Chapter 5: Hard to Please

ARTIE

"One, two, three, go!"

On the count of three, Artie and Quinn both pressed 'post' on their new Facebook status updates. They were sitting in his car parked in her driveway after their date, and by updating their statuses, they were 'officially official' for all to see. It was exciting.

"Well, there we go," Artie said, turning off his phone and setting it in his lap, ignoring the notifications that had immediately started to pour in so that he could focus his attention on Quinn beside him. "It's out there."

"We're out there," Quinn corrected him, reaching for his hand to give it a squeeze. "What do you think everyone's gonna say?"

Artie knew that she wasn't asking him this because she cared what others thought, or because she thought that people would disapprove. The giddy smile on her face said all he needed to know.

"Well, I don't really think any of our friends will be surprised," Artie replied, smirking and nearly matching her level of excitement. "I'm sure I'm going to turn my phone back on to a text from Puckerman with that list of tips for dating Quinn Fabray he'd offered to share with me…"

"Oh, be quiet," Quinn told him, playfully slugging him on the arm while unable to get rid of the smile on her face. Artie laughed as he dodged her soft hit. He had always liked the comfortable dynamic between himself and Quinn, and he hoped that wouldn't go away, now that they were more than just friends.

Quinn glanced at the front door of her house regretfully. "I wish I could stay right here with you forever," she said, the golden light of the late afternoon sun splashing on her face as she reached for his hand again. "I don't want today to end."

He felt the same way. He knew what they were both thinking. Today would go down as the day that they made things real, which, by all accounts, should be an exciting occasion! And it was, but it was being overshadowed by the lingering reminder that the end of the day also meant that she was one day closer to leaving for Connecticut. It was bittersweet.

"I know," Artie told her, unable to find words to comfort her when he was feeling the same way. "I know, I do. But we'll have plenty more days to spend together," he assured her. "How about tomorrow night? We can watch a movie or something?"

The promise that they'd get to spend time together tomorrow seemed to do the trick. The sweet smile he loved so much returned to her face, and she leaned over to give him a quick peck on the cheek as a goodbye before exiting his car and running up the stairs, giving him a little wave over her shoulder before disappearing into her house.

Before Artie could even move to put the car in reverse and head off toward home, his phone began to ring. Glancing at the caller ID, he rolled his eyes and put the phone on speaker before setting it down so that his hands were free to man the hand controls on his car.

"Hi, T. How are you?"

"You and Quinn made things official and you didn't call me first?!"

She has always had a way of getting right to the point.

"And why would I do that?" Artie wanted to know.

"Because," she huffed. "This really isn't a good idea, Artie. I'm all for you and Quinn being flirty and having fun– even hooking up, if you want to– but to put a label on it…"

Though she had at one point been his girlfriend, these days Tina was more of a second sister who tended to pester him than she was a lover (and while most of the time he wouldn't have it any other way, he certainly had his limits).

"You're my best friend, not my mother," Artie calmly reminded her, knowing that it wasn't the first time he'd told her that. She'd always been needlessly overprotective of him, and it ticked him off to no end.

"I'm looking out for you," she insisted, though Artie knew that what she was really doing was meddling in business that wasn't her own. Between his best friend and his step-brother, Artie felt like never had any privacy.

"I don't need to be looked out for," Artie told her, more than a little annoyed now. He was sick of everyone thinking that he didn't know what was best for himself, like he couldn't handle all that was happening in his own life. "I've thought hard about all of this, okay? She's not… Sugar… or someone random. This is Quinn we're talking about. Can't you just let me be happy?"

"Of course I want you to be happy," Tina replied haughtily. "I'm your best friend. But aren't you worried about what will happen when she leaves for Yale?"

"Aren't you worried about what'll happen when Mike leaves for the Joffrey?" Artie asked, turning her nosy question back on her.

"That's not the same," Tina reasoned. "We've been dating for almost three years. And he'll be just a few hours away in Chicago. I'll go visit. But I'm worried about you and Quinn. Will you do long distance?"

Artie sighed, hitting his turn signal and turning onto his street. "I don't know, Tina, we haven't really discussed all of it yet. Right now we're just enjoying the time we have. I know you're trying to help. At least, I think you are, so I'm gonna say thank you. But can you accept that we're dating and just be supportive of us?"

She was quiet for a moment before begrudgingly giving in. "Yes, fine, okay. I'm sorry."

"That's more like it," Artie told her as he put his car in park in the driveway. "Thanks for calling, T. It's always good to hear your voice, even when I'm not seeing you every day."

Phone calls with Tina tended to be exhausting, especially when she was going on about one thing or another. Artie had really expected her– as his best friend– to be happy for him, not just another one of the naysayers in the crowd. This was why he was all the more pleased to find that his siblings had already seen the news on social media and were pretty damn excited after waiting up for him to return home from the date.

"I knew all of those times you and Quinn hung out alone weren't quite as innocent as you made them seem," Griffin had commented when he first heard the news.

"Those were innocent," Artie protested. "I meant it when I said that she was just a good friend. Well, back then, I meant it. Things change. Now we're just… trying something new."

