Author's note: Wow, I am actually overwhelmed with all the response to this story! You guys are INCREDIBLE! Thank you so much for sticking with me, and I'm very sorry for the update delay, the past two weeks have been crazy. Hopefully you all like it, and as always, comments are appreciated!
Disclaimer: Q-When is it ever mine? A- Never.
The next day at Glee club everyone was looking around at each other, wondering where Mr. Schue was. Well, Mike and Matt were sulking in the corner that their plan hadn't worked, and Kurt and Mercedes were eying them smugly, certain that it would be up to them to choose a plan name next. Everyone else was not-so-subtly staring at Artie and Tina, and they were staring back in puzzlement that everyone was staring at them.
Thankfully, Mr. Schue burst through the door a second later holding an enormous stack of paper and looking rather harried.
"Sorry guys," he apologized grimacing, "Ms. Sylvester just stopped me in the hallway for a chat." He shook his head looking down at the floor. Then, suddenly remembering, "Oh, right! You guys rocked it at Sectionals, and we need to do that at Regionals. Since we never actually got the chance to perform individually with ballads," he quickly glance at Quinn and Finn, "Not that there was anything wrong with that, you guys actually rocked that ballad!" Everyone interrupted with cheering and high-fives here, "But, we're going to try again. So, I've got the hat back, and let's pick names! It's going to be guys picking out a girls name, since we're going to do love songs, ok?"
Artie and Tina blushed bright-red, and looked everywhere but at each other.
"Ok, Finn, you're up first," Mr. Schue beamed at him expectantly.
Finn grabbed a slip of paper out of the hat, not really caring who he got. "Rachel!" he said enthusiastically.
Puck went next, "Mercedes."
"Again?" Mercedes humphed, "Mr. Schue, what is going on?"
Mr. Schue grinned, "The fates have spoken."
Mike went up to pick, "Brittany!" he squealed. "Um," he coughed, "Brittany," he grunted. Everyone laughed.
Kurt went next, "Quinn."
Artie was holding his breath. Out of all the girls that had been picked, Tina hadn't yet. And if Mike didn't pick her next, that would mean he'd be with her. Having to sing her a love song. He rolled his chair forward, determined to go next and lessen those odds.
Mercedes who was sitting next to him noticed him starting to move forward, and kicked Matt on the other side to go ahead of her, simultaneously grabbing Artie's hand. "Oh, Wheels, you just ran over my toes," she groaned.
Artie stopped, looking puzzled, he hadn't felt his chair move. "Sorry 'Cedes, you ok?"
At the same time, Matt had bounded up to the hat and grabbed the slip of paper, "Santana."
"Awesome," Mr. Schue beamed, "So that means you," he looked at Artie, "And Tina are together. I'll leave it up to you guys to figure out what songs you guys want to sing, but remember it has to be a love song. We'll present on Monday, any one want to go first?"
Nobody volunteered, not even Rachel which was astounding, instead becoming suddenly very interested in their hands.
"Okaaaay," he dragged the word out slowly.
Mercedes quickly flicked Artie on the head, "Ow!" Artie squeaked, and looked at Mercedes.
"Thanks Artie, you and Tina can go first!" Mr. Schue beamed, "I'll see you guys on Monday!"
Artie gaped, and looked back at Mercedes accusingly. She shrugged back at him. "What, you had a fly on your head."
Everyone started filing out the room with their respective partners, talking about their song choice. As usual, Tina waited for Artie, as he didn't accidentally want to run over anyone's toes. She seemed to be intently gazing at her bag though while waiting for him, not making any small talk like she usually did.
"You alright Tee?" he smiled awkwardly at her.
She turned to him startled and gave a small laugh. "Um, yeah, just thinking about the assignment."
"I don't know why Mr. Schue keeps getting us to sing love songs lately," Artie rolled his eyes and smiled, "I think he's got it bad for Miss. Pillsbury," he whispered conspiratorially. After Sectionals, the news of Mr. Schue getting a divorce from Mrs. Schue had made it's way around the school, and everyone knew that Miss. Pillsbury only had eyes for Mr. Schue.
Tina grinned back at him, "Quite possibly."
Tina slipped her knapsack on the back of Artie's chair and began pushing him out of the room. "So, any ideas for what song we're going to sing?" she asked casually.
Artie frowned. Definitely not one of the assignments that was going to be easy to complete. But then again, when were any of Mr. Schue's assignments easy to complete? First the mash-up (although it was a lot of fun), then the "Bust a Move" mash-up, and the list kept going.
But he wouldn't have minded it so much at the early stages of Glee, and he definitely wouldn't have minded it with someone else. It was one thing to sing a love song to a friend or someone when you knew what you weren't singing was real. But it was an entirely different thing to sing a love song to someone you loved, and you didn't want them to know that.
He knew that Tina knew he loved her as his best-friend, after all, you can't be best friends with someone for over 4 years and not love each other as best friends, but he'd never actually told her he loved her as anything more. He just couldn't do it. It was hard enough asking her out on that first date, let alone telling her that he loved her as more than a friend.
Tina gazed into the distance while she was waiting for Artie to respond to her question. She had loved Artie since she had met him in Grade 8, and they'd been through everything together. It wasn't long before that love turned into something more, and she had known even at Grade 8 that her life wouldn't be the same without him in it.
