Before giving up his mobility to join the party upstairs, Artie made a quick trip to the bathroom. Had to get that out of the way, so that he could remain upstairs for the rest of the party. He then let Finn pick him up and carry him upstairs like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold. It was Kitty who tossed out that blunt-yet-accurate comment as she followed them both up. Artie hid a grin behind Finn's shoulder. He never minded when Kitty teased him.
"Yea! Artie's here! Now we can do 'Billionaire!'" yelled Sam. Artie would have preferred that Sam not announce his entrance the way he did, for it caused the entire crowd to pause what they were doing to behold the giant carrying the cripple.
"Uh, where do you want me to put you down, dude?" Finn asked, as Artie had to then survey the room and make a quick decision.
Betty had claimed a comfortable-looking arm chair for herself. She caught Artie's eye as he looked her way and sent him a look that might have been intended to be sympathetic, as she could understand the discomfort of leaving your chair behind for the rest of the night. Not to mention being stuck immobile in room full of people, all of whom were constantly switching seats and moving about to partake in various activities.
Sugar's upstairs rec-room was a carpeted version of the hardwood-floored palace downstairs. There was plenty of space for a pool table, fuse-ball, and even air hockey. The corner of the room boasted a stage and a mic with a row of stools, currently empty, as they might have been waiting on the rest of the 'Billionaire' crew to assemble. There were rooms off the open area. Probably one of those was a bathroom, a few were bedrooms, and Artie was sure there would be a fancy media room with big cushioned chairs in front of a large screen and surround-sound someplace.
But he was going to be restricted to one seat and one seat only. Thankfully, someone had just vacated the corner seat of the cozy-looking sectional, so Artie picked this as his spot for the rest of the night and directed Finn to set him down there. He was able to make enough space to seat himself cross-legged for the time being, until it would be time to change positions again. Kitty headed across the room, much to Artie's dismay, to join Ryder, Marley, and Jake for a game of air hockey.
Before he could think about how he'd go about talking to Kitty again, however, Sam approached him with a microphone. "Figured you'd be more comfortable doing your rap from over here," he commented.
Artie nodded, accepting the mic. He couldn't balance himself on a stool, not that he needed to talk about it, per Betty's many reminders. He stole another glance at her. She appeared not to care at all that her chair was sitting downstairs, leaving her a bit vulnerable up here, surrounded by people she didn't know. He was not on Betty's level yet, in terms of confidence, but he supposed he should just adopt the attitude of "fake it 'til you make it."
Anyway, it was hard not to be confident when he was rapping. He was proud of the fact that he was almost always given any rap solo when the need arose in Glee club, despite not having an outward appearance that others would say matched his talents. He couldn't resist making eye contact with Kitty as he sang his favorite line: "You can call me Artie Claus, minus the Ho-ho!" The air hockey game was paused, in order for everyone to enjoy Sam, Artie, Finn, and Puck's performance. (Oh, plus Mike and his dancing.) Kitty had leaned herself coolly against the air hockey table and was now watching him with a pretty satisfied smirk, as he sang the entire rest of the song in her direction, making flirty eye contact that seemingly went unnoticed by everyone except those who knew, Betty and Quinn.
He made a resolution right then and there. In the past, he'd let his lack of confidence get in the way of him getting what he wanted. But truly - what did he have to lose? They would indeed start over, as Kitty had requested , but he would turn up the charm this time. All the things he'd accidentally done right in the past, he would do again. All the things he knew he'd done wrong, especially reminding her constantly that he was in the chair and bringing it up far too often or worse, making her feel awkward about helping him, he would not do this time around. A new beginning with Kitty. Never-mind the fact that they were technically running out of time and just as doomed as every other couple that had started out in that choir room, it was still his goal. He'd win her heart before he had to leave that place.
