Artie was really liking the fact that he and Tina were both single now, not interested in each other romantically, and therefore able to return to the kind of friendship that felt more like what they'd shared back in seventh and eighth grade. Every Tuesday, for instance, they'd committed to ditch the lunch table for a private lunch in the auditorium together.

That particular Tuesday, she had a chicken salad sandwich but was more interested in his PBJ, so they traded. She'd brought him chocolate chip cookies today, having started doing that again, as she'd apparently come to the realization that Rizzo really was an excellent part. They'd been working a lot on her solo, lately, and Artie decided the resurgence of chocolate chip cookies definitely meant that Tina felt special again. And it was all thanks to Artie's choice in casting her for the role she didn't know she wanted.

"Homecoming's coming up," Tina said, as she perched on the stage and ate her lunch off of her lap. Artie was using the stage as a table, having brought along a kitchen towel to lay under his lunch, making it sanitary to eat this way. He handed her the soda he'd brought along for her in his backpack, keeping their beverages cool with a small cooler and ice pack.

Artie wondered if this was her way of asking him to go with her as friends. "Oh, yeah, that happened quick," he commented. Because they were so busy with the show, the first month of school had positively flown by.

And then, quite unexpectedly, she shared her big news, something that was making her smile at random and may have been the real reason for the cookies. "Sam asked me to go with him," she announced. "I guess we've been getting pretty close, due to the show..."

They'd recently all gotten off book, which allowed them to work on blocking. Yesterday, they'd been working on the scene where Sam and Tina, as Kenickie and Rizzo, basically had to make out the entire time. Artie had been getting a kick out of making them make out, but he'd never imagined they'd been enjoying it this much.

So much for his Homecoming friend-date.

"Well, you're welcome for that," Artie said, smirking as he took a bite of her chicken salad sandwich. The way she made them with grapes and pecans was absolutely perfect, and he couldn't believe she'd trade him for a boring PBJ. She must have known she owed him.

"What about you, going with anyone?" The question was innocent, but coming from Tina, it was kind of dumb. She knew he wasn't seeing anyone and therefore, did not have a date.

"You know I'm not," he said, feigning indifference. "I may just skip it anyway."

Truthfully, Homecoming was a bit traumatic for him now. Last year, when Sugar had loudly and publicly ditched him for Rory in the middle of the dance – Asperger's took another victim – he'd been rescued by someone quite unexpectedly. Out of the blue, she'd appeared, sitting in his lap and making out with him, mostly to show Sugar Motta what she was missing. Mackenzie's grand gesture was something he'd never forget. And just like that, a month later, she was gone. They were coming up on the anniversary now, with this year's Homecoming dance approaching. Artie didn't realize he'd feel this way. Now he didn't want to go at all. Of course, Tina would think it was because...

"Artie, if you want to go, go," Tina said. "Don't let being in a chair stop you."

"Since when have I ever done that?" was Artie's somewhat insulted response. He didn't want to tell her the real reason – that the memory of losing Mack still haunted him and that being at a Homecoming dance was going to make it worse. He made up another reason on the spot. "No. It's that – that some of the alumni will probably be at the game and it would be more fun to, like, go to Breadstix with them afterwards instead."

Not bad for making that up on the spot, he thought, musing that it wouldn't be hard to get everyone to agree to that. He wished Quinn was coming but she had said she wouldn't be home until it was time to come to the show.

"Oh." Now Tina looked torn, and Artie knew why. Mike was one of the alumni that would for sure be in town for Homecoming. He'd already committed to coming to school Friday and putting on their Hand Jive Camp (which was really poorly named, as everyone in the cast was already nicknaming it 'Hand Job Camp' and snickering any time it was mentioned). But, on the other hand, Tina now had a date with Sam and maybe that appealed to her more than spending time with her ex. And maybe now she couldn't decide which one she wanted to do more.

"Maybe I can get everyone to come to one last pool party, too," he added, helpfully. "On Saturday, so everyone who missed seeing the alumni at dinner Friday night due to being at the dance can catch up with them the next day."

He'd thrown a party almost every weekend since those first two weekends of parties. Being "Artie the Party Guy" really went a long way in securing his popularity amongst the jocks and Cheerios of McKinley. But he'd had to get creative to keep it going. These parties had to be potluck, because even the cheapest food wouldn't feed them all, and he'd had to work hard to keep them from sneaking in alcohol. Throwing out the football team's entire defensive line hadn't been easy, given his weak status as the kid in the wheelchair, when they'd tried to sneak in wine coolers disguised as orange soda. His mom had handled that one for him. No one crossed a mama bear, especially not his mama bear.