But telling him that? She had never been that confident of a person, she stuttered for 5 years after all because she was so nervous. It wasn't as though she was one of those people who automatically knew that they could fit in in any situation, or be anything, or do anything that they wanted to do.
She loved Glee club, and she loved singing. But singing to her best friend – who she had only just got back – and singing her true feelings to him, when he would realize that? Definitely not her idea of what she wanted to do.
What she wanted to do was forget those feelings ever existed because it was highly unlikely that they could ever be anything more than friends again. She had screwed things up royally, and she'd rather have him in her life as her best friend than nothing.
She shook her head, trying to snap herself out of her musings, and poked Artie in the back. "Artie, you still home?" she gently teased him.
He smiled back at her, taking her breath away as usual. "Just thinking," he frowned, "Remind me, what exactly did Mr. Schue say about this assignment?"
"All he said was it had to be a love song," she hurried quickly over the 'love.'
"But he didn't say what kind of love, did he?" Artie smiled.
She smiled back at him, her heart sinking. Of course he would do anything to get out of singing a song about romantic love with her. "Nope," she tried her hardest to smile back at him.
"Want to sing a song about friend-love?" he grinned.
"Sure," she said lightly, knowing that if she said anything more about it, that her voice would crack.
She didn't notice his frown that she had agreed so quickly, not even attempting to change his mind.
Monday
"Alright guys!" Mr. Schue clapped his hands together excitedly. "I'm sure you guys are going to rock today, and to kick off, we have Artie and Tina!" The rest of the group clapped and cheered. He went to the back and took a seat with the rest of the club.
Tina took a deep breath, taking a microphone as Artie grabbed his guitar and settled it on his lap.
She started singing.
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
Artie took over.
And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
They both joined in, smiling at each other softly.
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
Tine took over.
You've got troubles, well I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and we see it through
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
Tina stopped, and Artie took over again.
Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
They both joined back in.
But none of them will ever love you the way I do
It's me and you
And as the years go by
Boys, our friendship will never die
You're gonna see
It's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
Artie and Tina finished softly, and the girls discreetly wiped at their eyes with tissues. The boys stretched with their arms over their heads, trying to secretly rub their eyes. At the last note, everyone stood up and cheered. Artie and Tina blushed, and gave each other high-fives.
Mr. Schue came down from the risers, "Awesome work guys!" He stood awkwardly, trying to avoid the rest of the looks the group was giving him. "Who's next?"
The rest of the couples sang their songs, each one a love song. When the last group (Rachel and Finn) finished, Mr. Schue stood up. "Great job today guys! I think we may be including some of these songs for Regionals, especially some about friend love," he teasingly winked at Artie and Tina, "We'll talk about it tomorrow."
Everyone left and Artie and Tina were left alone in the room again. They slowly walked out after everyone had gone and discussed who's songs might be selected for regionals. They didn't notice the sets of eyes watching them as they left.
While Tina and Artie had been performing, Mercedes discreetly texted everyone in the group. Meeting in the 2nd floor stairwell closed to the Spanish class after Glee. She had received subtle nods from everyone and as soon as Mr. Schue said rehearsal was over, they had run out as fast as they could, trying to avoid Artie or Tina seeing them. Rachel had grabbed Mr. Schue's arm on the way out and was pulling him along with them.
They finally made it to the 2nd floor, and the rest of the group slowly started trickling in. Mike, Matt, Puck and Finn had walked all the way around the school, glancing at everyone suspiciously with Mike and Matt whistling the James Bond theme. They had finally made it there after many forward rolls down the hallway, 'evading' other people.
Quinn, Santana and Brittany soon found their way there after taking a short-cut through the gym.
Finally, they were all there, including Mr. Schue, looking immensely guilty. They all stared at him with their hand on their hips, and he looked away, pretending to be very interested in what was going on outside.
"Fine," Kurt said, "Since no one else will say it, I will. Mr. Schuester, what happened?!"
Mr. Schue turned around slowly, and held his palms up in defense, "Look, it was the perfect plan. I kept Tina's name out of the hat until it was Artie's turn to pick. And then I said they had to sing a love song. I didn't think I had to be any clearer than that!" he ended on a high note.
Rachel shook her head, "It was a good plan Mr. Schue," she said sympathetically, "Just, the carrying out of the plan needed to be done a little better."
"So," Mercedes said smugly, "Since Mr. Schue's plan failed, I believe it's up to me and Kurt, correct?" she looked around the rest of the group, daring anyone to defy her.
Mike put his hand up and started to speak up, "Well, actually-" he ended with an yelp as Matt elbowed him in the side. He looked at Mercedes evil glare, "Yes, what I was saying, is it is indeed your turn to plan!" he ended quickly.
"That's what I thought," she said pointedly. "Now, it was an okay plan Mr. Schue, but now they're both convinced that the other one will only want them as a friend, so we need to correct that. Me and Kurt," she turned and gave him a fist-bump, "Have been working on Plan Tartie for awhile now, just in case anything happened," she said defensively, looking at the other members.
Kurt took over quickly, "We are ready to instigate Plan Tartie, but we need some help. Specifically, boys, you're going to be with me. Girls, you're with Mercedes. Good luck team, you'll all need it!" he ended dramatically, pushing his bangs back with one hand.
What are those sneaky kids up to now? Remember, reviews=love.