After a few more rounds of people singing their audition songs or just their favorites, Sugar proposed a game. Someone would bravely volunteer to go first. They'd draw a popular artist from the hat. ("Is there a duck in the hat?" Brittany had asked.) Unless you honestly didn't know one at all, you had to sing a popular song by that artist. Then you got to choose whoever went next. Because this was also a party for Brittany's early/late graduation, Santana volunteered her to go first.
Artie had to hand it to Sugar. She'd planned ahead meticulously by printing the names on tiny slips of paper. Then she'd divided into two hats, making the boys select from a bunch of female artists from a trucker's cap and having the girls choose male artists out of a prissy pink beret that Artie remembered she'd worn a handful of times as part of her school outfit.
I got "John Mel-len-camp..." Brittany struggled to phonetically sound out the name she'd just pulled from the beret. She screwed up her face in confusion. "Who?"
"He did 'Jack & Diane,'" Puck said. "C'mon, I know you've heard that. It was one of the old songs Schuester tried and failed to sell us on for Regionals."
"Oh," said Brittany, nodding now. "I'll make it 'Jackie & Diane' though. Much better that way." She shot a flirtatious glance at Santana, who didn't try to cover her enthralled reaction at all. The hope of finally becoming a college girl was already changing things. College does that, Artie realized.
Brittany was instructed to choose a guy next. She scowled, for she'd been about to select Santana, and defaulted to Finn instead. Finn reached cautiously into the trucker's hat and learned he had to do something by Celine Dion. Immediately, Rachel began brainstorming something for him to try, between giggles. Finally, Finn confessed he only knew the words to 'My Heart Will Go On' by heart, thanks to watching Titanic "a billion times." ("Why would you do that? The boat sinks. It's super depressing," Kurt commented. "I only watch up to the scene where Kate Winslet shows her boobs," Finn had informed his step-brother.)
By the time Finn finished a super melodramatic performance, they had to pause for everyone to finish laughing hysterically. Finn, probably figuring it was the polite thing to do since she knew no one, selected Betty to go after him.
While Finn and Brittany sung their numbers, Artie had been subtly keeping watch over Betty. Betty didn't look as comfortable as she had earlier. She, having less upper body and postural control than he did, needed something more fitted than the large arm chair to remain upright. She kept using the arms of the chair to adjust herself. But then she'd sink back or slump sideways a bit, and then she'd have to adjust herself once again. When Finn said her name, she quickly plastered on a big smile, hiding the discomfort. She probably didn't feel like she could just declare her needs to this room full of strangers...
"Hey, uh, guys," Artie spoke up, as many heads turned his way. "I'm feeling pretty uncomfortable, to be honest, being up here without my chair. Wouldn't it be nicer to be closer to the kitchen? Is there any way we can move karaoke downstairs?"
As he knew they would, not a single person argued with him, not even Santana who loved to argue with anyone, particularly Artie.
"Oh, Artie, of course we can," Sugar said, in her sweetest voice, finding her way over to him so she could reassuringly pat his shoulder. He fought the urge to be embarrassed. Afterall, he'd really done it for Betty, not himself. "Let's all move to the Great Room!"
Quinn caught Artie's eye in that moment and she mouthed, 'The Great Room?' He bit back a laugh at Quinn's bemused face, instead giving Sugar what he hoped was an expression of utmost gratitude.
Even though several of them were decidedly tipsy, they moved the party downstairs pretty quickly and efficiently. Ryder scooped Betty up bridal-style, and Finn was right behind him heading down the stairs with Artie on his back this time. There wasn't a stage down here, but there was plenty of seating - giant leather couches and several nice chairs - plus excellent mood lighting. Sugar quickly directed the guys to place the speaker, the stools, and the microphones in a corner next to the humongous floor-to-ceiling windows that boasted an impressive view of the expansive backyard.
And, even though his motives hadn't been for himself, Artie felt instantly ten times more comfortable in the group, once he was back in his chair and able to move about. As he was getting himself situated, Betty approached, already back in her chair as well.
"I know, I know, buzz me all you want," he said.