The family usually closed the heated pool in early October, so there were only a couple weekends left at most. It was pretty much a given that he'd host a party, especially if several of the Glee alumni came to town for Homecoming. His family had been pretty understanding about their backyard becoming the new social HQ of McKinley High, as long as Artie always gave them the heads-up.

A lot of people had also noticed the old picture in the hall, too, whenever they'd go inside his house to use the bathroom. They'd made comments to him about it, though none were as intrusive and nosy as Bree's. (She hadn't attended a party of his since that one where she compared him to a puppet and got her just desserts from Zizes.) A surprising number of people in school didn't remember him from his early days as a regular kid in elementary school. But then, that made sense, given most of those people had graduated the year before.

After he and Tina finished mulling over the details of the alumni pool party, munching on her homemade cookies, she had one more question for him before they parted ways.

"Is Mike still coming home early to help with rehearsals?" She looked nervous. Artie knew Mike and Tina hadn't really managed to maintain a friendship after their breakup, not with him miles and miles away, busy at his competitive dance school.

"Thursday," Artie confirmed. "His parents are out of town until Friday, so I said he could stay at my place on Thursday night, that way he doesn't have to be alone."

"You did what?"

"What?" A smile played on his lips as he explained, for he was kind of enjoying seeing her squirm over the thought of her two exes hanging out. "Well, of course I invited him over. I want all the choreography help I can get while he's here. Besides, you know, we have the extra room upstairs and all..."

Tina's murderous expression said it all. She didn't say another word to him before leaving the auditorium and made a point not to speak to him for the rest of the day.

A few days later, Artie rounded the corner on his way out of his last class of the day – a class that he was eager to see come to an end, for today was their first Hand Jive Camp, led by Mike. Turned out, he didn't need to make it all the way to the auditorium to find their former Valedictorian turned prestigious dance school pupil. Mike was busy causing a scene with an impromptu hallway dance, as Sugar and Brittany danced around him, while Joe held up a boom box, blaring 'Born to Hand Jive.' Artie jumped up out of his chair and joined in, matching Mike's every move.

Oh wait... no that didn't actually happen. That was just the dream Artie had the night before, because he was that excited about Mike's visit.

As it turned out, Mike had come with a lot of the choreography he'd promised for this particular scene already worked out. He was going to focus on teaching each couple different moves to showcase during the big dance party scene, so that each couple could have a small feature moment onstage. This was the same vision Artie had described to Mike weeks ago.

They chatted about his plans over the dinner his mother had brought home. Without even connecting the dots, she'd skipped cooking that night and had picked up Chinese takeout.

"She didn't get that because you were gonna be here," Artie hurriedly explained how their dinner wasn't racist, after his mother had set out the cartons on the table and excused herself to go watch a show in the living room while she ate hers. Today was one of the many days that Artie's father traveled for work. Thursday night was usually when she caught up on what she'd been recording all week. Sometimes, Artie joined her but tonight, he had a guest.

"Are you kidding, this is from my favorite Chinese place in all of Lima!" Mike said, as he dug in and helped his plate, using the chopsticks. Artie, who was super not-Asian, used a fork.

"Well – good." Artie was glad Mike wasn't offended at all. "Egg roll?"

"Please," Mike said, eagerly. "So, how's senior year going? I hear you finally got the twelve you need to go to Sectionals."

"Finally," Artie confirmed. "Jake took some convincing. I think he actually likes coming to rehearsals, especially since I excused him from most of them due to only being in that one scene as Teen Angel. Only I did ask him to also be in the dance. I've gotten some other football players and Cheerios to be in the dance scene, too, but they might not all make it to the first Hand Jive Camp, since we've got Homecoming that same day."

"Not a problem," Mike said, swallowing his bite of egg roll. "I can come back. I'm busy but as a freshman, I don't have any leading roles yet. I am an understudy for one of the lead roles in 'Coppélia.' I'm the understudy for Doctor Coppelius."

"Congrats on that, wow," Artie commented. "I'm sure that's a really big deal for a freshman. I hope someone gets sick and you get to go on."

"If it happens, I'll be sure to let you guys know," Mike said, with a laugh. "The guy I'm an understudy for is an incredible dancer, though, and a senior. I hope to be like him after my four years at Joffrey. So, tell me how you guys finally got the tough brother-of-Puck to join?"

