Author's Note: Part two, already up! I just couldn't wait to post it, lol. Please read and review! :)

Sidelines, part two

After twelve hours of labor, and scant time at all with her newborn, who wasn't really hers but someone else's, Quinn lay in her hospital bed, exhausted and aching from more than just physical pain. Her heart felt like a cold frost had settled upon it though hot tears were silently running down her cheeks. She hated to cry but she allowed herself to. And it didn't matter because she doubted anyone would actually be visiting her. She hadn't seen her parents in months and Puck had bailed right after their little girl had been given to her new adopted parents. Mr. Schuester had stayed briefly but, due to some issues with his possibly future ex wife, had also left.

Quinn had never felt so alone.

Closing her eyes, she rested her head on the hospital pillow, reliving the moment she had first seen her daughter. The image brought a fresh batch of tears to her eyes but before they could seep from her eyes, a throat cleared and her eyelids fluttered open.

At the door, in his wheelchair, half smile on his face, sat Artie, a bouquet of flowers on his lap. "Hey," he said softly, wheeling himself in her direction. Gently, he placed the flowers on her side table, cleared his throat again then looked anywhere but at her.

"Thank you," she told him, her voice quiet in the room. "They're beautiful."

Finally, his eyes landed on hers, a sadness there that felt less like pity and more like the sympathy of a friend. "Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl."

The corners of her mouth lifted upward but she was sure it appeared as more of a grimace than anything else. "It's nice of you to say that, Artie, though it's not true, not right now anyway."

A look of disbelief entered Artie's eyes. "Are you serious, Quinn? You've always been beautiful, ever since the first time I saw you in the cafeteria and was too afraid to sit by you…"

Actually smiling, and almost laughing, Quinn asked, "You mean, that's why it took you all week to sit by me? You were afraid?" He nodded once, the barest hint of a grin playing across his mouth. Part of her wanted to debate him about his compliment, considering she had just been through one of the hardest ordeals of her life and knew that there was no possible way anyone could consider her beautiful then, but decided against it. He was, after all, trying to make her feel better. And he was there, which meant more to her than anything else. "That was one of the worst weeks. I was really glad when you did sit by me. And shared your pudding cup with me."

"I know," he told her simply. "So…are you tired?

Tired was an understatement. "Yes."

In a not quite whisper, he said, "Then go to sleep."

A feeling of vulnerability washed over her as she thought of waking up to an empty room. "Will you stay?" she questioned. "Until I fall asleep?"

She was uncertain of his internal reaction as the expression on his face revealed not much. "Sure," was his only response.

It didn't take long for her to waft into a state of fitful sleep, dream free, with Artie's warm presence beside her, almost lulling her.

When she awoke, hours later, Artie was gone but, beside the bouquet of flowers he had brought, was a pudding cup.

Junior year definitely could've been Quinn's year to get it all back. Head Cheerio, President of the Chastity club, Finn Hudson…yet, for some unknown reason, none of that seemed appealing to her. Not even getting back together with a single Finn, who had become somewhat of a friend despite the wrongs she had done him in the previous year. As she walked down one of McKinley High's hallways, she smiled as no one moved to make way for her. It was something she had gotten used to and almost, in a way, welcomed. She was slightly surprised when she spied Artie by her locker, beaming grin in place. The two of them had been talking, mostly through IM's and sometimes in group hang outs, with the other members of the glee club, which Quinn guessed made her a gleek, but him showing up at her locker was not expected.

"Hey, Artie."

"Hey, Quinn."

An awkward silence stretched between them for what felt like forever before Artie, first pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, said, "I'm looking forward to glee this year."

Biting back a giggle, Quinn agreed with him, "Yeah, me too. Glee is…well, glee's meant a lot to me."

"That's good," Artie began, opening his mouth to say more but, before he could, some of the other members of glee were there, Brittany and Tina glaring at each over Artie's head as he sat, oblivious, to the feelings his ex and the flexible cheerleader had for him. "Later," he mouthed, as the bell rang and Tina grabbed the handles on the back of his chair, one second before Brittany could, pushing him away.

Shrugging, Quinn removed her books from her locker, wondering what Artie had been about to say.

The thought that had been on the tip of Artie's tongue but had been left unspoken came up a couple of weeks later, as Quinn sat by herself in the music room after everyone left. She often found herself alone there, sometimes up to an hour after the others had gone home. It was in the music room that she felt most at home, even more so than at her actual home, where dinners were often punctuated by uncomfortable silences. Neither one of her parents, in particular her dad, seemed to have been able to forget about the slight discrepancy of getting pregnant the year beforehand. Sometimes it was almost unbearable to live at home. It almost felt as if the was sitting on the sidelines while in her own house.