"No, that's not..." she just smiled shyly, in a way that was very not Betty. "I actually came over here to say 'thanks.' I know you did that for me. I couldn't get totally comfortable in that stupid recliner. It was my turn to sing, and I couldn't correct my posture enough for any breath support whatsoever so..." (She paused, as he smirked.) "... oh, God, don't make me regret coming over here and thanking your big, dumb face. But thanks."
"My big, dumb face says 'you're welcome,'" he told her. "Also, Finn picked you to go next."
Betty whipped her chair around, her blonde hair going with her. Artie admired her confidence from afar, which seemed to increase tenfold when she wasn't confined to a recliner and instead had her mobility back. She threw her head back and laughed when she drew Kenny Chesney as her artist. And the chair came in handy for wheelies when she entertained them all with a rousing and somehow improvised version of 'She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy.' She didn't bother to gender-swap the pronouns or anything. Santana and Brittany — the Kentucky girls — loved it the most, with Santana cat-calling Betty the whole time.
"You're next, Artie," Betty announced, when she'd finished her song, the one she probably couldn't have performed the hell out of whilst stuck in an unsupportive seat without her wheels.
Sugar extended the trucker hat towards Artie, who warily drew a slip of paper and discovered his fate. Through a grin immediately spread across his fate when he saw who he'd drawn. "How appropriate, considering this is her party," he said. "I got Britney Spears."
"But my album hasn't even been released," Brittany said, rolling her eyes. "I suppose you did help me write 'My Cup,' so you could cover that one."
"Oh, this is honestly easy," Artie said, in his cocky sort of way that only emerged anytime he knew he could give a killer performance, as he rolled over to the karaoke machine. "Weren't these supposed to be hard?"
"Whatcha got in your back pocket?" Sam wanted to know. "'Hit Me Baby, One More Time?'"
"Nobody is gonna hit him, baby, not even one more time." Santana snickered at her own joke, unable to resist a little snarking at Artie for old time's sake. He stuck his tongue out at her.
"That's not my go-to Britney song," he said, as he wheeled over to Sugar to whisper something in her ear. Sugar looked delighted as she learned what song he had in mind. In no time, she had it ready for him. He positioned himself by the mic. "This one's my favorite weight lifting song. It's also my ringtone."
"Hush, just stop!" Pause. Intense look. "There's nothing you can do or say. Bey-bey." Body roll. He used his arm rests as drums and was immediately glad he'd insisted on returning to his chair for this performance. It added something, of that he was sure.
Okay, so it was slightly out of his usual range. That's why having his chair was so important. Being unable to stand while singing, he already had less breath support to work with than his peers. He'd learned to sit up extra straight while singing, but the support of his perfectly-fitted chair helped with that. It was something Betty understood as well.
"And now I'm stronger than yesterday, now it's nothing but my way, my loneliness ain't killing me no more. I-I'm-stronger!" He tried not to sound like he was straining to hit those last notes. But, hey, it wasn't like anyone had rehearsed these songs. Rehearsal or no rehearsal, he got a huge reaction from his friends, many of whom sang along with him (which helped him disguise his struggle to hit those notes).
"Okay, are you sure you didn't practice that?" Mercedes wanted to know, fixing him with a knowing look.
"Only in my car," he said, grinning. "Now I've got to pick a girl, huh? Okay, then... Quinn! You're up!"
"I doubt I can follow that with anything worth hearing," Quinn said, her self-deprecation unable to be contained as she drew from the pink beret and made a horrible face. "I got Eminem... stop laughing." That was for the many, many people who were laughing. But when the commotion died down, Quinn Fabray was making her way to the corner of the room and smirking.
"I, too, know every word of this by heart."
Quinn then lost herself in 'Lose Yourself,' and Artie couldn't believe that Quinn Fabray was a closeted rapper. Well, sort of. She was still too pretty to really sound authentic, but to her immense credit, she did know every word. It was a pleasant surprise, like the time she danced to a funk song while eight months pregnant.
