Well, after being inspired by a certain song that was released recently, I have finally finished this story. I've enjoyed writing this and it's always fun to look at these episodes from a viewpoint of how Artie and Kurt could have interacted in them, and I've loved expanding their friendship. I hope you enjoy this last installment.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.

Kurt really hated being left out of the loop.

It was one thing when he was at Dalton and missed out on everything that had happened in his absence. Although he would never admit it, he wished he could have been there through everything – from zombies to Justin Bieber. Even though he was back and had gotten into the swing of things easily, he still felt like he was missing out on stuff. Little inside jokes that everyone got but him. Friendships and relationships that had formed and fallen apart over the past couple of months. He felt as though he barely had a grasp on what was going on. He didn't even know what was going on with his best friends. It was almost as if a rift had sprung up between them.

He had honestly been a little hurt when Artie refused to tell him what was going on. The thing with Sam wasn't his secret to tell; it wasn't like it was something bad was happening in his own life. He had promised the other boy that he wouldn't tell anybody about his family problems. If it had been a problem that Kurt was having in his own life, he wouldn't have hesitated to tell Artie. The two had grown closer over the year, but their separation had taken a slight toll.

Needless to say, he was just as surprised as the rest of the class when Artie rolled into their Culinary Arts class one day and started singing to Brittany. Kurt still had no idea what had happened between the two, but from what he gathered from Artie's speech was that the other boy had another issue of word vomit.

Kurt caught up with Artie when the bell rang a few minutes after he left the classroom, his song having not done the trick. The other boy was dejectedly putting his books back in his locker, looking extremely depressed.

"You know," Kurt drawled, leaning against the lockers. "If that song had been directed at me, I would have definitely said yes."

The smallest hint of a smile crossed Artie's face. "Well I'll keep that in mind for next year," he said jokingly. To Kurt's relief, the other boy's mood seemed to be lifting dramatically.

Prom was supposed to be a joyous event, full of dancing and fun with friends. It was belting out really bad songs that everyone would sing along to, and for once the entire school was getting along. It was not supposed to be locked in the cheerleading coach's office, being tortured while your friends were out celebrating. It was not supposed to be having the school bond together to humiliate you in one of the most degrading ways possible.

Artie could not believe his bad luck. He had never had to deal with Coach Sylvester one on one before and quite frankly, he was terrified. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he swore that he was going to kill Puck if he ever got out of this. Scarily though, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to.

Kurt was frozen with disbelief as he heard his name leave Figgins' lips. He could feel the stares of everyone in the gym and they weren't friendly. He felt as though everyone's hate was being pressed on him; how much they wanted him gone. Choking back tears, he started running away from the glares and mocking faces that seemed to surround him.

Despite one small breather when Coach Sylvester went to break up a fight, (that Artie would later learn was between Finn and Jesse, shockingly enough) the next couple of hours were torturous. It wasn't just that he was scared silly of the woman; he was missing out on his prom. True, this wasn't exactly like his last one. He was only a sophomore and technically shouldn't have been there if it weren't for Glee club. However, he still wanted to spend time with his friends and he didn't enjoy being the only one left out. Plus, he was kind of interested to see who won Prom Queen. The fighting had grown to quite an epic scale, and he wanted to see the end result.

Kurt was shaking as he paced the hallway, the horrible scene still flashing through his head. He was sick and tired of it. He thought that after he went to Dalton, things would cool off, especially with Karofsky off his back. The smirks and glares from so many people were still etched in his brain though, and he couldn't remember a time when he felt so hated. He half wanted to just run out the doors, drive home, and curl up in bed. The other half of him was determined to march back into that gymnasium and show each and every person up. After internal debating, he decided that he would do just that. He was sick of hiding and running. He was going to enjoy his prom no matter what. He wasn't about to let some small-minded people ruin it.

In hindsight, Artie realized that Coach Sylvester probably wouldn't have been too mad at him if he had just told her it was lemonade. However, he never did well under pressure and he felt like she would have ripped his teeth out no matter what. By the time he made his way back to the gym, he realized that the King and Queen had already been crowned and they were on their last song of the evening. With a sigh, he pushed himself into the crowd in an attempt to find his friends for one last dance.