Sighing, Quinn flipped through the sheets of music Rachel had been handing out, rolling her eyes as she remembered how Rachel had insisted that these songs would be the perfect ones to help them place at sectional's.

"Rachel is probably the most intense person I know," his voice intoned sardonically, jarring her. She caught the sheets just before they slipped to the ground. "Sorry," he muttered, reaching forward to help steady the papers, his hand brushing her knee.

"It's okay." Restacking the papers, she turned her gaze to him. "And, yeah, Rachel can be pretty intense, borderline annoying but…she's not bad."

Both eyebrows raised at her assessment of Rachel's character. "I agree about the annoying and also…that she's not that bad. I, uh, stayed cause I wanted to ask you something." Pursing her lips, Quinn nodded once, indicating that he should go on. "Last year, I pulled your name out of that hat and we were supposed to sing a ballad together but we never got the chance and I was thinking that maybe this year we could. Well, not a ballad so much as a duet. You know, you and me sing a -" He paused and his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I'm rambling. What I want to ask is if you might sing a duet with me?"

Biting her bottom lip, Quinn stared at him for a minute, not considering whether she should say yes but thinking about how cute he was. "I'd like that, Artie. Do you have any ideas?"

"I have a few," he responded, almost glowing as he pulled an iPod from his pocket.

As she placed one of his ear buds in an ear, head at a slight angle, she studied his profile as he scrolled through the songs on the portable device. Could he possibly like her, even after how she had abandoned him all those years ago and practically ignored him in the years following? It was a bit disconcerting, for whatever reason, but she chose not to dwell on it, rather pushing it to the back of her mind. Instead, she'd focus on the songs and regaining a friend.

After a several minutes, they decided on "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher, a clichéd classic that they both decided would be fun but the choice almost made her wonder if her previous assumptions about him liking her hadn't been so off. He had, after all, suggested the song.

Ever since she had been ten, Quinn had managed to be the recipient of several boy's admiration on Valentine's Day. Even when she had been dating Finn, there had been a line of boys with conversation hearts in one hand and carnations in the other, asking her if she would be theirs. The previous year, she had been with Puck and pregnant, therefore receiving nothing from anyone, not even her boyfriend. This year she expected much of the same, to sit the day out on the sidelines.

Sighing, she watched as Rachel looked between Puck and Finn, the two boys glaring at one another, remembering when she had been the third in that triangle but grateful that she was no longer. Chewing on her bottom lip, Quinn turned her gaze to the book she had been assigned to read for English, ignoring everyone else for the time being.

However, it didn't seem that was allowed for a tap on her hand interrupted her perusing of the novel. Glancing up, her frustration was washed away as she looked into Artie's blue green eyes. "Oh. Hey, Artie."

"Hey, Quinn," he responding, hands clasped tightly in his lap. "Have a…date for Valentine's day?"

Something akin to hope bubbled in her chest. Swallowing, she shook her head no. "This is the first year in a long time without one."

She noticed that his grip on his own hands had become so tight that his knuckles were turning white. "There's something about that that's just not right." Bowing his head, he examined his ever whitening knuckles. "Um…"

Leaning forward a little, Quinn strained to hear whatever he was about to say, as his voice had dropped an octave or two. "Yes, Artie?"

His mouth formed a perfect 'o' but no words exited for a moment. Just as it seemed they were about to, Tina flounced over, squinted at Quinn without acknowledging her, then said to Artie, "Can you come over and judge mine and Britt's dance moves? We want to know who you think is better."

Appearing torn, Artie lifted his eyes to Quinn's, something flickering in their depths. "I-"

"Go judge their dance competition," Quinn encouraged him warmly, her heart sinking within her, which made her wonder if she liked him. As she watched him wheel away, his eyes touching hers one last time, she couldn't help but recall the many times he had been there for her over the years, despite how she had thrown their friendship away to be one of the cool kids. And look where that had gotten her. None of those cool kids even talked to her anymore, except for those that were in glee with her and even then, barely. Sighing, she tucked a hair behind one ear, pushing all thoughts of Artie and Valentine's Day out of her head. She had other things, like school work, to consider.

Thirty minutes later, Quinn approached her locker and came to a halt when she spotted a single red rose taped to it, with a note.

Scrawled on the white slip of paper were the words, You should always be someone's valentine.

There was no signature but she knew who the rose was from. Tucking it carefully into her book bag, she smiled then slowly walked out of the school building.

Just in time for regional's, Quinn felt a cold coming on. Rachel, upon finding out, lectured her for half an hour (well, it felt like half an hour but was, in actuality, five minutes) before Artie intervened, his sarcastic wit puzzling Rachel and ending the girls tirade. Quinn had smiled gratefully at him, then had assured Rachel she would be fine for regional's.