"Kitty did most of the convincing," Artie informed him. "They're dating... I think. Kind of hard to tell. Jake flirts with a lot of girls, just like someone else we knew. You remember Kitty from the party you came to, right? She's playing Sandy."

"I'm having a little bit of trouble keeping them all straight," Mike admitted. "The newbies. I'm sure I'll figure it out tomorrow. I can probably come back the next two weekends. I feel like three consecutive Fridays would be enough, don't you?"

"That's more than what I expected!" Artie beamed. "Yes, thank you! We'll take all the help we can get."

When they'd finished their delicious Chinese takeout, Artie suggested they go out for a swim. Mike had come prepared for that, being that Artie had suggested it when they'd made plans for Mike's visit. Once they were in their suits, they headed out and were greeted by pool lights, sunset, and the water that stayed at the perfect temperature, despite the transition from summer to early fall. It would have been downright romantic, had they not been two straight guys who once fought over the same woman. Or, well, they never fought exactly. There was a whole lot they hadn't talked about, though.

Until now.

"Hey, Artie..." Mike began, after Artie had finished getting himself settled in the water. He had to be a little more intentional about how he went about swimming in the fall. It was essential to submerge his whole body in the water as quickly as he could and then keep himself bathed from neck to toes in warmth the entire time. When he got out, he had to immediately wrap himself in towels and hurry inside out of the cold.

"Hm?" Artie figured he had a question about Hand Jive Camp or Glee and was therefore entirely thrown by what Mike asked next.

"How... how long did you secretly hate me after me and Tina...?" Mike stumbled on his words, making it clear he'd given some thought to the question and was being intentional about when and how to ask.

"If I secretly hated you and you knew it, I didn't do a very good job of hiding it, did I?" Artie commented, smiling so Mike would know it was okay to talk about it now. "I don't really know, Mike. Maybe a few months? You're frustratingly likable, and therefore, it was hard to keep holding a grudge against you." He paused and reflected back. "I guess I finally got over it around the time I dated Brittany."

Mike took all of this in stride. Maybe he'd always known, but this was the first time they'd actually had the chance to talk, man to man.

"Tina told me you'd already broken up, you know," Mike said. "At camp. I mean, I'm not trying to blame her. I probably knew you weren't quite officially broken up, but I let liking her get in the way of, I don't know, common decency..." he trailed off, and Artie didn't even really feel he was owed an apology from Mike for this but that's what he was doing. "I'm sorry, dude. For everything."

"Dude, it's ancient history," Artie said. "I forgave you both a long time ago. Anyway, I did ignore her all summer." He paused. "And if I tell you why, you have to swear you won't tell her. I-I don't know how to even admit this, now that all this time has passed..."

Mike's eyes grew wide. "Admit what?"

Artie gritted his teeth. He didn't want Mike to tell Tina his secret, but a small part of him would be relieved if someone did. "I had to have back surgery that summer," he said. "I didn't want her to know about it. I didn't want her coming over to take care of me because that would have been awkward. So, I pretty much ignored her, and that was much worse. Can't really blame her for feeling like she'd been dumped. A ton of people found out I had that surgery, though... Quinn... Finn... Mercedes. But not Tina." He paused. "At least, I don't think so. If she knows, she never told me."

"And now you're telling me," Mike said, his eyes still bulging out of his head.

"Yeah," Artie said, ducking his head under. His face, the only part of his body sticking out of the water, was getting kind of cold. When he surfaced again, he met Mike's gaze and added: "So please don't tell her."

"Hand Jive Camp!" Artie announced on Friday afternoon, the corners of his mouth twitching as everyone giggled at that, all of them now in on the jab at the name. He raised his voice over the snickers. "For those of you that didn't have the privilege of working with the gentleman to my right, this is Mike Chang. And he's going to make sure we put on an excellent show."

"Happy to be here," said Mike.

"Now, I know some of our football players and Cheerios need to leave early – that's fine, we'll focus on those of you that can stay," Artie went on. "And Mr. Chang will be back two more times before our show. Which is only a month away, people, and that is not a lot of time! And we've got two- two- big dance numbers to choreograph. 'Shaking at the High School Hop' and, of course, 'Born to Hand Jive.'"

Kitty raised her hand. "What do you want me to do?" she asked. "Sandy doesn't go to the dance in the musical version. Which... really sucks, by the way."

