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helsinkibabyFic for the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fivetimesbb Five Times Baby Bang.
Title: When You Smile, The Whole World Stops and Stares For a While
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
helsinkibaby
Artist:lazarus_girl
Rating: PG
Fandom: Glee
Pairings: Artie/Rachel
Genre: Het, Future AU
Warnings: No warnings apply.
Word Count: 5091
Notes: Many thanks to the wonderfullazarus_girl who did the beautiful art and fanmix for this, and put up with me being indecisive and idiotic!
Summary: Five times Artie was amazed by Rachel
Isn't the banner pretty?lazarus_girl also did a fanmix which can be found HERE
I The First Time
The first time that Artie remembers thinking that Rachel is amazing is when he's backstage at Regionals watching her belt out the song she wrote, "Get It Right," to an enraptured crowd.
For once, it's not her voice that makes him think she's amazing. Nobody gets to be in Glee Club for more than five minutes without knowing that Rachel Berry can sing with a capital S. And besides, if someone did make it that far and didn't know, she'd be sure to tell them.
It's not because of the song itself, even though Artie has to admit it is spectacular. The fact that she could take all her hurt and pain from the whole latest round of the Finn Quinn imbroglio and channel it into something like that... Well, Artie knows he could never do it.
It's not because she stuck to her guns in Glee Club when everyone else rolled their eyes, how she kept on insisting that they should use original songs when no-one else was. It would give them an edge, she had said, and seeing the faces in the crowd, it looks like she was right.
It's not any one of those things.
It's all of them.
All of them and more. Like her utter certainty that she is meant to be a star, that she will get out of Lima, achieve her dreams. The way she seems like she's so sure of herself, so confident, how she says what she thinks, wears what she wants, even if people make fun of her and her gold stars.
It's all those things and more that come into Artie's mind as he watches her, his jaw in severe danger of dropping to the floor because damn, how has he never seen this, seen her like this, before? His throat is dry so he has to swallow hard in an effort to introduce some moisture there because not too long from now, he's going to have to sing and if he screws up this performance, no matter how amazing she was (or perhaps because of it) Rachel will kill him.
So he swallows and he stares and when she gets to the bridge, belts out a glory note that would do Barbra proud, it's no exaggeration to say that every hair on Artie's body stands on end.
They're going to win, he knows it in that moment.
His feelings - both about her and about winning- only get stronger when the whole team perform "Loser Like Me". The audience are on their feet before they're halfway through and he is having a ball. So is Rachel, obviously, because when they do their little set piece where she is all but sitting on his lap, making the L sign against his forehead, her smile is bright enough to light up Broadway. She shimmies in front of him, eyes dancing and alive and he's convinced there's no girl in the world who has ever been as beautiful as she is right here, right now.
He finds out he's wrong later in the music room when they give her an award and she makes a speech that is heartfelt and teary and they all hug her, even Santana. That's the moment when he figures out she's not really as confident, as together, as she appears but the realisation doesn't do anything to dent
Artie's appreciation of her.
If anything, it only makes her more amazing.
>*<*>*<
II Reunion
It's five years after he's graduated from McKinley and Artie is living in New York, studying for a Master's in Film at NYU. He still thinks back fondly of his days in New Directions, still remembers the amazing voice of Rachel Berry and that's much easier to do when she's suddenly staring at him from huge billboards, magazine covers, when her name is literally up in lights on Broadway.
She's the hot new thing and he couldn't be happier for her, knows that this is all she's ever wanted, since even before she signed up for glee club, putting those shiny gold stars beside her name.
Now she's the star.
Not that he goes out of his way to let people know their connection; after all, lots of his film buddies don't know jack about Broadway. Turns out that Jack, his room-mate, though? He's got a girlfriend called Jill. (No, really. He does.) Jill is what people call a theatre geek. Not that there's anything wrong with that, Artie is quick to add, he's known enough of them in his time, but it turns out that when your buddy's girl is raving about your old high school friend/club-mate/sometime crush, it can be a little wearing. Not to mention freaky.