But she wasn't fine. The cold had just gotten worse but, somehow, Quinn managed to perform with the others on stage though, afterwards, she told Mr. Schuester she just couldn't sit through the rest of the performances. Santana and Brittany accompanied her to the room of the hotel they were staying at, then left shortly thereafter, to go find a party somewhere, Quinn guessed. Mr. Schuester probably should've sent Ms. Pilsbury with them. Since it wasn't her problem, Quinn shrugged and turned on the television set, flipping through the channels, growing frustrated when she couldn't find one thing she wanted to watch.

Just when she had decided that The Food Network was probably the best option, a knock came at the door. Startled, she dropped the remote. Frowning, she debated on whether or not to answer it when she heard his voice call out, "Quinn, it's me."

Crossing the room, she unlocked the door and found herself looking down at Artie. "Artie," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," he replied, nervously pushing his glasses up his nose. "I had a feeling that Brittany and Santana would ditch you and I didn't like the thought of you alone…"

Grinning, she opened the door wider, to let him in. "I appreciate that. I was just about to watch something on The Food Network."

As he rolled himself in, Artie frowned. "What up with that?" Shaking his head, he grabbed the remote off the bed and began his own survey of the stations. "Wow, there's really not much up on, is there?"

"Not really." Sitting in her original position on the bed once more, she patted the spot beside her. "Join me?"

Gulping, Artie tossed the remote beside her then made his way to the side of the bed. She watched as he grabbed hold of the bed frame, pulling himself out of his chair and onto the bed. When he noticed her eyes on him, he blushed a little before straightening himself out. "I, uh, sucks that you're sick."

Nodding absent mindedly, she scooted closer to him. "Artie, I…I'm sorry."

Furrowing his brow, he twisted his head to look at her. "Sorry? What are you sorry about?"

Running her hand along the comforter, she said, softly, "Sorry for…all those years ago. We were friends and I just…" She brought her shoulders up then let them drop down.

"Hey," he responded, his voice hard to hear above the muted noise coming from the television. "That was a long time ago. It doesn't matter now."

"If you say so," she said, injecting a bit of a teasing tone into her words.

"I do," he whispered, the serious inflection in his voice contrasting with her playful one.

Staring into his eyes, she felt her breath catch in the back of her throat. "Okay…" Biting down hard on her lip, she struggled to think of something to say then, before she could stop herself, blurted out, "Do you ever think about that kiss?"

Blinking several times, he at last nodded. "Well, it was my first, so yeah."

"Mine too." It occurred to her, as she lay there, eyes locked with his, that Artie was sort of…hot. In a sort of nerdy kind of way, like Clark Kent or Peter Parker. "I wonder what it would be like if we kissed now?"

Apparently, he wasn't expecting that. His mouth fell open, then closed, several times before he squeaked, "Wh-what?"

Smiling, she raised her head so that her lips came within centimeters of his. "If we kissed now," she repeated. "What would it be like?"

He didn't answer with words. Instead, he closed the small space between them, pressing his lips to hers, first gently, then growing in intensity. As if in slow motion, she brought one hand up to tangle in his hair, while the fingers of the other grazed over the collar of his shirt. Just as slowly, one of his hands slid across the material of the shirt that covered her stomach, coming to lightly rest on her hip. The other touched her face, the pad of his thumb making small circles on her cheekbone. Several minutes must've passed but Quinn was no longer aware of time.

She wasn't sure who broke the kiss, perhaps it was mutual because they both needed to breathe, but they came apart eventually, smiles on their faces.

"Whoa," breathed Artie, lowering his face to brush his forehead against hers. "That was…whoa."

"Mmhmm." There was more she wanted to say but for some reason, all she said was, "You're going to get sick."

Twisting his mouth into a grin, he told her, "I think it was worth it."

Her grin matching his, she settled into his arms, feeling comfortable there but unsure of the meaning behind what had happened. Part of her felt they should discuss it but the other part of her, the side she chose to listen to, thought the best thing to do was just enjoy the moment and figure everything else out later.

Monday morning, Quinn walked into McKinley High, a small smile on her face for more than one reason. New Directions had placed first in regional's, which meant they were on their way to the next level. And there was, of course, the unforgettable kiss, which neither Artie nor Quinn had brought up since it had happened three days beforehand. Not that they had really had the chance to. That day, though, Quinn fully intended to approach him and bring up what had transpired between them. She also had a question she wanted to ask him, which, to her, seemed the most important question that anyone could ask.

As soon as the bell for the last class rang, she hurried the long hallways to Artie's locker, hoping to catch him before glee started. She rounded the final corner then froze when she saw Brittany's tall form, bent at the waist, lips against Artie's. It was unexpected and made her feel awful but Quinn held herself high and strode forward, passing by them. In that time, the other two had separated and, right as Quinn walked by, she heart Artie start to sputter.