"I'll pick a newbie," she said, and chose Jake Puckerman, who had been mouthing along to Eminem with her. But, before Jake could perform, someone noticed it was getting close to midnight. Sugar casually mentioned that some of her neighbors liked to shoot off fireworks, since they were outside of city limits.
"The view from the windows is okay," Sugar said. "But if you guys don't mind the cold, we could head out to the back porch. There's plenty of seating and a better view of the show."
Once again, Artie and Betty were forced to choose between their comfort zone and being a part of the crowd. Artie wasn't especially looking forward to being outside, as the temperatures had dropped over the past few hours, since when he'd willingly gone out with Kitty. He caught sight of her looking his way and knew she had to be thinking about his needs, too, which bothered him. He missed the version of Kitty that neither knew nor cared.
Speaking of not caring, however, it was Betty who tossed on her jacket and asked Sugar for some blankets. Sugar didn't question why Betty would need that and got her a huge, fancy quilt to drape over her lower half. Ryder gave her his own jacket to go on top as an extra layer.
Artie just chose to sneak off to the kitchen while the others hurried outside to wait for the first sign of festivities from the rich neighbors and their light show, which was surely going to rival the one by the city. He hoped nobody would take note of the fact that he wasn't out there with the rest. He didn't mind missing part of the show. He reasoned that he'd go out and join the group just before midnight.
He helped himself to more of the queso that had long since been forgotten in a crock pot. He needed to reheat it but had to first decipher the confusing buttons on the fancy microwave, which was thankfully within his reach. As a matter of fact, it was a drawer! It was part of the lower cabinet. He'd have to mention this to his mom as a possible solution to the microwave at his own home that was out of reach. As he busied himself with getting his snack, it turned out his absence had not gone unnoticed. Quinn appeared beside him just as the microwave beeped.
"Actually hungry or just keeping busy so you don't have to go outside yet?" she wanted to know.
"A little of both," Artie said, as he tested the temperature of the dip and then helped himself to a handful of tortilla chips. "Hey, how is it that I'm just finding out you know all the words to 'Lose Yourself?' Now I'm really mad that our only duet was that fever dream called 'I'm Still Standing.'"
Quinn burst out laughing as she also helped herself to some of the queso and chips. "It's a recent thing," she admitted. "I don't know, it just came on the radio one day and the next thing you know, I'm adding it to my iPod shuffle for my trips to the fitness center on campus and learning every word."
"Doesn't change that I'm still mad," he told her, cracking a smile. "You were amazing."
"So were you," she said, with a smile. "After that, I'm going to need to add 'Stronger' to my playlist, too."
She reheated her queso as well and helped Artie get a refill of the cherry Pepsi while helping herself to the same. They took their plates of snacks and drinks to the kitchen table, which had a decent view of the windows at the back of the house, which meant they could also enjoy the fireworks show while still in the comfort of the heated home. Quinn said nothing more about Artie avoiding the cold, except to add that cold weather "still bothered her back" and she didn't care for it either.
"After Yale, I need to move someplace down south," she added.
"Don't think the thought of moving down south for college hasn't crossed my mind for the same reason..."
Artie trailed off, watching Kitty run circles around the fire pit they'd set up while they viewed the fireworks. He realized Jake was chasing her. He also wasn't sure if Jake and Marley were still a thing or not. He hadn't been one to bet on that lasting. Kitty and Jake, on the other hand, that made sense. He was losing his appetite.
"Something wrong?" Quinn followed his gaze and quickly saw what had brought about his sudden change in demeanor. "Oh. Artie, what happened after I went upstairs? Did you talk to her?"
"Yeah..." he traced a finger around the rim of his Solo cup. "She wants to kind of start fresh, I guess. She forgave me for quite literally icing her out over the holidays... heh heh." He got his little reference to the disaster on the ramp that had set the series of events into motion. But perhaps Quinn didn't, because she wasn't chuckling. "Anyway, uh, so we're friends again. But that's it. Just friends. Friend-zone, something I'm kind of getting used to by now."
