locker, and people were starting to glance their way.

"This is really good. Might have to become my new go-to order," Artie noted once their brief laughing fit had died down, and he was finally able to take a sip of his drink. He tucked the to-go cup between his thighs and unlocked his wheels. "Where are you headed?"

"Oh, I'm going to the east wing of the school. My honors English class."

"Hey, I'm heading that way too! Mind if I walk you to class?"

"Not at all."

Truthfully, he wasn't heading that way. His astronomy class was on the other side of the school up on the second floor, but he was just taking it as a GPA booster anyway. Besides, if he missed the bell, he could just tell Ms. Castle that the elevator had been slow this morning. He didn't jump at the chance to do so often, but he wasn't above using his disability as an excuse, and he knew his teachers wouldn't question him. It was a very odd– yet occasionally useful– privilege that the chair afforded him.

"On my way over to find you, this freshman gave me a hug and told me to 'never change'," Quinn laughed and shook her head as they strolled down the hallway. "Poor thing is too young to realize that change can be so good. Think, if it hadn't been for Glee Club, we would have never been good friends."

"It's still so weird, having you call me a friend," Artie admitted sheepishly. He didn't know if that was the right thing to say to the girl he had a crush on, but he said it anyway. It was the truth. While he'd known Quinn since before they'd joined the New Directions, their closeness now wouldn't have been possible without their time spent together in Glee Club.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile and squeezed his shoulder affectionately. He returned her glance and covered her hand that rested on his arm with his own for a moment before returning it to his push rim to propel himself down the hallway.

"Everyone else is so emotional about graduating, but I don't feel that way," Quinn told him. "I got into the school of my dreams, and we won Nationals. I guess I've cried enough tears for three graduations." She laughed and tucked a loose strand of her short blonde hair behind her ear. "Or, maybe it's just hard to feel weepy when I look at my friends. You've all grown into such incredible people. Santana's going to cheer at Louisville, Mike's heading to the Joffrey, Mercedes is doing extension classes at UCLA… And next year you'll be off to some prestigious film school, I'm sure." Artie blushed and ducked his head. "Nothing's going to stop any of you. I'm a proud friend."

"Well, thanks," Artie said, shrugging. "In advance."

"But don't get me wrong, just because I'm ready for my time at McKinley to end, that doesn't mean I want my time in Glee Club to be over."

"Glee won't be the same without you, I can tell you that for certain," Artie assured her. "You may be more subtle about your talents than Rachel and Mercedes are, but I've always been able to pick out your voice from everyone else's. It stands out." She smiled at his kind words, but he wasn't just saying that, he meant it. "Hey, remember our ballad duet my freshman year?"

"How could I forget? I was as big as a whale."

They could both laugh at that.

"No, you weren't. Only a few of us even knew you were pregnant at that time, so you were by no means a whale," Artie reminded her, before saying what had been on his mind for a while. "Why didn't we sing more duets together? That was a missed opportunity."

"It was," she agreed. "We probably could have done a couple if I hadn't wasted so much time at the beginning of this year galavanting around with The Skanks, or caught up in all of that Puck and Shelby drama." She rolled her eyes.

"We all end up exactly where we're supposed to be," Artie told her, offering some of his trademark sage advice. He didn't think there was much to advise Quinn on (she'd always been stubbornly independent, as was he), but he tried his best anyway. "What's done is done. All you can do now is savor the time you have left."

She gave him a nod as he coasted to a stop and pulled his wheels back once they reached her classroom.

"Well, if I don't see you until Glee Club, have a nice day, Q," he told her, before adding, "And thanks for the coffee!"

"See you later, Artie." She smiled and leaned down to give him a quick hug before disappearing into the classroom.

With that, Artie pivoted and headed back in the other direction, now actually en route to his class. As he made his way down the hallway, he mused that it wasn't quite as awkward, seeing her for the first time post-wedding, as he may have expected it to be. Far from it, actually. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this giddy and at peace all at once.

Artie had been briefly worried that the other night may have been some sort of fluke. Like, maybe Seb had slipped her a twenty and told her to make sure that Artie had a really good time at the wedding. That maybe he was the butt of somebody's joke. He knew Quinn well enough to know she'd never treat him like that, though, and he hoped that he and Sebastian had moved past that point as well. This was something good, and it was happening to him. Why couldn't he just let himself accept that? Why was it so hard for him to let himself be happy?

With the exception of final exams, the week of school prior to graduation was notoriously slow for most students, so Artie felt himself counting down the minutes until it was time to head to the choir room after the last bell rang. He intended on listening to his own advice that he'd given Quinn earlier that morning– he was going to savor every moment he had left with the friends he loved so much.

After a very giggle-filled impromptu recreation of the New Directions' debut performance, 'Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat', spirits were high.

"So, Quinn and Artie, you two were getting pretty cozy at the wedding the other night," Tina observed after the laughter had died down, looking pointedly between the two friends who were currently across the room from one another, with Quinn in the first row of the risers and Artie over by the drum kit.

They glanced at one another as everyone's attention turned to them.