His secret comes out one night when the three of them are in their apartment (flea-pit would be more appropriate) reminiscing about childhood and high school. Artie mentions something about growing up in Lima and Jill instantly recognises it as Rachel Berry's birthplace.
Artie thinks before he speaks. "Yeah, we were in Glee Club together."
Jack laughs, like he thinks Artie is joking; Jill seems to realise right away he's not. "You're kidding me," she says, then her eyes grow wide as she looks at him, looks in particular at his wheelchair like she's seeing it for the first time. "Oh my God, it's you! In that video! With the dancing!" Now it's Jack's turn to frown as Jill grabs for his laptop, calls up YouTube and about five seconds later, Artie is looking at a very young him and a very young Rachel dancing with one another as they and the rest of the New Directions belt out "Don't Stop Believing" at their very first Regionals. He can't help but smile, and for an instant he's a kid again, can remember every moment of that day, that performance, everything he was feeling.
When it's over, he wants to ask them to play it again but when he looks up, they are looking at him like he's a stranger.
It's Jill who speaks first. "This. Is. So. Frickin' COOL!"
It breaks the tension, makes the three of them burst out laughing but when Jill starts insisting that they should go to the show, go to stage door afterwards, Artie shakes his head. It's been years since he's seen Rachel and she's a star and he's totally not and there's no way she wants to see him.
That conversation repeats several times until Jill walks through the door with a grin on her face and three tickets for that night's show in her hand and he doesn't have a choice anymore.
It turns out that after all the hype, all the critics were right The show is amazing, Rachel is spectacular and it's almost, almost, enough to make Artie forget what they're going to do afterwards. Hell, that's a lie. He's not thinking about Stage Door at all during the show, he's not thinking full stop. He's transported to another place, Planet Rachel, just like he was years ago at Regionals when she sang "Get It Right".
The stage door exits on to a brightly lit alley that is jammed five deep with people, so Artie has to stay at the back of the crowd, Jack with him. When Rachel comes out, the whole crowd surges forward and there's enough camera flashes to make Artie's eyes hurt. Jill wisely waits until a lot of the people have gone to make her move and neither Artie nor Jack take their eyes off Jill as she finally gets to Rachel, talks to her, points in their direction. Rachel's eyes follows her pointing finger and for the briefest of instants he's sure she doesn't recognise him, that he's going to be made a fool of. But the second she looks over at him, the second their eyes meet, her jaw drops, the most amazing smile spreads across her face and she proves a woman who's just belted out songs for eight shows a week can still shriek loudly enough to silence half a city block.
Her shriek of his name makes his friends' and strangers' faces go slack with shock, but that's nothing to their reaction when Rachel runs over to him, flings her arms around his neck and ends up, quite purposely, sitting on his lap, just like they're back at Regionals singing "Loser Like Me". She's babbling about how great it is to see him and how she can't believe he's here and how Kurt is going to flip, and it's a while before he gets a word in edgewise.
Somehow though, he doesn't mind at all.
She ends up inviting them to an all night diner with the rest of the cast, where she proceeds to ignore her cast mates and talk to Artie the whole time. Artie would feel guilty but Jill is enjoying herself hugely and if Jill's happy, so is Jack. To his surprise, star or not, she's still the same Rachel, mostly. There's something different about her though; it's like she's more relaxed, more open, the same Rachel but better, Rachel plus. She asks all about what he's doing and she tells him all about the cattle calls she had to go to before she got this job and how amazing it is that she's living her dream. They talk about Glee Club and who they're still in touch with and the memories come thick and fast until before Artie knows it they're doing an acapella version of "Loser Like Me" that has the cast applauding and the management nearly throwing them out but Artie doesn't care.
This is the most fun he's had in ages and when Rachel tells him the same thing as they are leaving, he knows that if such a thing were possible, he'd be walking on air.
