3Hey Soul Sister
Summary: Artie needed to get Tina back. It seemed that singing to their girlfriends/crushes always seemed to work for the other guys. Why couldn't it work for Artie?
"Artie? Artie?" a high pitched voice yelled in his ear. Artie jumped at the sound. He looked to his right to find Quinn Fabray glaring at him.
"What?" he asked irritably.
"I was asking if you wanted a ride home since my mom let me have the car today. If you're just going to ignore me then-"
"NO! Don't go! I want the ride. My dad's working and I'd just have to wheel my way home, which is a lot harder than people think it is," Artie told her. Like the jerks who park in the handicapped spaces. "You'll just wheel your way up! Why do you need up front parking?" Everyone always whined about it. Bastards.
"Okay then, come on," she said, gesturing for him to hurry. She started to walk and Artie spun his wheels fast, trying to catch up with her. "What's gotten into you lately?" Quinn asked.
"What do you mean?" Artie asked, although he knew exactly what she meant.
"You've been really spacey lately. You don't really listen anymore, you're just…I don't know, different. In a bad way," she told him. Artie sighed.
"It's Tina."
"Oh. Yeah, I figured that was it. Everyone else is going on and on about how cute they are together, except you. You just looked upset and pissed off," Quinn noted.
"Yeah…"
"Although, if it means anything, I don't like them together either," she said. Artie smiled, getting that mischievous look in his eyes.
"Don't tell me you've got a crush on Tina too!" he said in a mock-dramatic voice. Quinn giggled and shook her head.
"Yeah Artie, I'm totally crushing on Tina. She's the whole reason I joined glee club," Quinn said sarcastically. Artie smiled triumphantly.
"I knew it!" Quinn giggled again.
"I'm being serious though. I don't like Mike Chang and Tina together. They just…aren't as cute as you and Tina," Quinn said sweetly. Artie smiled.
"Thanks Quinn."
Artie had been surprised at how well he and Quinn had gotten along since she joined glee club. It really happened after her and Finn broke up. Quinn slowly stopped hanging out with Santana and Brittany and started to join Mercedes, Kurt, Tina and himself. It seemed the four of them had had a lot in common with the ex-cheer captain. The same music, same movies, same books, they even liked the same foods, especially he, Kurt, and Quinn. If you had asked Artie at the start of high school if he could believe he would be best friends with a gay diva and a pregnant cheerleader, he would've laughed in your face, or run over your toe with his chair, depending on the mood he was in. Now…he wouldn't have it any other way.
Well, except for the no Tina thing. That he would most definitely change.
"Umm…" They stopped at Quinn's car.
"What's wrong?" Artie asked.
"You…uh…I…don't think I'm strong enough to get you into the car. I may need your help," Quinn said. Artie smiled.
"Hey, no problem. I pull myself into Mercedes's car all the time," Artie told the increasingly nervous girl. This calmed her down a bit.
"Are you sure?" she asked, her voice still going up a bit. Artie sighed. After going over to Quinn's house over the summer and having her randomly burst into tears a number of times right in his arms, Artie had figured out how to talk to her so her psychotic post-spawn of Puck hormones wouldn't get the best of her.
"Yeah, it's fine," he began, keeping his voice steady and smooth. Artie knew that if he rationalized it out to her, she would calm down. "I do most of my moving with my arms so I've got a lot more upper body strength than most people, including a lot of the football players," Artie told her. This made Quinn calm down almost completely.
"Oh, okay then," she breathed. She moved back and watched, still a bit nervous, as Artie hoisted himself up and out of his chair and into the shotgun side of the car. Quinn breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded to fold up his wheelchair and pack it in the trunk. Quinn turned on the radio and Hey, Soul Sister came on, a song both the teens enjoyed, so she kept it. They sat in companionable silence for a while, listening to the song until Quinn screamed, "THAT'S IT!" so loud that she prompted Artie to scream:
"HOLY CRAP WOMAN! KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!"
"Sorry!" she said, looking back at the cars in front of her. "It's just…I thought you would sound really good singing this song. And…you know…maybe you could sing it for Glee Club next week, to Tina," Quinn suggested happily. Artie looked doubtful.
