Artie sat in his living room, eagerly awaiting the arrival of his girlfriend. He'd put on his Star Wars boxers (just in case!), and had organized the living room for their Star Wars marathon.
The DVDs were sitting on the coffee table, neatly lined up and ready to go. The popcorn was popped (even though it was early in the morning), and the couch cushions were fluffed.
Yes, he even fluffed the couch cushions. He wanted it to be perfect for her, because he knew how much she was looking forward to the day. He was looking forward to it too, but he knew that it was extra special for her. He liked to think that any time she spent with him was extra special, but he knew how she felt about Star Wars.
His family was away for the weekend, and they'd left him with strict instructions to have a good time, and not to do anything he knew they would disapprove of. Of course he wouldn't do anything they would disapprove of, having the house to himself with Quinn was not a privilege he wanted to lose!
When the doorbell rang, Artie rolled over and opened it. Much to his surprise, Quinn was still wearing the hair extensions she used as part of her Halloween costume. She looked amazing.
After a second, he realized that he always thought she looked amazing, no matter what she was wearing.
"Sorry I'm a few minutes late, these stupid hair extensions were a bit more work than I thought they'd be. I think I'll take them out tonight."
"You. Look. Amazing."
It was all he could say. She bent over, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and said, "You can close your mouth now."
Busted. Oops.
She looked amazing...surely it wasn't unexpected that her appearance would leave him sitting there gaping at her, right?
He decided they'd better get down to business, if they were going to finish all the movies.
It was fairly quiet during the first two movies. They had started out sitting beside each other on the couch, and by the time the end credits of Attack of the Clones rolled along, Quinn was lying in Artie's lap, and he was trying to keep himself...composed.
As the credits rolled, and the music played, she reached up, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and pulled him down for a kiss, meeting him half way.
After finding this a bit awkward, she sat up so she could face him, and they ended up where they ended up most of the time when they were alone at his house...passionately embracing, and taking part in what Artie had dubbed "the most epic makeout session of all time" every time it happened.
After a few minutes, Quinn stopped, got up, and went to put the third DVD into the DVD player. She sat down beside Artie, and quickly found her head in its usual place on her lap.
By the time Return of the Sith was finished, Artie declared that they had better have some lunch. It was already late in the afternoon, but his stomach was beginning to protest, and he didn't know how much longer he could sit there quietly.
"I'll make us some lunch," Quinn said, getting up.
Artie stopped her.
"Wait. You always make lunch. I've got this today."
With that, he wheeled into the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was...ham. And cheese. And some slightly wilted lettuce. He could work with that, right?
While he was putting together the sandwiches, Quinn got up to fix the couch cushions, and then surveyed the living room. While she had spent a lot of time there, she hadn't really had a chance to look around much, because she was always...preoccupied.
She walked over to the wall that was covered in pictures, and had a look. She noticed there were a lot of pictures of Artie on the wall, pre- and post-accident...more than the rest of his family. She wondered if this was just because he was older, and had therefore been around longer to be in more pictures, or if it had something to do with the fact that his parents had almost lost him. Or maybe it was a mixture of the two.
Either way, she loved the pictures. She looked around, and finally spotted what she instantly knew was her favourite...a picture of four year old Artie cuddling a puppy. For a brief second she mused that she hoped their children would be cute like Artie, before reeling herself in and realizing that maybe she was getting a bit ahead of herself. Did she just think about having Artie's children?
Strangely, this thought did not make her feel as uncomfortable as she thought it might. She was just thinking about how nice it would be to spend forever with him, when he wheeled in with two plates of sandwiches on his lap, along with some fruit.
The sandwich kind of looked like it had been put together with a chainsaw, but Quinn smiled, taking the plate he offered.
She felt guilty when, after taking the first bite, she thought that maybe in the future she should handle the sandwich making, but was not about to say anything to him about it. It was very clear that he had tried, hard. She knew from past discussions that he wasn't really big on sandwiches...he almost never made them, so he was probably just working with what he had.
Which, apparently, included ham, cheese, lettuce, mustard, margarine, mayonnaise, and...relish, maybe? She wasn't quite sure.
"Artie, that was delicious!"
He smiled. "Thanks...I try."
She just smirked at him, taking the apple he offered, and biting into it.
After lunch, they settled back onto the couch to resume their marathon, with Artie's head in Quinn's lap.
At their third break, Artie announced that he had a surprise for her. He left the room, and came back several minutes later with his guitar.
He had prepared the Imperial March for her, on his guitar. He knew it wasn't the most romantic of songs, but he knew she'd like it anyway. Maybe he'd learn some more songs for future Star Wars-themed dates...the possibilities were endless!
She sat quietly, as he started to play. After a couple of bars, she got up, walked over to the piano, and joined in, much to his surprise.
It was a bit rough to begin with, but soon they were playing in perfect harmony.
When the song ended, Artie put down his guitar, and moved over to where she was sitting at the piano.
"You never told me you could play that on the piano! Actually...you never told me you could play the piano, period!"
Quinn smiled.
"I took a few lessons. I used to play, but haven't for a while, and I thought maybe we could start doing some songs together. Actually...I learned that song, so I could surprise you today!"
At that moment, Artie knew they were destined to be together, forever. He wouldn't tell her that, though...that might be kind of creepy.