>*<*>*<
III Celebrations
The morning that the Tony Nominations are announced, Artie, Kurt and Rachel are all sitting on her couch in her apartment, staring at her cell phone. Kurt is positive that she's going to be nominated, Artie thinks she might be but is scared to say it out loud just in case he jinxes it. And Rachel? Well, in a departure from the Rachel Berry he remembers from McKinley High, she is convinced that the phone is not going to ring under any circumstances and she thinks it's ridiculous that Kurt has made her get up so early and made Artie come over so that they can sit on her couch for nothing.
Yes, she said that.
Many times.
And while some would say (and while most love her, there's enough haters on the internet that indeed would say just this, and have) that it's false modesty, Artie knows better. Because he remembers Rachel from McKinley, the girl who thought she was the next Barbra, who barely had a second's doubt that she would make it, and that's not the Rachel he knows now. Maybe it's time and growing up, maybe it's NYADA, maybe it's the couple of years she spent looking for her big break, but much of that arrogance has been eroded now and a pebble on the shore, what's left is something still recognisable but more polished, better formed, more pleasing.
That metaphor loses something in the thinking, Artie believes, but hey, he had to get up at silly o'clock to make it here, so he can be excused.
This may be the moment that he realises he actually has it bad for Rachel Berry.
Of course, the moment that realisation comes, the phone rings.
Rachel takes one second to check the screen, says, "My agent," as she grabs it and hits the answer button. Then as Artie and Kurt sit still, afraid to move, afraid to hope, it's all nods and "um-hms" and "thank you" and when she hangs up the phone and turns back to them, her face is chalk white and her voice is breathless when she says, "I... got... nominated..."
That's as far as she gets before she bursts into tears and Kurt lets out a whoop and pulls her into a hug that lifts her clear off her feet. She is laughing and crying at the same time when he puts her down and when she leans down to hug Artie, even though she's doing the very definition of "The Ugly Cry" he thinks she's never looked more beautiful.
Rachel just about manages to call her dads before the phone starts ringing again and it's a good thing she does because it never stops all morning. It seems like everyone wants to talk to her, friends old and new, news reporters, tv channels... they all want Rachel and Artie doesn't know how she manages to keep her head together through it all. Mr Schue and Ms Pillsbury send flowers (and they all call her that still, because no matter how many years they've been married, she'll always be Ms Pillsbury to them. Besides, as Kurt so memorably points out, Pillsbury-Schuester is a disease, not a surname. ) There's a quote on the AP from Congressman Bert Hummel, now in his second term, that brings tears to Rachel's eyes and as the weeks go by, the general consensus seems to be that she's a shoo-in to win her first award.
It's the only time Artie can ever remember seeing her nervous.
Her date is Kurt, of course, and it's only partially because he threatened to bring new meaning to the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" if she didn't take him. Artie sits at home with Jack and Jill, a bowl of popcorn on his knee that he munches his way through with alarming speed - turns out Rachel's not the only one who's nervous.
She's due to perform "What I Did For Love" on the show, the same song that brings the house down on Broadway every night. That it does the same in front of a roomful of her peers is no surprise; her performance is nothing short of spectacular and if there are tears in Artie's eyes at its conclusion, he doesn't feel the least bit ashamed.
Rachel is in a tough category and for a first time nominee to win would be extraordinary. He knows for a fact that Rachel's not expecting anything of the sort, and that despite Kurt's optimism they have both been practising their "so happy for you" faces so that they both look their best on the telecast. This means that when Rachel's name is actually called out, the look of shock on both their faces is absolutely genuine.
In an apartment in New York, there is a popcorn rainfall after Artie's whoop of delight sends his bowl flying up into the air. Jack and Jill are screaming right along with him, each hugging him and they only calm down and silence themselves not because of the next door neighbours banging on the wall but because they want to hear Rachel's speech.
