A/N- I'd like to thank QuinnAbrams for her contribution to the beginning of this one! She also gave me ideas for the rest. If you, reader, wouldn't mind popping in with a review for us, we would appreciate that!
Artie was trying to figure out how he was going to spin this to convince his mom to approve this last-minute, late night party. After dropping Kitty off at Bree's sporty little car and given the Cheerios his address, he began brainstorming what to say when he called his mom on the way home to let her know he was bringing eleven people over for a late night swim.
"Hey Mom, I invited a bunch of friends over to swim! Could you maybe put some snacks and drinks out and not embarrass me in front of these girls and guys I hardly know?" didn't seem like a message that would win her over, even if it was truthful.
Quinn seemed to read his mind.
"Um… did you run this by your mom first?" she wondered once Artie had opened the passenger side door, transferred, and begun the process of breaking down his chair.
"Not exactly," Artie confessed. "But she's never really had a problem with me inviting people over in the past, so we should be good. She likes to see everyone when they come over."
"It's getting kind of late," Quinn pointed out, always ready to play devil's advocate. "I don't think you've ever hosted everyone for a night swim before."
"Well, that's what the pool lights and the patio lights are for, right?" Artie challenged, giving her no choice but to nod in concession.
He fastened his seatbelt and, as Quinn backed out of the parking spot, he unlocked his phone to call his mom and inform her of all of the high schoolers who would soon be descending upon their house, only to see that she'd already texted him.
Amy forgot her makeup bag at home, so I'm heading to campus to bring it to her, the text message read. She has an air mattress in her dorm room, so I will stay with her for the night. Your dad is out of town, so you're on your own. Call me if you need anything. Hope you and Quinn are having fun. Text me when you get home so I know you're safe. Love you!
"Crap," Artie mumbled under his breath.
Well, he thought he'd said it under his breath.
"What?" Quinn wondered, looking over at him and catching the panic-stricken look he was wearing. "Oh no, Artie, what is it?"
"My mom's not home. She went to Columbus to bring something to Amy. She's staying there for the night."
"What are you going to do? You're gonna have to tell everyone it's off. Do you even have that Ryder guy's number? Or that Jake kid?"
"No," Artie replied, sighing as he frantically tried to think of a Plan B. He was an expert at that by now, thinking of alternate ways to do something when the first plan fell through. The chair had made him into a professional crisis manager. But no backup plans were coming to mind.
"I think I'm just still gonna host it."
"Arthur Abrams, are you crazy?!" Quinn exclaimed, using his full name for the second time that night. "You can't do that! She's going to kill you!"
"I don't really have another option, Lucy!" Artie reasoned, matching her tone. "Plus, I think it'd be kind of fun, right? Ending the summer with a bang."
"You have officially lost your mind," she told him definitively. "Listen, I know your judgment is a little clouded right now, trying to impress Marley and Kitty, and those guys–"
"I'm not trying to impress Kitty," Artie cut her off, trying to convince Quinn (and himself) that was the truth. Despite that little spark he'd felt between them when their eyes locked as she sat on his lap.
"Whatever," she waved him off. "It doesn't matter. I'm trying to say that I'm all for making yourself look cool in front of them, but don't you think this is a little extreme? What if something bad happens?"
"Well, then we'll just have to make sure nothing does, won't we?" Artie asked her, with a shrug.
With that, Quinn just sighed and shook her head, probably knowing there was no way to change his mind now, as stubborn as he was. She committed to driving the rest of the way home without any more objections.
Hey, change of plans, Artie texted to the group chat he'd made earlier about seeing Quinn off before she left for Yale. The volleyball game ended early so a whole bunch of us are heading to my place to swim. Feel free to come by!
He knew Blaine, Tina, Sam, and Brittany were on board already, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to send out a bit of a last call to everyone he hadn't heard back from earlier. Maybe the idea of a night swim with the others would tempt them to make an appearance. If he was already having this big secret party, what did it matter if he invited a few more of his friends?
Artie had no idea what was getting into him. He'd always been a strict rule follower, often the buzzkill of everyone else's rebellious ideas, unhelpfully chiming in with worst-case scenarios in order to dissuade them from going through with them. To be on the other end of this behavior now was admittedly very odd.
Home now, he informed his mom, as Quinn pulled into the driveway. Love you. He said nothing more. He was eighteen years old, and this was the first time he'd ever thrown a secret party while the parents were out of town, a cliché teenager stunt. He'd never felt more typical and, yet, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep this quiet. But, if he didn't want his pool privileges revoked, he supposed he'd better. (And he didn't think she'd actually revoke his opportunity to swim. He needed it for his health. But maybe she'd refuse him any company for awhile. And yell. A lot.)