"You can thank me, you know," Sebastian reminded him. "You two wouldn't have even discovered that you liked each other in that way if it hadn't been for my matchmaking skills. Hey, does that make you, like, two seconds away from being a step-father?"

"Um, no," Artie quickly shut down that idea before it had the chance to become a rumor that spread around uncontrollably. "She put the baby up for adoption, remember? Plus, we're only eighteen. Nowhere near marriage and kids." Just the thought of either of those caused a shiver to run up Artie's spine. He was so not ready for that level of adulting yet. "But, yeah, sure, thank you. Your insistence on finding me a wedding date was actually kind of helpful."

Sebastian smiled smugly to himself, clearly satisfied with his work.

"I'm happy for you, Artie," Ella had told him, wrapping her arms around him from behind and leaning over to hug him. "I really like Quinn. I think you two are a good match. She's different from the others you've been with. In a good way."

Quinn was special, he knew that already, but he was pleasantly surprised to find how different he felt now than he had when he started dating Brittany or was competing with Rory, vying for Sugar's attention. Feeling that the girl on the other end of this valued him and all that he could bring to the table just as much as he valued her… It felt good to have full confidence in the relationship he was romantically pursuing, for once.

"Hey, Art?" Ella called out now– Tuesday afternoon– as she stood at the top of the ramp that led down into the living room. She was in a pair of Nike Pros and an athletic tank top, with her long dark brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail.

"What's up?" Artie asked from his spot on the couch beside Sebastian, not bothering to tear his eyes away from the rerun of Parks and Recreation that they were watching on the television. He'd seen it a million times before, of course, but it never got old.

"Will you come outside with me for a little while? I want to practice for my tryout tomorrow, and I could use some pointers."

That got Artie's attention.

"Yeah, of course! Give me a second, I'll meet you out there," Artie told her, sitting up and making a grab for his chair, pulling it closer so he could transfer into it.

Initially, Artie had not been the most supportive of Ella's ambition to join the Cheerios when she got to high school, and he knew that the way he'd reacted when she'd shared this news had hurt her feelings. For that reason, over the last few months, Artie had made it a priority to be supportive of his little sister and cut out some time here and there to dedicate to 'coaching her' so that she'd be ready for her tryout.

These days, he didn't often get the chance to go back to his roots and share the knowledge he'd acquired from his many years as an athlete. Even though he wasn't able to compete anymore, he still had plenty of wisdom to share. It fulfilled a part of him that he hadn't realized was lacking, whenever he got the chance to dip back into the world of gymnastics. He'd liked getting to spend that quality time with Ella, bonding with her over his former favorite pastime.

Artie reached for the remote control on the coffee table and turned the TV off, leading to protests from Seb.

"Hey! What'd you do that for?"

"Ella needs our help," Artie replied, unlocking his wheels. "She has her Cheerios tryout tomorrow, remember?"

"What does that have to do with me?" Sebastian wanted to know. "I don't have a clue about anything cheerleading-related. She asked for you to come out with her, not me. I don't have much expertise to offer."

He reached for the remote to turn the TV back on, but Artie grabbed it first and shook his head.

"Both of us are gonna go out there," Artie stubbornly told him. "You've been sitting in basically this exact spot on the couch for the last week since you got out of school. You have nothing going on. You need to go outside and get some fresh air. C'mon. For Ella."

Artie knew that that last line would work like a charm. He had noticed the soft spot that Sebastian seemed to have developed for the younger girl. It had been kind of sweet to watch over the last few months, Sebastian beginning to learn the ropes of what it was like to be one of four kids, instead of an only child. It had certainly been a process for him to get to the point that he was at now, but he really had begun to embrace his new role as big brother and take it very seriously, and, for that, Artie was proud of him. He also knew that Ella could get Seb to do just about anything, and Artie wasn't afraid to use her in order to keep Sebastian from wasting away on the couch all summer long.

Giving in, Sebastian groaned as he got up off the couch and followed Artie out of the living room, up the ramp, and out the front door. Ella was already sitting on the grass in a straddle position, stretching out. Sebastian lowered himself onto the front steps– the half that wasn't covered by a ramp– while Artie joined her on the grass, staying seated in his chair and pulling out his cell phone.

As a sort of apology for the way he'd reacted when Ella first told him that she planned on becoming a Cheerio, Artie had reached out to his friends looking for advice on Ella's behalf. After all, nobody knew about what Coach Sylvester was looking for in new additions to her squad better than the Unholy Trinity. Santana, Quinn, and Brittany had all taken the time to come over to the house and give Ella tips, and Quinn had even sent Artie a list of skills that Ella should perfect before her tryout.

"Quinn says you'll need to execute a running tumbling pass, a standing tumbling pass, and show off each of your jumps," Artie read from his texts.

He had expected her to have to learn some choreography or a cheer too, but it didn't seem that Sue was all that focused on that. Which– now that he thought about it– made a lot of sense. During the entire season that he'd been on the football team, he could count on one hand the number of times that he'd seen the Cheerios actually enthusiastically cheering the players on. Usually, they just stood around until it was time for them to show off their tricks during halftime. Sue seemed to be only interested in talented girls who could flip and jump. Artie guessed that stuff like choreography and cheers could be taught later on.