Somehow, she manages to make it up on the podium, accepts the statuette with a hug and then she's standing there, laughing and crying and visibly shaken with the first words out of her mouth being, "Oh my God, I can't believe this." There is laughter from the audience at her obvious shock and sincerity as she clasps her free hand to her chest, takes a deep breath and tries to pull herself together. "I'd like to thank Brad, the director, for putting together an amazing show every night....my wonderful family of co-stars who give their all to make this show amazing...the band, the backstage crew, everyone who has anything to do with our show...to the fans who are amazing...everyone at NYADA, especially Carmen Thibideaux, for getting me there and getting me here...William McKinley High Glee Club, everyone from there..." The infamous music begins to play softly and Rachel shoots a death glare behind the scenes. "Don't you dare cut me off, I've been practising for this since I learned to talk! Shelby, Beth...hi, Beth!" She waves into the camera. "Kurt, the best friend and duet partner I could ever have wished for..." The camera cuts to Kurt whose hands are clasped to his chest, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Dads, you always encouraged my dreams...this is for you, I love you both so much..." She holds the award with both hands, almost hugging it. "I love you all!"
If it was anyone else, Artie would be making snide comments about a Sally Field moment. But it's Rachel so he just smiles and if his eyes smart little, he tells himself that the salt from the airborne popcorn is obviously irritating them.
It takes the rest of the ceremony and beyond but they've finally managed to calm down and the cheap champagne is just starting to taste good when their chatter is interrupted by a car horn blaring, getting louder as it gets closer and it finally seems to stop right outside their building. All three go over to the window to see what's going on and to Artie's shock and consternation, there's a limo outside with Kurt Hummel's head and torso, top hat in one hand, cane in the other, poking through the sunroof.
"Artie Abrams, get out here!" Kurt screams to the heavens and that's when the limo door opens and a laughing Rachel Berry literally spills out onto the street. She's clutching her Tony Award like she's never going to get it go (and knowing Rachel, that seems pretty damn likely), still in the dress she wore to the awards (long, red, slinky - Artie won't be getting that image out of his head anytime soon) and shaking her head at Kurt.
"He lives on the ground floor, you doof," she reminds him and Kurt's lip form a comical "O" before his head disappears again.
Rachel, still laughing, turns to the pavement, her laughter stopping and being replaced with the biggest smile Artie's ever seen when she sees she's got an audience. She points to the Tony, mimes an open mouthed scream then takes off at a canter (which is really something, because those red-soled shoes she's in have got to have heels that are six inches high, to say nothing of the poured into it slinky dress) and starts buzzing to be let in.
Jill takes care of that and Artie meets her at the apartment door, still not quite believing that she's here. Her first words to him are of disbelief "Artie, I won!" and he laughs as he reaches up for a hug.
"I saw!" he tells her, going along with the whole stating the obvious thing that they seem to have going. "You were amazing."
"Thank you." It's genuine, and the look of childlike wonder and glee that's on her face is something Artie knows he'll remember for the rest of his life. She accepts hugs and congratulations from Jack and Jill, then looks down at Artie again. "OK, get dressed."
Artie looks down at his jeans and shirt. "I am dressed," he points out and she rolls her eyes.
"Party wear, Artie, party wear!" He frowns, brow furrowing and she looks up to Heaven and shakes her head. "There's a party on at Cyrene's for the cast... and I'm not going without you."
Blinking in surprise, Artie shakes his head. "I don't belong there..." he begins, a phrase that has Jill emitting a strangled squeak from behind him. He's just about to suggest she take Jill when Rachel leans down (Tony still in hand) and grasps the arms of his wheelchair. Her eyes are fiercely determined and the set of her jaw is one that he remembers of old.
"You," she says firmly, "Are coming to this party with me, and I'm not taking no for an answer." A moment's pause, then, softer, "This is my big night, Artie. And I want you to be there. Please?"
She looks like a goddess and to top it all off, she's saying please. There's no way Artie can say no to that, so he doesn't.