"You really think it will help?" he asked, not convinced.
"Yeah. I mean, all the other guys have sung songs to get their girlfriends. Finn sang Jessie's Girl to Rachel, Mike Chang and Tina sang Getting to Know You, Puck sang Sweet Caroline to Rachel and Lady is a Tramp to Mercedes, uh-"
"Puck sang Beth to you…" Artie said.
"That's not the point," Quinn said sharply. Artie smiled at her response (he knew she still loved McKinley High's resident man-whore. He was paraplegic, not blind), but he dropped it. "Think about it Artie," she encouraged. Artie did think about. He thought about it the whole ride home, he thought about it while he was supposed to be doing homework (who needs to know what x equals if y equals 5x+10-k^2 and x does not equal 6?), he thought about it while eating dinner, while watching TV, when he was supposed to be listening to his sister tell her story, while he was doing dishes, and thought about it while he slept. The longer Artie thought about Quinn's suggestion, the more Artie thought it was a stand-up idea. There was no way Tina could say no to him then.
Besides, he had overheard (okay, he was eavesdropping) Tina and Mercedes talking the other day. Tina had said that she still really missed Artie. She had said that while he had been kind of annoying over the summer, it wasn't entirely his fault. After all, Artie had never had a girlfriend (a fact he wasn't proud of) and didn't really know how to act like a good boyfriend. Tina had said that she may even still like Artie more than Mike Chang (which made Artie's heart soar) but Tina really didn't want to leave Mike Chang on a maybe, which Mercedes had agreed with.
Could singing this song to her change her mind? Artie thought maybe it could. Maybe he could win her back. It was worth a shot. He had to try.
So when Artie got to school the next day and ran into Quinn, he stopped her.
"Are you okay?" she said, worry already apparent in her voice and eyes. We seriously need to do something about her hormones. I get she's upset, but the crying has got to stop, for all our sakes. I need to look up something for this poor girl.
"I'm fine Quinn," he reassured her. "I was wondering if you could help me with the song," he said. Quinn's porcelain features broke out into a smile, one that made it very easy for Artie to understand why so many guys wanted her.
"I'd love to help you!" Quinn said happily.
So the week went by with Artie and Quinn staying after football and Cheerios practice to work on the song. There were a few disagreements on the vocal arrangement (Quinn had a little more faith in Artie's voice than he did) and if he should attempt a dance or not (Quinn had no faith in this and Artie had so much it was troubling). In the end, they had a nice arrangement and Artie was NOT going to dance, no matter how much he insisted.
Wednesday came and as Quinn pushed Artie into Glee Club, he felt butterflies in his stomach. Forget them flitting around. Those rotten bastards are gnawing at the lining of my stomach and ramming into it with a freakin' sledgehammer.
"Calm down Artie, you're going to do just fine," Quinn assured him, sensing his discomfort. "I heard her talking and she does still like you. This may just push it over the edge," Quinn said. Artie nodded and they took their spots in the front row.
"Alright, does anyone have any songs for me?" Mr. Shue asked. Artie and Quinn had decided that it would be best if he waited until the end to sing. After a solo by (who else?) Rachel (to which Finn applauded extremely loudly and everyone else just rolled their eyes), a duet by Mercedes and Kurt (which Artie thought was flipping fantastic), and some intense eye sex between Puck and Quinn (Why don't they just freakin' bang already? We all know they love each other!), Artie's time came.
I really hope this works, Artie thought.
"It's going to work," Quinn said, reading his mind. Artie got up in front of everyone and Brad put the sheet music in front of his stack. Artie took a deep breath and swallowed his throat suddenly dry. The first few notes came out a little rough, but Artie noticed that Tina perked up right away when she heard it. That gave him the courage to keep going.
"Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brain. I knew I wouldn't forget you and so I let you blow my mind," Artie sang out. He slowly started to work up the courage to look at Tina, now concentrating on her (completely hot) big, black boots with chains hanging off of the sides. "Your sweet moonbeam, the smell of you in every single dream I dream. I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided, who's one of my kind."
By the time Artie got to the end of the chorus, he was looking up into Tina's face, Tina's beautiful face. The moment his eyes met hers, he knew that she knew he was singing this song for her. Her eyes widened a bit and he kept going.