"C'mon, don't you have any announcements you want to make?" Tina prodded.

"Uh…" Artie's voice trailed off as he wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, they were definitely still in the friend zone. But, on the other hand, friends don't kiss friends in front of God and everyone.

"I mean, if you were something more, I'd give you my blessing," Santana added, crossing her arms smugly and standing up from her spot on the risers, moving to stand next to Tina. "Just saying."

"I… Uh… You would?" Artie's eyes grew wide. She was the last person Artie would expect approval from.

"Sure."

"Me too," Puck agreed, throwing his two cents into the mix. Okay, maybe he was the last person Artie would expect. "Wheels, if you need some tips in the Quinn department, just come find ol' Puckasaurus over here. I've got plenty of wisdom to share."

"I'm not so sure I'd describe you as having 'wisdom'…" Quinn said, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Besides, Artie and I are just friends. We were wedding dates, yes, but that's all."

"We all saw you kissing!" Rachel pointed out.

"So? When has kissing ever been something exclusive to only the couples in this friend group?" Quinn retorted, crossing her arms. "You kissed Blaine at your party last year. Are you two dating?"

"That was during spin-the-bottle," Rachel reasoned, but Quinn wouldn't hear it.

"The rest of you are mostly coupled up, and we were just filling the holes left in one another's lives for the night."

"Wanky," Santana interjected, as everyone around them laughed except for Quinn and Artie.

"Whatever." Artie rolled his eyes. "You know what she meant. Quinn's right, just because we went to the wedding together doesn't mean we're anything more than friends."

No matter how much I wish it meant something more, Artie thought to himself.

The camaraderie and questions quickly quieted when Mr. Schue entered the room and promptly wrote one word on the whiteboard that brought the mood down significantly.

Goodbye.

"This week's assignment is easy," Mr. Schue addressed the students. He seemed just as heartbroken about this theme as they were. "Graduation is just a few days away. There's nothing left to prepare for. Our work here is done, so there's only one thing left to do: say goodbye. Underclassmen, pick some songs to say goodbye to the seniors; seniors, pick some songs to say goodbye to us."

A murmur broke out, as they took their seats (with Quinn snagging the seat to the right of the space left for Artie's chair). Everyone turned to those around them and started whispering about how they could possibly bring themselves to come up with a way to part with the group of people who'd made their high school experiences so positive.

Everyone but Kurt, who raised his hand.

"Mr. Schue, if I may?"

Mr. Schue nodded and gestured for him to take the floor.

"I have been thinking about this for a while. How to express my gratitude for you all and this club… It saved my life," Kurt said, beginning to get a little choked up. "So, for that reason, I wanted to dedicate my goodbye song to all of you, but I wanted to mostly thank the men in the room who have truly inspired me and never saw me for the things that made us different. You only saw me for the ways that we're the same. Because in this room… it doesn't matter if you're gay or straight. What matters is that we're friends."

Artie didn't consider himself to be too much of a sap, but Kurt's words really resonated with him. He may not be graduating this year, but this club has done that for him too. It gave him a place where he could come and be himself, without having to worry about the ways he was different from his peers. He could just sing, and that was enough. As Kurt began singing Madonna's 'I'll Remember' from the movie With Honors (which Artie loved, despite the fact that it was released the year he was born), he swallowed the painful lump in his throat imagining how difficult it was going to be to leave this place in a year.

Per usual, the other New Directions members provided the background vocals, and even though Artie was singing, he was still completely lost in his own thoughts. That is, until he felt the warmth of Quinn's hand come to rest on his arm, snapping him back into reality.

He glanced over at her just in time for them to sing, "And I'll remember the love that you gave me now that I'm standing on my own" to one another, with Artie rolling his eyes self-deprecatingly as he sang the line about– of all things– standing. That earned him a giggle from her, of course, which he counted as a little win.

She interlaced her fingers with his and leaned over to set her head on his shoulder. Butterflies swarmed in Artie's stomach as he squeezed her hand and rested his head gently on top of hers.

He knew the others were undoubtedly taking notice of their coziness– especially after they'd both been so defensive after that confrontation– but he didn't care. It was going to be hard for him to say goodbye to all of the seniors, yes, but her especially. Even if the wedding hadn't gone the way it had, he was sure he'd be feeling this way. She held a special place in his heart, and he wanted to enjoy these final days at McKinley together, no matter what the others thought.

SEBASTIAN

As a private school, Dalton Academy got to make most of its own rules, which resulted in Sebastian's school year ending a week earlier than Artie's and Ella's. The house was quiet without them around. Too quiet.

It only took one day for Sebastian's boredom and loneliness to reach the point of being intolerable. Instead of sitting around and waiting for his siblings to get out of school, Seb decided to take matters into his own hands. That's why on Tuesday afternoon, he decided to head over to McKinley around the time he expected Glee Club to be starting up.