Quinn swallowed hard. "Don't say that, Artie," she pleaded. "I almost fell for you, remember? I kissed you twice on New Year's Eve two years ago and once the next day at Burt and Carole's wedding."
"Like I could forget something like that," Artie said, a smile playing on his lips. "But we talked ourselves out of that pretty quickly. Y'know, 'cause we're totally wrong for each other and we're such... good... friends." He smirked, as if his point had just been made.
"That's different." Quinn frowned. "I hope I didn't contribute to the way you're feeling about your luck with finding the right person for yourself. I firmly believe she's out there. She might even be right over there." And Quinn pointed at the window. "But you won't know if you just convince yourself that you belong in the friend-zone." She stood up. "C'mon, it's almost midnight, and they've got a fire. It won't be long, you won't freeze, I just don't want to see you stuck inside by yourself at midnight."
Artie agreed to this, unlocking his breaks and leaving their plates and cups at the table, as Sugar had assured everyone that the housekeeper would be cleaning up everything in the morning. For that reason, she hadn't even told them where they could find a trash can.
They bundled up and headed out, with Artie accepting a blanket for his lap, even though he thought it made him look like a little old man in a nursing home. Quinn gave him a push to help him across the bumpy yard until they reached the fire, which instantly warmed him back up. Betty's chair was empty and she was instead huddled on Ryder's lap, while Ryder sat on a camping chair, safe under her blankets and looking incredibly cozy for more reasons than one.
"He's keeping me so warm," she reported, with her usual flirtatious giggle. Artie had to wonder if she'd played this card before.
"Good idea," Artie said, as he found a place for himself near the fire and locked the breaks into place once more. "Sam, will you do the same for me?"
Jokes, he had them. It took Sam Evans a hot minute to figure out whether or not Artie was serious. Once the joke landed, he burst out laughing, along with every person standing there who had heard. Kitty was one of them. Someone had brought out some marshmallows and she was now roasting one.
"Want me to make you a s'more, Artie?" she offered. "Just finished cooking this marshmallow for fun, but I don't need to eat it if I still want my Cheerios uniform to fit when we go back to school."
"Sure." Artie was about to remind her that if they'd just met, she was technically supposed to be mean to him, and that didn't include making yummy treats. But before he could come up with something snarky, a big series of colorful explosions filled the sky.
"One minute until midnight!" somebody yelled. The firework show was probably leading up to the grand finale. Artie watched as Tina went flying across the yard to glue herself to Mike. All the other couples followed suite, finding their way to be near one another.
And Kitty was assembling his s'more.
"Something yummy for your mouth for midnight," she teased, bringing it over to him, just as Quinn strategically headed in the opposite direction. Kitty was toying with him. Technically, she was still being mean, just in a new way.
"Lucky me." As the rest of the crew counted down, he proceeded to take a huge, messy bite of the s'more as Kitty pretended not to care that everyone else was making out around while she and Artie couldn't do that because they technically didn't like each other anymore. Artie pretended to be equally indifferent.
He caught Quinn's eye, as she just shook her head but with a knowing sort of smile that said plenty. "Five... four... three... two... one, Happy New Year!"
After what seemed like an eternity, 2013, the year where everything would change had finally arrived. He caught Kitty's eye as he munched the s'more, while the couples in their midst shared kisses, most of them overshadowed by the display that was Finn and Rachel.
"Gross," said Santana.
"Happy New Year, Arthur," Kitty said, and it would have seemed stiff and formal of her to call him Arthur had she not done it in that teasing-yet-affectionate way. It was somewhat reassuring, in fact, because it meant they weren't actually back at square one.
He finally swallowed the mouthful of chocolate and marshmallow, hoping it wasn't all over his chin. "Happy New Year."
A/N: Happy Belated New Year! Sorry to have been MIA since November. Leave me a nice review, and I might not take as long next time. ;-)