>*<*>*<
IV Homecoming
Jack is out on a date with Jill, Rachel and Kurt are back in Lima, so Artie finds himself alone in his apartment in front of YouTube, watching amateur footage of, not a word of a lie, Rachel Berry Day. The high school is festooned with streamers and banners, kids are cheering wildly and a bemused looking Mr Schuester is interviewed for the local news channel to say that Glee Club has never been more popular, as well as singing Rachel's praises. "We always knew she was destined for great things," he says, pride in his eyes, in every syllable. "But this... it's beyond even what I ever imagined for her."
He finds another clip that shows her in an open-topped car, being driven down the main street of the town, crowds lining the street and waving. Her dads behind her, Rachel smiles and waves back but Artie knows her well enough at this stage to see the disbelief behind the smile. There's a clip of Congressman Hummel giving an impassioned speech welcoming her back home, and another of Principal Figgins in the auditorium being slightly less articulate. And then there is Rachel, speaking from the heart, tears rolling down her cheeks and when she says that she can't believe that all these people are here to see her, Artie knows it's the truth.
One clip entitled, rather interestingly, OMGOMGOMGGUH!!!!! catches his eye and to his surprise it's one of Rachel on stage, singing with a student from McKinley. The song is "For Good" from "Wicked" and it's enough to raise the hairs on the back of Artie's neck. The girl with Rachel is Rachel from another lifetime, a big voice and starry eyes, like she can't believe she's singing with her idol and if the description of the video is to be believed, she can't. At the end of the song, Rachel gives her a big hug and the microphone clearly picks her voice up as she tells the girl, "Never give up your dreams... it's so worth it."
Rachel Berry Day, Artie concludes, has been a smashing success.
When his phone rings, he picks it up without checking the number and he's surprised to hear a very familiar voice on the other end. "Hey, Artie, it's me."
"Hey." He leans back in his chair, unable to stop a grin from spreading across his face. "Should I be honoured that Lima's own Rachel Berry is on the phone to me?"
She chuckles, but to Artie's practised ear it sounds a little false. "Don't tell me you've been YouTubing me. I've asked you not to do that."
"Next best thing to being there," he quips. "If it's any consolation I was mostly scanning the crowd to see who I knew."
"Sure." He can almost see her raised eyebrow.
"There were quite a few people there...you got some turnout."
There's a quiet sigh from the other end of the phone. "It's weird," she tells him. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it was great to see everyone again... Finn and Brittany and Santana, Mr Schue... but there were so many people who came up to me, congratulating me... Artie, they acted like they were my best friend and I know for a fact at least five of them slushied me. A lot." She pauses and he can picture her shaking her head. "And now I'm back here in the bedroom I grew up in, and it just seems so..." Her voice trails off. "I don't know." He's silent, letting her speak. "It's just... I was singing with that girl today, and she was me. I mean, right down to the personality; Mr Schue said so! And I'm thinking of how different things are now... I mean, people know my name, they want to know me, there's all these guys who want to ask me out but i dont know if they want to ask me out or ask Rachel Berry out so I've never taken any of them up on it..."
Artie's "Um-hmm" when she pauses is a little more clipped than any tone he has ever used with her; he's quite well aware of how many guys want to date Rachel Berry, has read the gossip columns, had Jill point them out to him. He's so busy thinking of that that he almost misses her next words.
Almost.
"So I was thinking... that I might let you take me out. On a date. Maybe. If you'd like that."
In the pause that follows, he can hear her holding her breath, just like he can hear his heart pounding in his ears. "I would really, really like that," he finally manages in what he thinks might just be the understatement of the century and the breathless laugh he hears from the other end of the phone is somewhere between relief and happiness.
"That would be nice," she says and it's one of the first times he can remember since they met again that he disagrees with something she says.
He's going to make sure it's better than nice.