"Eat your heart out." Tina couldn't resist making use of movie-Rizzo's famous quote.

"Sloppy seconds ain't my style," Blaine, as Danny, chimed in. None of these lines were in the play's script, but they'd obviously done the assignment Artie had given them, which was to rewatch the movie and familiarize themselves with some of the more iconic moments, then decide how to make sure that they made it their own.

"Sandy," Artie said, ignoring them and addressing Kitty by her character's name. "You're correct. So, I know you might have a lot to do before Homecoming. You're excused, unless you want to join me and the alumni volunteers backstage painting sets. I have extra smocks."

He fully expected Kitty to turn down the grunt work he'd assigned to Puck, Finn, and Kurt, all of whom were backstage, dressed in coveralls from Burt's garage, ready to tackle painting the giant wooden set pieces that were all lying down on huge drop clothes backstage. Artie himself was clad in coveralls already, too, ready to pitch in.

"Coach excused me for anything show-related from here on out," Kitty said, confidentially. "I can stay."

"Well... then follow me," Artie said, feeling confused. It wasn't at all like Coach Sylvester to be understanding. Was this like the time she got the Glee club the handicap van to take them to Regionals, just so she could get them there and then crush them? What was she playing at?

Kitty had been doing an amazing job as Sandy and had otherwise given him no reason not to trust her. All these thoughts rushed through his mind as he wheeled through to the other side of the curtain, where they found the rest of the crew pouring brightly colored paint in pans and getting rollers ready.

Coach Beiste, who was responsible for the exquisite wood-working, was heading up the painting project backstage. Ms. Pillsbury and Mr. Schuester had also come, ready to help paint. Between three adults, three alumni, and Kitty, they'd be able to get the job done. But Artie wanted to have a hand in everything, too. As director, that was his prerogative. The three guys marked where to paint all the different bright colors with pencil, as Artie pointed out the places. The set would be reversible. The side that wasn't going to be the bright backdrop of the dance would be covered in authentic 1950's wallpaper and would become the walls of Frenchy's bedroom for the sleepover scene. As he described his vision, he had their undivided attention.

But his involvement didn't stop there. As they all started to get to work painting, Artie rolled himself up to one of the set pieces, set his break, and moved himself from chair to floor.

"Need any help?" Finn asked, pausing in the middle of loading up a roller with paint as he noticed that Artie had decided to take an active role in set-painting.

"Yeah, just help me straighten out my legs while I lay down on my stomach," Artie instructed him, as he caught a curious look from Kitty, who had just finished slipping coveralls on over her Cheerios uniform. "And then hand me that roller. Careful not to overfill it. We can't afford too many drips. Every drip equals more paint to buy."

"Noted," said Finn, who also followed Artie's directions by helping him get into the desired position.

And the most surprising thing that happened next was not the fact that Artie had decided to get belly-down on the stage and involve himself in the painting, even if he couldn't be as efficient of a worker as his able-bodied friends. No, rather, it was the fact that Kitty seated herself right next to him.

"I've heard of diving in head first, but this is a bit extreme," she teased, loading up her own roller. "So, all of this is going to be painted bright electric pink?"

"Yes, and once it dries, we'll add the black checkerboard pattern," Artie explained.

With that, she got right to work, and so did he. He still couldn't get over the shock of Kitty pitching in with the project backstage, particularly when she'd just made it clear that she wished she could be out there dancing with the others.

After twenty minutes or so passed by, he finally couldn't stand it any more. He had to say something. "You know, you really don't have to stay for this," he told her. "I told the other Cheerios and football players they were excused. I know it's Homecoming tonight."

"And I told you, Coach excused me," Kitty said, frowning down at him as she dipped her brush into the pink paint and ran the roller over the wood. "You don't believe me?"

"More like I don't believe her," Artie said, deciding just to be straightforward. "She's been known to sabotage the Glee club in the past."

Kitty furrowed her brow. "Well, if I were part of some plot to sabotage the Glee club, I think I'd know it, wouldn't you?" And when Artie didn't answer right away, suddenly she smudged her wet, pink roller right across his face. Pink streaked across his cheek and on his glasses.

"Pro-probably," Artie stammered, taking off his glasses and squinting up at her as she hopped to her feet.

"Sorry for wasting paint," she said, sneering down at him before turning on her heels, adding, "And you're right, I had better get out of here before I wind up spying on you."