"Okay, I need your help," Artie told Quinn, as she shut off the engine and started to get out to give him room to retrieve his chair. "Can you please go inside and get some things for the party..."
He began giving her detailed instructions on the snacks and soft drinks to get and where exactly to put everything. She could do it much quicker than he could. If one of his Glee friends arrived first, he was going to send them inside to help her out, too.
"And can you get Kitty a baggie of ice for her ankle?" he concluded. As Quinn nodded and turned to set about the tasks he'd given her, he reassembled his chair and transferred into it just as another car pulled in behind Quinn's. He began to worry about the number of cars that were going to be lining the street. What if a neighbor said something to his mom?
He pivoted to see that Ryder and Jake were the first to arrive. Marley, he knew, had said she was going to stop by her house first and change into a swimsuit. Several of the others, especially the guys, were just going to come wearing what they had on.
"Hey," he said, straining to look up at the tall and lanky kid called Ryder. It dawned on Artie who this kid reminded him of - Finn. "Uh, just follow me through the gate," he said. "We keep extra towels out here, by the way, if anyone needs them."
Note to self, he thought, as he wheeled to the gate with the guys trailing behind him. Wash all the extra towels tonight. It was gonna look super suspicious if all the extra towels had mysteriously been used at once. Thank goodness their washer and dryer were front-loaders and that he was capable of doing the laundry himself. He just wasn't looking forward to staying up all night waiting on loads of laundry.
He spun the combination lock to their gate and wheeled himself back, opening the gate wide as he went. "If you want to text people and tell them to come through the gate, that'd be helpful," he told Ryder. "Do you have Marley's number?"
That was a test. Artie wanted to find out if Ryder had taken flirting with Marley to the next level yet. And when Ryder shook his head to confirm that he did not have her phone number, Artie felt satisfied with that answer.
"Follow me," he told them, leading them down the paved path that led directly to the sparkling pool. Quinn, already several steps ahead of him, had switched on the pool lights and patio lights on her way inside, so that the backyard oasis looked very inviting in the moonlight.
Ryder and Jake wasted no time tearing off their shirts and jumping on in. Shirtless, they were both even more sculpted and muscular, with the abs Artie so desperately wished he had, and Artie was playing the comparison game in his head again. He just could not believe these guys were so much younger than he was.
Hey, he texted Sam, for the sight of the muscular sophomores had reminded him of his other friend. Can you, Blaine, and Tina go inside and help Quinn get party stuff when you get here? Sam texted back that they had just arrived and affirmed that they would go inside and help Quinn.
As Artie watched the guys swim – he was going to stay out of the pool for now so he could focus on hosting – he decided he was just going to act like he had unsupervised parties all the time. As long as Tina could be cool about it...
Brittany, Bree, and Kitty were next to arrive. They were struggling to help Kitty across the yard. Just then, Sam emerged from the house, carrying a case of water as Blaine dragged a cooler full of ice outside. Noticing Kitty and Bree, Sam sprinted across the yard and offered her a piggy back ride. That was probably a less awkward way of getting around than riding in Artie's lap again. Kitty reluctantly climbed on his back and let him take her to a chair. Artie cautiously approached Kitty. At the same time, Quinn emerged with a ziplock bag and a throw pillow from the couch. She proceeded to make Kitty a little ice pack and encouraged her to stretch out her foot onto a second chair, where she placed the couch cushion.
"You gonna be okay?" Artie asked Kitty, wheeling up beside her as she settled at the table and chairs beside their pool. Kitty rolled her eyes at her own situation.
"I think it's just twisted," she said, more to herself than Artie. "Coach would have murdered me if I broke it. Especially outside of practice and not even on her watch."
"So, it's okay if you break your ankle as long as it's when you're practicing with the Cheerios," Quinn affirmed, looking annoyed as she set the ice pack on Kitty's ankle. "Sounds familiar. Is she still trying to get the school to let her shoot us out of cannons?"
"No, she said something about that Glee club of yours stealing some of her budget this year," Kitty said. "She's not happy about it. She told us that, under no circumstances, would we be allowed to join that 'talentless cover band' unless we joined as her spies."
"But who would do that?" Bree piped up. She had overheard Kitty, as she stripped down to a bathing suit that looked skimpier than most underwear. She surveyed herself. "Kitty, this suit you loaned me is adorable. I'm going to have to borrow it next time we come over to swim. There will be a next time, right Marty?"
It took Artie a second to realize she meant him. Maybe she'd confused Marley and him for a moment, combined their names, and come up with that. "Er, it's Artie," he corrected her. "No 'M.' And yeah, I hope so. I'd love to have you guys all come over again."