>*<*>*<
V Graduation
Almost a year since Rachel's triumph at the Tonys, it is Artie's graduation day from NYU and he still has to pinch himself to believe that she's there with him, for him. He's involved in a presentation at the ceremony so he had to get there early to make sure everything was just so. He'd arranged to meet hos parents and Rachel at the same time at the same place; he hadn't expected his parents to insist that they'd collect Rachel and give her a ride over, just like he hadn't expected Rachel to accept the offer. It shouldn't have been that much of a surprise really, after all the three of them get on like a house on fire and he stops in his tracks when he sees them from across the quad. Her face is lit up with a smile as they talk, her hands waving as she chats animatedly with them and his parents are looking at her like she hung the moon. Her hair is, as ever, long and kept back by a headband, her dress white with brown polka dots, a wide belt around her neck; the look that made her a target in high school is now what the media have for the last year taken to describing as "Berry Chic" and is selling out in stores all over the country. Even E's notoriously hard to please Fashion Police can't find anything bad to say about her; well, so says Kurt who is the only one of their group who watches the show religiously. She is a household name now and heads, not just Artie's, turn to look at her, but she doesn't pay any attention, only has eyes for his parents as they talk.
As he watches, a young girl who couldn't be more than thirteen comes to up her, camera in hand, asking for a picture. Rachel smiles, happy to oblige and Artie begins moving over, is close enough to hear the girl ask Rachel what she's doing here. Rachel's smile changes, becomes softer, warmer and Artie can hear her clear as day replying, "My boyfriend is graduating today."
The way she says it, it's the most natural thing in the world and Artie's finally starting to believe that it just might be.
And when Rachel sees Artie, it gets that much easier.
Her smile, which Artie wouldn't have said couldn't get any wider, does exactly that and regardless of his parents standing right beside her, she all but runs over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and sitting down on his lap. Leaning in, she tilts her head towards his, brushes her lips across his before resting her forehead against his. Somewhere a camera flashes, and Artie knows just what the picture will look like; almost a carbon copy of the one that had been taken the night of the Tony Awards party that she'd dragged him to, albeit with a little less distance than there had been that night. That picture had been all over the internet before Artie made it home that night (or morning) along with countless posts and commentary wondering who Rachel Berry's "special friend" was.
Almost a year later, no-one is wondering any more.
Not that it's been easy. Getting a Master's Degree is no walk in the part nor is performing on Broadway, and when juggling a relationship is factored in, they both get that much harder, particularly when oftentimes their schedules are diametrically opposed. They make it work though, have become very good at carving out quality time when it's just the two of them as well as hanging around in a group with their friends. It hasn't been easy, they would both agree on that. But they would agree that it's been worth it.
Still though, he hadn't actually believed until he saw her standing talking to his parents that she would skip a matinee performance to see him graduate, despite her repeated insistences that she wouldn't miss him graduating for the world, that a turn on stage would do her understudy good, despite the fact that Kurt had helped her pick out the perfect outfit and he'd told Artie that he wouldn't see it go to waste.
She knows that too because she swats his shoulder, shaking her head as she does so. "Dope," she says fondly. "How many times do I have to tell you? There is nowhere else I'd rather be."
When she says it like that, with that smile and those eyes, it's easy to believe her, easy to smile. Just like it's easy to smile when he looks down from the dais and sees her standing beside his dad, Dad with his camera held up high, Rachel clapping for all she is worth. As he watches, she puts two fingers in her mouth and gives a piercing whistle that makes his mom's face go slack with shock. It makes Artie laugh and he can't wait to hold her in his arms later on.
Because he's realised that she's giving him the look that he normally gives her when she's performing, which means she's finding him as amazing as he finds her, and if today is the first day of the rest of his life, he can't wait to start it with her.
fivetimesbb Five Times Baby Bang. Title: When You Smile, The Whole World Stops and Stares For a While
Author:
helsinkibabyArtist:
lazarus_girlRating: PG
Fandom: Glee
Pairings: Artie/Rachel
Genre: Het, Future AU
Warnings: No warnings apply.