"Have you decided what you're gonna throw yet?" Artie asked, setting his phone back in his lap.

Ella nodded. "I think so. I was thinking just a round-off back handspring back tuck for running," she said. "I don't think my layout is clean enough yet for me to try out with."

"Good idea," Artie agreed. He had a keen eye for perfectionism– one that Ella didn't exactly possess. He had sort of expected her to want to try out with whatever her hardest skills were, even if they were sloppier than the easier ones. He was pleased that it seemed like his voice had been in the back of her mind, reminding her that how challenging her skills were didn't matter if her technique was bad. "Can I see it?"

Ella set up on the far side of the yard, slapping her thighs and clapping her hands together before taking a running start, hurdling into her round-off, then throwing herself into a back handspring, followed by a back tuck.

"Your legs were apart in that handspring," Artie told her. "Squeeze them together. Don't let your ankles separate."

Ella nodded, tightening up her ponytail. She executed her tumbling pass again and received cheers from Sebastian– who didn't know anything about the sport, so he was easily impressed by his sister's flips. Artie still wasn't satisfied.

"Your legs were apart again," Artie commented, trying his best not to sound snippy and let his frustration show at the way that she had ignored his critique. He'd been in her shoes once, he knew how hard it was to worry about things like your legs being apart and your toes being flexed when you were upside down. But those were the things that would go on to hurt her when it counted, like when she was under scrutiny from Sue Sylvester.

She did her tumbling pass for a third time, this time listening to Artie's notes and applying them.

"That one was better," Artie noted. "Alright, what about standing tumbling?"

"Two to tuck?"

"Show it to me."

Artie sat back in his seat and crossed his arms, furrowing his eyebrows together and watching her critically as she took the smallest step back before launching into her two back handsprings and ending off with a back tuck.

"What's with the step?" Artie asked, pointing to where she'd started. Her actual tumbling didn't need many corrections, but her beginning sure did. "It's called standing tumbling, not 'I was standing, then I took a step back before I began' tumbling."

"I don't know," Ella shrugged, adjusting her shorts, as they'd ridden up. "It was just a reflex. Cheerleading's a lot less strict than gymnastics is when it comes to nitpicky stuff like that, you know. It just gave me a little bit of extra power."

"You used to do these on a balance beam," Artie reminded her. "A four-inch wide beam, up in the air. You never stepped back like that before, so don't start doing it now. Makes it ugly. If you want extra power, push through your legs during your handsprings more and set higher for your tuck. Try it again."

Sebastian let out a low whistle at Artie's passionate correction, and Ella rolled her eyes. Was he being a little too harsh on her? Maybe. But that's why she'd asked him to come outside with her, right? She knew what she was getting herself into. His critiques weren't personal, he was just going to make her a better tumbler in the long run.

Ella seemed to know this, too, because she did as she was told and set back up again. She kept her feet firmly planted on the grass this time and used the muscles in her legs to give herself the power she needed.

"Push, push, and set!" Artie called out as she tumbled, reminding her what she needed to do at each stage of her pass. It worked, and her second try was much cleaner and more powerful than the first.

"Much better," he nodded. "How are your jumps?"

She demonstrated each of the three main cheerleading jumps– a toe-touch, a front hurdler, and a pike– for her brothers flawlessly. To everyone's relief, Artie didn't have any corrections to make besides reminding her to point her toes.

"Q says that if you're trying out to be a flyer, you'll have to pull body positions too," Artie said, glancing back at Quinn's message displayed on his phone.

"Pull what?" Sebastian asked from a few yards away, where he'd busied himself with pulling the petals off of a flower he found in the flower bed. They'd lost his attention along the way, and now he was mostly just acting as a source of moral support.

"Body positions," Artie repeated, looking over his shoulder at his step-brother. "When they're stunting, the flyers stand on one leg to show off their flexibility. She needs to be able to do a heel stretch, a scale, and a scorpion if she wants to be in the air."

Turning back to Ella, he asked, "Are you trying out to be a flyer?"

"I'm not sure," Ella admitted. "I thought about it, and I think I have good enough balance, but I'm a little nervous. What if I fall?"

Artie shrugged. "I guess that's something you'll need to think about then. That's not a decision anyone can make but you. Listen to your feelings, though, don't try it out if you're scared, okay? Believe me, it won't end well."

Ella bit her lip and nodded before taking a swig from her water bottle. "Thanks. For coming out here and everything. I know cheer's not your favorite, so thanks for helping me out anyway."

"Anytime, kid," Artie nodded. "You're gonna kill it tomorrow. Sue's an idiot if she doesn't take you."

Artie had to give it to her. Ella had put in a lot of work to make this team. Ever since it had started to get warmer outside, she'd started spending hours in the front yard, tumbling, jumping, and cheering. This wasn't just a short-lived fad, or an attempt at starting her time at McKinley on top of the social pyramid, as he'd first thought. She really wanted this. And what kind of big brother would Artie be if he didn't support her in all that she pursued?

"Alright. Let's start at the beginning. We'll see if you can apply all of the corrections. From the top!"