Bree didn't pay enough attention to listen to the last thing Artie said about how he'd love to have them all back again. She was distracted by Joe Hart, who had arrived at some point while they were getting Kitty her ice. He chose that moment to throw a huge inflatable ball at Bree, nailing her on the hip. She giggled and admonished him for it, saying "Joseph Hart!" while grabbing the ball and pegging him on his dreadlocked head. She jumped in. Brittany also stripped off her tank top to reveal a tiny suit of her own – or probably another one of Kitty's – and took a flying leap into the pool right behind Bree.
"She can swim in your pool but she can't be bothered to learn your name," muttered Kitty, adjusting her foot on the cushion. "Unbelievable."
Artie was stunned by Kitty's comment, because he didn't expect her to call out her fellow Cheerio, even if it wasn't to her face. Quinn seemed to share his thoughts, their eyes meeting briefly as Quinn arched a brow.
"Well, I'm going to go get some chips, Artie," Quinn said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "And some sodas."
Note to self, thought Artie. Need to make early morning shopping trip to replace the sodas and chips.
"Get Blaine or Sam to help you get all that stuff," he told Quinn, though he noticed that Blaine had already gotten in the pool and was talking to Tina. Tina was swimming in her clothes and Blaine had taken off his shirt. He wasn't as muscular as the other guys. His hair also exploded all over the place when wet. But that didn't stop Tina from flirting with him. (Even though there were many, many other things that should have stopped Tina from flirting with him.) "Or... just Sam."
"On it," said Quinn, leaving Artie and Kitty alone then.
Awkward. Artie didn't really know what to say to this girl. She looked mad about her injury still, but it hadn't stopped her from coming to his party. He wondered why she hadn't demanded for Bree to leave her at home, if she was in such a foul mood about her ankle.
"Are you going to swim?" Artie asked her. "Did you also change into your bathing suit?"
"In here." Kitty held up a small purse, which couldn't have contained very much material. The swimsuit she'd brought along was probably as tiny as the one she'd loaned to Bree. "Bree got one for me when we stopped by my house. But I just stayed in the car while she went inside."
"Oh, I see..." Artie looked at her ankle, which was already pretty swollen. "But, you know, swimming's one of those activities you don't need your feet for."
"Very true," she said.
"Do you live near me?" Artie asked, by way of making conversation. "You went to get swimsuits and you still got here so fast."
"Pretty close, yeah," she said. Artie noticed he was asking all the questions and she was just giving him short answers. He got the impression that she didn't feel like talking or just didn't feel like talking to her him.
"Okay, well... I'm gonna go make sure Quinn and Sam can find everything," he lied, unlocking his break. Quinn had lived with them. She knew perfectly well where everything was. Kitty said nothing as he wheeled away from her.
Marley had finally arrived, and as soon as he turned to go back into the house, he saw her and flashed a huge grin in her direction, which she saw. She too had gone home to change into a swimsuit. True to her modest ways, she had changed into the same simple tank suit that she wore as a lifeguard. She'd also brought her own towel, making it one less that Artie had to wash.
"You don't have to be on duty tonight," he teased her.
"No, I know," she blushed, holding her towel in front of her and scanning the pool with that nervous, intimidated sort of expression as she looked at the others, a look Artie knew so very well. Tina and Bree were chicken fighting on the shoulders of Blaine and Jake while the others cheered them on. Nearby, Brittany was trying to climb on Joe's shoulders, but she'd gotten tangled in his dreads.
"Aren't you going to swim with us in your own pool?" Marley asked, giving him an incredulous sort of look. She might have thought he was giving himself the Gabe treatment and hanging back because of his disability. Artie cleared that up for her.
"Later, I'll join in," he assured her. "Right now, Sam and Quinn are helping me get some last-minute things, y'know like snacks and drinks, set out for this, uh, this last-minute gathering... oh, and speaking of which, if you'll excuse me..."
Just then, Quinn and Sam emerged, Quinn with armfuls of more chips (some of the bags already opened by the family) and a brand new box of Oreos that they just happened to have. Oreos, Artie added that to the shopping list. Accompanying them was Kurt, who must have come through the front door and appeared to have been considerate enough to think of bringing stuff along. He carried a meat and cheese tray in one hand and a fruit tray in the other.
"Carole whipped this up for me when I said you were having a party," Kurt reported, coming up to Artie. "She's like Wonder Woman. Finn wanted to come but he's got to work really early tomorrow and he worked all day today..."
Kurt trailed off, as he spotted Kitty there on his way to the tables to deposit Carole's contribution, along with some paper plates he'd brought. Meanwhile, Artie began to worry about the distinct possibility of Carole saying something to his mother about the party and his secret being exposed. He was seriously sweating now.