"I'm so obsessed. My heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest. And I believe in you, like a virgin, you're Madonna, and I'm always gonna want to blow your mind," he continued. Tina smiled a bit as he sang the line. Artie smiled to himself. He hadn't been the reason she smiled in a long time and he was happy that he had finally done it.
"Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do…tonight. The way you can cut a rug, watching you is the only drug I need. You're so gangsta, I'm so thug, you're the only one I'm dreaming of. You see, I can be myself now finally, in fact there's nothing I can't be. I want the world to see you'll be with me."
Artie could see tears swimming in Tina's eyes and he couldn't tell if they were tears of happiness or sadness. He guessed it was a little bit of both.
"Hey soul sister ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo. The way you move ain't fair you know. Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you tonight. Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do…tonight." Artie finished the song. He saw Tina take a raggedy breath. Artie quickly looked to Mike Chang's face and it seemed the dancer was oblivious to the scene that had just taken place between his girlfriend and Artie. A look to Quinn's face told him that he had done an amazing job and Artie smiled.
He looked back at Tina and saw she was struggling to keep her feelings in.
"Artie! That was amazing!" Mr. Shue exclaimed. "Good job! Alright, everyone, I guess you can go home now. I'll see you all tomorrow." With that, everyone packed up to go. Tina bolted out the door and Artie wheeled after her.
"TINA!" he yelled.
"Artie…please go away," she said.
Well…that wasn't the reaction I was expecting, Artie thought.
"Tina, I-"
"No, Artie. I-I-I…" she stuttered. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm with Mike Chang Artie. I can't…"
"Why not? Do you really like him more than me? Really?" Artie asked. Tina didn't answer. "Because if you don't, I'll drop it, but if there's a chance – even a small one – that might like me more, I'm not giving up," Artie said firmly.
"Artie…" Tina moaned and Artie thought it was probably the most beautiful and most heartbreaking sound he had ever heard. Tina turned and started to walk away.
"Tina," he called softly, his voice breaking. Tina stopped in her tracks. Slowly, she turned around, staring at her ex boyfriend and best friend. He stared back with big, heartbroken eyes. Just as Artie was about to give up hope and turn back towards the choir room to get his things, Tina suddenly sprinted towards him, grabbed his face between her hands and kissed him roughly.
Artie reacted back with an enthusiasm he could only call ecstatic. His hands went around her waist, slowly pushing her down. Tina put one knee on either side of his legs and sat this way on top of him, never missing a beat.
The kiss seemed to go on forever, and yet if they ever broke apart, Artie feared it wouldn't be long enough. The normally quiet girl took control, her hands roaming all over Artie's chest, through his hair, and back on his face. She pressed herself tighter against his body, and even then, it didn't seem close enough for either teen. Twisting and turning their head, desperate to soak up every second, the pair never noticed someone spying on them.
Mike Chang watched in agony at the sight of his girlfriend and a boy he thought was one of his friends making out heatedly in the hallway. Mike had to admit, he saw it coming. Tina had been awfully distant and he just couldn't believe she would be ready to move on from Artie so fast onto someone she knew nothing about except the fact that he could dance.
Still, it hurt (more than he could ever admit) seeing Tina, his girlfriend, kissing another guy like it was last kiss of their lives. Mike closed his eyes, hoping to drive the image away, but it was branded into his eyes. He walked away and – ever the compassionate one – didn't disturb the lovebirds.
When he got far away, he turned to one of the lockers.
"DAMN IT!" he cursed, punching a locker.
He was pissed. Beyond pissed. He wanted to go back and punch Artie in the face. He wanted to say horrible things to Tina, things that would make her hurt just as much as he was hurting now, but he stopped himself.
She should be happy. If Artie made her happy, he would leave her be and let her get back with Artie.
They had a lot to talk about come tomorrow morning.
Okay, I know the ending is a little overdramatic and has some major Other Asian bashing, but I had to put it in. I didn't want to hurt Other Asian. I told him I could just end it with a make out scene, but he insisted. What can I say, Other Asian likes emotional pain I guess...
I really hope you'll like it. I've been looking forward to writing this, ever since I found out Artie and Tina were breaking up.