The next day at school, Artie and Kurt were the first ones in the choir room. By that point, Artie had heard from others what had happened and expressed his disgust at the people who had played the cruel prank. Meanwhile Kurt sympathized with him on his ordeal with Coach Sylvester.

"Now you know how I felt when I had to tell her about the Physical video," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"I have no idea how you did that," Artie agreed, shuddering slightly at the thought. Just then, Mr. Schuester walked into the choir room.

"Hey boys, how was prom last night?" he asked cheerfully, setting his papers down on the piano.

"Horrible," they replied in unison before turning back to their conversation.

Artie rolled into the library where he was supposed to meet Kurt for a study session. He found the other boy sitting at a table, but instead of having his books out and ready, he was just staring off into space with a thoughtful look on his face. He focused when Artie stopped at the table, and gave him a vacant smile.

"What's up?" Artie asked.

"Just…thinking," Kurt replied vaguely.

"Well the library is a good place to do that," Artie quipped. Kurt gave him a look before sighing deeply and reaching for his books.

"What were you thinking about?" Artie asked him. Kurt paused and slowly straightened.

"You heard about Coach Sylvester's sister, right?"

"Yeah," Artie answered. "Everyone's talking about it. It's kind of hard to believe. I mean, her sister wasn't that old."

"It could have been my dad," Kurt said suddenly. "I can't stop thinking about that. It could have been him earlier this year. I was incredibly lucky that it wasn't, but he was so close."

"It wasn't him though," Artie said softly. "He's fine."

"I know," Kurt said. "But it was scary; especially…well you know what happened with my mom." Artie nodded slowly. "I want to help Coach out. She was pretty supportive when my dad was in the hospital, and quite frankly I know what she's going through."

"That's a good idea," Artie replied. "Let me know if I can do anything.

A couple of days later, Kurt approached Artie while he was switching the books in his locker.

"Remember when you said you wanted to help Coach Sylvester? Well I have a proposition for you," Kurt said. "We're going to be in charge of the service and I had an idea of a tribute we could make for Jean. If I provide you with various videos and pictures, could you make a video of her?"

"Yeah, that'd be no problem at all," Artie agreed. "I'd be happy to do it."

"I also decided the song that we're going to sing," Kurt continued as they started to make their way down the hallway to their next classes. "Jean's favorite movie is 'Willy Wonka,' so I was thinking that Pure Imagination would be a good song."

"That's perfect," Artie said. "I love that song."

"Would you like to sing in it?" Kurt asked.

"Why can't you run the club instead of Mr. Schuester?" Artie asked with a wry smile, causing the other boy to laugh in agreement.

Artie had never been in an airplane before, so he was quite excited when they finally lifted off and headed off towards New York. Once the seatbelt sign had been switched off, the Glee club members were able to switch seats and mingle with each other. At one point, Kurt found himself dropping into the seat next to Artie that had recently been abandoned by Sam.

"Excited?" Artie asked him jokingly.

"You have no idea," Kurt said, wiggling slightly in his seat. "I have been waiting for this moment my entire life."

"So just a little bit excited?" Artie teased. Kurt stuck out his tongue in reply.

"Who would've thought that after everything that happened this year, we would end up here?" Artie mused. Kurt gave him a confused look.

"Don't you remember what happened at the beginning of this year? When we found out about the whole hospital thing? "

"Oh yeah," Kurt said. "I forgot that was only a couple of months ago. So much has happened since then, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, just a little bit," Artie laughed. "But look where we've ended up."

"I don't know," Kurt mused. "I think that we bonded more over dancing around the library in shiny pants than this whole experience."

"Maybe just a little bit," Artie said thoughtfully. "Things like that can create a lasting friendship." The two boys shared a laugh before lapsing into silence.

"Well, if we could make it through all of this, Nationals should be a breeze then," Kurt said after a moment.

"To Nationals!" Artie cheered, raising his plastic airplane cup with soda in it. Kurt raised his own and clinked it with Artie's.

"To Nationals," he echoed. "And everything after it."

The two boys drank, looked at each other, and burst out laughing.

I'd like to express my extreme gratitude again to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story over the past year. If you've been following since 'Take It All Away,' thank you so much for sticking with me throughout this entire story. I love seeing how many people enjoy the friendship between these two characters. I'm waiting to see what the third season will bring, and if it will inspire any more fic ideas.

Thank you all once again from the bottom of my heart.