Word Count: 5091
Notes: Many thanks to the wonderful
lazarus_girl who did the beautiful art and fanmix for this, and put up with me being indecisive and idiotic!Summary: Five times Artie was amazed by Rachel
Isn't the banner pretty?
lazarus_girl also did a fanmix which can be found HEREI The First Time
The first time that Artie remembers thinking that Rachel is amazing is when he's backstage at Regionals watching her belt out the song she wrote, "Get It Right," to an enraptured crowd.
For once, it's not her voice that makes him think she's amazing. Nobody gets to be in Glee Club for more than five minutes without knowing that Rachel Berry can sing with a capital S. And besides, if someone did make it that far and didn't know, she'd be sure to tell them.
It's not because of the song itself, even though Artie has to admit it is spectacular. The fact that she could take all her hurt and pain from the whole latest round of the Finn Quinn imbroglio and channel it into something like that... Well, Artie knows he could never do it.
It's not because she stuck to her guns in Glee Club when everyone else rolled their eyes, how she kept on insisting that they should use original songs when no-one else was. It would give them an edge, she had said, and seeing the faces in the crowd, it looks like she was right.
It's not any one of those things.
It's all of them.
All of them and more. Like her utter certainty that she is meant to be a star, that she will get out of Lima, achieve her dreams. The way she seems like she's so sure of herself, so confident, how she says what she thinks, wears what she wants, even if people make fun of her and her gold stars.
It's all those things and more that come into Artie's mind as he watches her, his jaw in severe danger of dropping to the floor because damn, how has he never seen this, seen her like this, before? His throat is dry so he has to swallow hard in an effort to introduce some moisture there because not too long from now, he's going to have to sing and if he screws up this performance, no matter how amazing she was (or perhaps because of it) Rachel will kill him.
So he swallows and he stares and when she gets to the bridge, belts out a glory note that would do Barbra proud, it's no exaggeration to say that every hair on Artie's body stands on end.
They're going to win, he knows it in that moment.
His feelings - both about her and about winning- only get stronger when the whole team perform "Loser Like Me". The audience are on their feet before they're halfway through and he is having a ball. So is Rachel, obviously, because when they do their little set piece where she is all but sitting on his lap, making the L sign against his forehead, her smile is bright enough to light up Broadway. She shimmies in front of him, eyes dancing and alive and he's convinced there's no girl in the world who has ever been as beautiful as she is right here, right now.
He finds out he's wrong later in the music room when they give her an award and she makes a speech that is heartfelt and teary and they all hug her, even Santana. That's the moment when he figures out she's not really as confident, as together, as she appears but the realisation doesn't do anything to dent
Artie's appreciation of her.
If anything, it only makes her more amazing.
>*<*>*<
II Reunion
It's five years after he's graduated from McKinley and Artie is living in New York, studying for a Master's in Film at NYU. He still thinks back fondly of his days in New Directions, still remembers the amazing voice of Rachel Berry and that's much easier to do when she's suddenly staring at him from huge billboards, magazine covers, when her name is literally up in lights on Broadway.
She's the hot new thing and he couldn't be happier for her, knows that this is all she's ever wanted, since even before she signed up for glee club, putting those shiny gold stars beside her name.
Now she's the star.
Not that he goes out of his way to let people know their connection; after all, lots of his film buddies don't know jack about Broadway. Turns out that Jack, his room-mate, though? He's got a girlfriend called Jill. (No, really. He does.) Jill is what people call a theatre geek. Not that there's anything wrong with that, Artie is quick to add, he's known enough of them in his time, but it turns out that when your buddy's girl is raving about your old high school friend/club-mate/sometime crush, it can be a little wearing. Not to mention freaky.
His secret comes out one night when the three of them are in their apartment (flea-pit would be more appropriate) reminiscing about childhood and high school. Artie mentions something about growing up in Lima and Jill instantly recognises it as Rachel Berry's birthplace.