"Oh," Kurt said, looking at Kitty's outstretched leg and her iced foot as he set down the trays. "You have some ice, I see. Hope it's cold enough." Kurt couldn't resist reminding Kitty of the iced coffee incident.
"No, actually, it isn't, someone needs to get me some more," she said, without missing a beat." She paused. And actually smiled, her mood apparently lifting. "Hi. Sorry about that day at the Lima Bean, by the way. I'm Kitty."
"Kurt," he said, with a little bow. "I graduated last year." He looked a little uncomfortable with that statement, almost like he expected a dig from Kitty for it, but to her credit, she said nothing of it. And that was when Kurt spotted Quinn and looked positively relived to see that he wasn't the only graduate in attendance. "Oh, hey, Quinn. We really missed you this summer."
Quinn quickly hugged Kurt. "I know," she said. "I'll make a point to at least spend the holiday breaks from school here in Lima. I missed everybody, too."
"Kurt!" Blaine had somehow freed himself from Tina's clutches and swam over to the side. "Come on in, the water's great!"
Kurt was wearing some sort of anchor-print swim trunks and a navy shirt with a white anchor on it. He kicked off his brown leather sandals obediently. The shirt stayed on. (Artie was glad. He planned to leave own his shirt on later, too.) Kurt sat and eased himself into the water, at Blaine's urging, for he probably would have otherwise just stayed dry. Tina made her way over the side, looking a little disappointed by Kurt's arrival, and hoisted herself up to sit on the side, feet dangling in. Spotting her, Marley made her way over to Tina and took a seat by her also sticking her feet in.
This is great, Artie thought, scanning the pool full of guests and picturing a whole bunch of people who would potentially come audition for his show, now that they knew him. Even if one of them did think his name was Marty. Who cared? He was the cool senior, hosting everyone for a spontaneous, late-night backyard pool party. It was worth it, even with all the food he was going to have to replace and all the laundry he was going to have to do.
Jake, Ryder, and Joe had dried off now, to approach the table full of snacks. As they helped themselves to snacks and drinks, Artie wheeled over in their direction.
"Hey, guys," he said, stopping by the table. "I wanted to tell you guys about the show I'm doing. You see, I'm a director. Last year, I directed 'West Side Story.' This year's show is 'Grease.' We'll need a lot of guys to play T-Birds, so I hope you'll consider auditioning."
"Is it okay if one of the T-Birds has dreads?" Joe wanted to know.
No, thought Artie, but instead of telling Joe to get himself a haircut or else, he found himself just nodding. He was pretty sure dreadlocks weren't really a thing in the fifties, seeing as Bob Marley didn't come along until the mid-sixties and seventies.
"I'll think about it," said Ryder.
"Oh, hell no," said Jake, with a laugh.
"Alrighty then," Artie said, not letting this Jake punk ruffle his feathers. At least Ryder and Joe had given him an indication that they were both interested. He didn't know what else to say to that, so he just shrugged and wheeled himself back over to Kitty, to check on her.
"Would you actually like some more ice?" he asked her.
"No," she said, looking at the baggie atop her foot. "I was kidding around with that guy, Kurt."
"Okay," said Artie. "How about some food then?"
"Okay," she said. "Sure, I'd like some of that fruit, some Oreos, and whatever soft drink you have, I'm not picky." And she actually smiled. Artie was surprised to hear that she ate Oreos.
He went about getting a plate for Kitty, setting that on his knees, then retrieved the can drink from the cooler and wedged that between his thighs. As he wheeled over, Kitty was giving him an amused stare. He smiled back, mystified. "What?"
"You're just... helpful." She couldn't seem to decide on a word for him right away, so she settled on that. Artie merely shrugged as he set the plate and drink on the table for her.
He then left to get himself something, too, and came back to join her. The two sophomore guys and Joe had already devoured their snacks and were back in the water. Artie remembered something they had but hardly ever used.
"Hey!" he called out to the guys. "We've got a pool volleyball net and a ball in the shed over there!" And he pointed. "If someone wants to go get it, the game can continue!"
Excited by this suggestion, Blaine promptly scrambled out of the pool to retrieve the equipment. The others started figuring out the teams. They ended up keeping them the same. Quinn joined the other Cheerios and Kurt added himself to Blaine's team. Kitty declined a request from Brittany to come and join them.
"I can't, I better keep this elevated," she called back. Then she looked over at Artie. "But you could join them, right? No sand in your way. Go ahead, I'll be fine..."
"It's okay," Artie said. "I'll keep you company."
Kitty gave him a small smile in return. "Thank you."