'Good,' she thought, darkly. 'He feels bad. He should.'

"Quinn!"

Jutting her chin out, she continued, her pace not lessening, as he cried out her name.

"Quinn!"

It gave her some sort of satisfaction that he sounded as if he had gotten the cold she had had.

"Quinn!"

This time, he was much closer and his hand shot out, two fingers encircling her wrist.

"Quinn. Stop."

She bristled at the way he almost commanded her but followed his instructions, pivoting on one heel to face him, eyebrow raised. "What?"

"I know what that looked like," he said, jerking his thumb in the direction of his locker.

"You mean," she questioned, scrunching her brow in mock confusion. "You and Brittany kissing?"

Blowing some air out of his cheeks, Artie shook his head. "I don't even know how this happened, Quinn. Tina and Britt, fighting over me. And then you…that kiss… I'm Artie Abrams. I've never had girl problems." Opening her mouth, Quinn felt a diatribe coming on, at being labeled one of his many girls, but he rushed ahead. "I don't mean to say I have any now, just that… What I mean is, there is no problem. Because there's only one girl that I like. And that, that kiss with Brittany…well, she kissed me! I didn't want her to. All weekend I've been waiting to talk to you about what happened and that was really bad timing, that, there, but I didn't feel anything not like when I-"

Shushing him by placing a finger over his lips, Quinn smirked at him. "I think I get it, Artie. That was cute, though."

Eyes on her finger, still over his lips, making him appear slightly cross eyed, Artie muttered, "Thanks."

"I felt something when we kissed too. And…I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to the prom with me." Standing erect, she awaited his answer, hiding away the apprehension she felt about what he might say.

For a moment, his face was blank but then he beamed up at her, an almost teasing glint in his eyes. "And…are you going to ask me?"

Her mouth fell open then quirked into a half smile, a chortle of a laugh coming out at the same time. "Artie, will you go to prom with me?"

The merriment on his face faded as he gazed down at his legs. "I can't dance."

It was difficult not to roll her eyes at him but the statement was absurd (though once she would've believed it to be true as well). "You dance in glee all the time. So just say yes already."

Raising his eyes again, Artie flashed his teeth at her. "Jeez, you're demanding. That's…hot."

The unexpectedness of the compliment caused her to laugh. "Um, thanks. You still haven't said yes, by the way."

Wheeling himself forward, and grinning all the while, he took hold of her hand, running his fingers over her knuckles. "Yes, Quinn Fabray, I would love to go to the dance with you. I'd go even if all we did was sit on the sidelines."

"Artie, we have always been on the sidelines together, even when I didn't want it to be true."

Artie cocked his head, thinking about what she said, then nodded. "Ever since that first pudding cup."

"Yes," she said softly. "Ever since then."

Still grinning, almost literally from ear to ear, Artie patted his lap. "Want a ride to glee?"

"How could I say no to that?" She took a seat on his lap and slid her arms over his shoulders, clasping her hands at the back of his neck. Then, on impulse, she dropped a kiss against his lips, which he almost immediately reciprocated.

"So, I hope you don't expect anything too fancy for prom. I'm sort of a plain guy," he told her as he slowly wheeled to glee. "Expect McDonald's for dinner and I don't do corsages."

An almost giggle escaped. "That's fine but I'm ordering the most expensive value meal on the menu!"

"I wouldn't want my prom date to get a cheap value meal!"

Smiling, she rested her head against his. "I do expect to have a good time though."

"That," he said, winking. "can be arranged."

"I'm sure it can," she murmured.

"You should wear red," he whispered, his breath hot against her cheek.

"Maybe. You like me in red?"

Stopping in front of the door that would lead them into glee, he sort of smirked at her. "I like you in every color. But…" He trailed off, the smirk dropping away for a second. "You were wearing red that first day I sat next to you."

Tears filmed over her eyes. "You…remember what I was wearing?"

Smiling up at her, he nodded. "How could I forget anything about the day I met you?"

Fighting the emotions growing within her, she attempted to smile at him, aware that it came out crooked. "You were wearing a black sweater vest…" Swallowing, she brushed an imaginary piece of lint off her top. "I couldn't forget that day either."

Grinning, he gestured towards the door. "Must've been a memorable day."

Turning the handle, she looked back at him. "The most memorable."

Inside the room, everything was like normal, except Brittany was wearing an exceptional frown, which Quinn guessed had to with what had happened between her and Artie. Quinn selected a seat close to the door and Artie wheeled himself beside her. It occurred to her, as she sat there, that the two of them were on the edge of the room, slightly set apart from everyone else. Without thinking about it, she reached out and laced her fingers with his.

As always, on the sidelines, together.

End.