"I think we should definitely play some songs...we could make beautiful music together."
Artie couldn't believe he had just said that. "Make beautiful music together?" It just sounded so...strange.
Quinn laughed, leaning in to kiss him.
"We already make beautiful music together. It can only get better from here, right?"
God, he loved her.
They decided that they had better get back to their marathon, if they were going to finish.
A late lunch meant a late dinner, so Artie figured they could probably get in most of the remaining movies before they needed to eat again. Quinn didn't have to be home until 11:30, so they still had a lot of time.
Quinn had taken off her sweater at some point, and he noticed she was shivering. He put his arm around her, and grabbed a blanket to throw over both of them. They were so comfortable and cozy, that the next few hours passed very quickly.
Halfway through Return of the Jedi, Artie paused the DVD.
"As comfortable as I am here, I should probably put that lasagna into the oven if we want to eat tonight."
His mom had made them a lasagna and left it in the fridge so all he had to do was place it in the oven. He had announced that he was cooking dinner for Quinn, and she knew him well enough to understand that it might be better if she intervened. She liked Quinn, after all, and didn't want Artie accidentally giving her food poisoning like he had done to his family the last time he cooked, or setting something other than an oven mitt on fire.
She had seen the oven mitt from when he baked cookies in the trash, but didn't mention it to him. She was glad that he was trying new things, and if that meant sacrificing a cheap pair of oven mitts, then so be it.
After Artie returned, they settled back into the cushions and watched the rest of the movie, which ended just as the oven timer started beeping.
"I'll go take that out. Apparently it's supposed to sit for a few minutes before we eat it. I don't know what will happen if it doesn't, but I think we should follow those instructions for safety's sake. I'll make the garlic bread and get the salad ready."
Quinn got up, too.
"I'll set the table while you're doing that. I know where everything is."
Artie reluctantly agreed...cooking dinner for her was supposed to mean she didn't have to do anything, but he could see there was no point in trying to stop her. She was on a table-setting mission.
After the table was set, Quinn excused herself to go to the washroom. When she returned, dinner was all set up on the table. She was wondering how he had managed to get the hot lasagna to the table without burning himself, but she didn't bother asking when she saw the small tray he had leaned up against the table leg.
"Dinner is served, madam," he announced, pulling out her chair for her.
"Thank you, kind sir," Quinn said, as she sat down.
It smelled amazing. And it tasted even better.
Quinn noticed that Artie had attempted to make the salad which clearly came out of a bag a bit more personalized by cutting up a tomato and laying it across the top. Every time she thought he'd reached the peak of adorable, he just did something that made him even more so.
"Artie, dinner was amazing!"
"Thanks...I'll tell my mom," he said, trying not to smile.
"Hey...it takes a huge amount of skill to heat something like this to perfection! I've eaten burned lasagna too many times!"
Artie grinned.
"Maybe one day I'll actually COOK something for you...I've been thinking I should probably get someone to teach me."
"I could teach you. It could be great!"
He looked nervous.
"Quinn, you've experienced my kitchen skills...I might just be a lost cause."
"Good thing I like a challenge then," she said, getting up.
"I'll clear the table, since you cooked."
They cleaned up the kitchen together, before heading back into the living room.
"Artie...it's 11:15. I should probably go if I'm going to be home on time."
"Yeah, you'd better. We want to do this again...I don't want your mom annoyed with the fact that I kept you longer than you were allowed!"
"Will you be alright by yourself? If you want, I could see if I can stay..." Quinn trailed off.
"As much as I would like to say yes to that, I know that the right answer is that you should go home. I'll be fine. I stay by myself pretty regularly. It's no big deal."
"You know...if you had said yes, I would have stayed. Even if it might have pissed my mom off."
"I know. Thank you."
She bent over to give him her customary good night kiss, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap.
"I had a really good time today. See you tomorrow?"
"Of course," she replied.
"Oh...and Quinn..."
"Yes," she asked, looking curious.
"Just so you know, I wore my Star Wars boxers for you today. I just thought you might like to know."
"Artie, that might be one of the sweetest things anyone has said to me, ever."
He grinned, kissed her goodnight, and she was gone.
As Quinn walked away, she grinned at the fact that Artie had just slipped in something about his boxers. Maybe next time she'd have to have a look at them.
A/N: Sorry this is so late...I have been so ridiculously busy, that I haven't had time to get everything together quite how I wanted to.
Also, sorry if it seems a bit rushed. I feel like it is...let me know what you think!
(and yes, for the sake of the story, their day has more hours than a typical day) hahaha
The next journal-inspired oneshot will be Artie's birthday on Wednesday, and I promise that it will be posted in the morning, and not at night like this one!
Thanks everyone for all your reviews on all of my stories...remember, if you have something you'd like to see happen in one of my journals, stories, or elsewhere, you need to let me know!
I am still taking suggestions for Artie's birthday...I will admit that I don't know what's happening for that yet, but if no one gives me a useful idea, I'm just going to wing it, and I'm sure it will be awesome!
Also, for those who also read "Between Your Heart and Mine," be expecting an update by Thursday.
Hope you enjoyed this! Obviously I don't own Star Wars, or Glee.
And, with this, we conclude longest author's note version 3.0.