He'd only ever been to McKinley twice, and on both occasions, he'd only been to the auditorium. He had no idea where the New Directions' practice space was, and the surprise element of his visit would be ruined if he texted Artie for directions. So he wandered aimlessly around the hallways for a little while. Lucky for him, the school seemed pretty empty, thanks to so many students being so eager to exit the school and enjoy the sunshine, so there weren't too many people around to notice that he was kind of lost.

Eventually, he heard a piano playing from down the hall, accompanied by laughter and voices. He headed in that direction, and sure enough, when he strolled into the classroom as if he belonged there, he was instantly met with seventeen pairs of shocked eyeballs staring back at him.

"Seb?" Artie was the first to speak up, mystified, from where he sat in front of the risers with Quinn by his side. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I got bored at home." He shrugged. "And I figured I'd, uh, come over here and check in on my little lovebirds."

Quinn and Artie glanced at one another, and both quickly sat straight up, with Artie pulling his hand back from where it had been resting on the girl's knee, and Quinn smoothing out her dress.

"Oh, by all means, don't let my presence discourage nature from taking its course," Sebastian told them. "Keep doing your thing."

"So you came all the way here to spy on me?" Artie asked, narrowing his eyes. "I thought you couldn't stand the stench of public schools."

Sebastian shrugged again, unbothered by Artie's annoyance and by the way he'd used his own words against him. "As I said, I was bored." He glanced around the choir room, taking in the cheesy inspirational posters lining the walls and group photos that decorated the bookshelves. "It's cute in here. It's quaint."

"Well, uh, Sebastian, I suppose you can stay and hang out for the rest of rehearsal if you'd like to," Mr. Schuester told him, clapping his hands together, looking to smooth out the awkwardness that Sebastian had brought with him into the room. "If that's, uh, okay with you, Artie."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Artie rolled his eyes. Sebastian could tell he wasn't mad or anything, but he was certainly annoyed. But being a nuisance to his brother was too addictive of an activity for Sebastian to ever give up.

"So, uh, Sebastian, to catch you up to speed, we're having a week of tributes," Mr. Schuester said as Sebastian climbed the risers and settled himself into an empty chair in the back left corner with the eyes of all of the New Directions members still fixed on him. "We're getting ready to say goodbye to one another before the graduation ceremony on Friday night."

"Right on," Sebastian nodded, crossing his legs and folding his arms across his chest, taking on the role of silent observer.

"Alright, seniors," Mr. Schuester gestured. "The floor is yours."

The seniors all vacated their spots on the risers, with the exception of Brittany. Seb was pretty sure she was a senior and not in Artie's year, so he wondered what the story was there (and he'd be sure to ask later). They stood in front of the piano, with Finn asserting himself as the spokesperson of the graduating class.

"And now the seniors of the McKinley High School Class of 2012 are going to sing for you. This is your Glee Club. Take care of it. It'll take care of you. One! Two! One, two, three, yeah!"

The seniors-sans-Brittany then launched into singing New Radicals' 'You Get What You Give'. Each senior got to sing their own line or two during the kumbaya, and each chose to sing pointedly to the person in the audience who meant the most to them. Santana sang to Brittany, Kurt to Blaine, Mike to Tina, and Quinn to… Artie.

The blonde girl sang her part with her hands on Artie's shoulders, her eyes welling up as she cupped his face before returning to the piano. Sebastian wished he could have seen Artie's expression at that moment. He did, however, catch the glances that the other New Directions were exchanging. Clearly, everyone was wondering where this Quartie train was headed.

The amount of emotion in the McKinley choir room was overwhelming. He couldn't believe the love these guys had for one another. Sebastian had noticed the New Directions' closeness several times before, whenever Artie had his friends over to the house since they had come clean to everyone about their home life. Meanwhile, Seb couldn't even remember if he'd said goodbye to David or Wes at their last rehearsal before he had booked it from the senior commons to where his Range Rover was parked, trying his best to make it home to Lima before the sun went down.

The upperclassmen took the underclassmen by the hands and led them from the risers, surrounding them in a circle and continuing to sing to them. The number ended with the seniors taking the underclassmen's spots on the risers, leaving the others standing by the piano, symbolizing their way of passing the torch to the younger kids of the club.

Sebastian knew what it looked like when Artie was fighting back tears, and he was doing it now. As he stared back out at the seniors who would be leaving the club after this week, Artie pressed his lips together into a thin line and clasped his hands in his lap before lamely attempting a small smile with hopes that nobody would notice his watery eyes.

If there was one thing Sebastian had noticed during his time spent observing the New Directions in their natural habitat (this time without any malicious intent… unless his coming to keep an eye on Artie and Quinn counted as that), it was how different they were from The Warblers. And what surprised him even more was how much he favored the New Directions' dynamic over his own team's.

In the past, he had never viewed the New Directions as a threat, because frankly, he thought they were kind of a joke. The way that they never seemed to decide on a setlist for their competitions until the week of, and how most of their assignments seemed to be based on whatever random life lesson the students needed to learn that week didn't really make for a threatening opponent. The Warblers took themselves much more seriously. And yet… they hadn't been the one to come out on top at Nationals this year.

Interesting.