Artie thinks before he speaks. "Yeah, we were in Glee Club together."
Jack laughs, like he thinks Artie is joking; Jill seems to realise right away he's not. "You're kidding me," she says, then her eyes grow wide as she looks at him, looks in particular at his wheelchair like she's seeing it for the first time. "Oh my God, it's you! In that video! With the dancing!" Now it's Jack's turn to frown as Jill grabs for his laptop, calls up YouTube and about five seconds later, Artie is looking at a very young him and a very young Rachel dancing with one another as they and the rest of the New Directions belt out "Don't Stop Believing" at their very first Regionals. He can't help but smile, and for an instant he's a kid again, can remember every moment of that day, that performance, everything he was feeling.
When it's over, he wants to ask them to play it again but when he looks up, they are looking at him like he's a stranger.
It's Jill who speaks first. "This. Is. So. Frickin' COOL!"
It breaks the tension, makes the three of them burst out laughing but when Jill starts insisting that they should go to the show, go to stage door afterwards, Artie shakes his head. It's been years since he's seen Rachel and she's a star and he's totally not and there's no way she wants to see him.
That conversation repeats several times until Jill walks through the door with a grin on her face and three tickets for that night's show in her hand and he doesn't have a choice anymore.
It turns out that after all the hype, all the critics were right The show is amazing, Rachel is spectacular and it's almost, almost, enough to make Artie forget what they're going to do afterwards. Hell, that's a lie. He's not thinking about Stage Door at all during the show, he's not thinking full stop. He's transported to another place, Planet Rachel, just like he was years ago at Regionals when she sang "Get It Right".
The stage door exits on to a brightly lit alley that is jammed five deep with people, so Artie has to stay at the back of the crowd, Jack with him. When Rachel comes out, the whole crowd surges forward and there's enough camera flashes to make Artie's eyes hurt. Jill wisely waits until a lot of the people have gone to make her move and neither Artie nor Jack take their eyes off Jill as she finally gets to Rachel, talks to her, points in their direction. Rachel's eyes follows her pointing finger and for the briefest of instants he's sure she doesn't recognise him, that he's going to be made a fool of. But the second she looks over at him, the second their eyes meet, her jaw drops, the most amazing smile spreads across her face and she proves a woman who's just belted out songs for eight shows a week can still shriek loudly enough to silence half a city block.
Her shriek of his name makes his friends' and strangers' faces go slack with shock, but that's nothing to their reaction when Rachel runs over to him, flings her arms around his neck and ends up, quite purposely, sitting on his lap, just like they're back at Regionals singing "Loser Like Me". She's babbling about how great it is to see him and how she can't believe he's here and how Kurt is going to flip, and it's a while before he gets a word in edgewise.
Somehow though, he doesn't mind at all.
She ends up inviting them to an all night diner with the rest of the cast, where she proceeds to ignore her cast mates and talk to Artie the whole time. Artie would feel guilty but Jill is enjoying herself hugely and if Jill's happy, so is Jack. To his surprise, star or not, she's still the same Rachel, mostly. There's something different about her though; it's like she's more relaxed, more open, the same Rachel but better, Rachel plus. She asks all about what he's doing and she tells him all about the cattle calls she had to go to before she got this job and how amazing it is that she's living her dream. They talk about Glee Club and who they're still in touch with and the memories come thick and fast until before Artie knows it they're doing an acapella version of "Loser Like Me" that has the cast applauding and the management nearly throwing them out but Artie doesn't care.
This is the most fun he's had in ages and when Rachel tells him the same thing as they are leaving, he knows that if such a thing were possible, he'd be walking on air.
>*<*>*<
III Celebrations
The morning that the Tony Nominations are announced, Artie, Kurt and Rachel are all sitting on her couch in her apartment, staring at her cell phone. Kurt is positive that she's going to be nominated, Artie thinks she might be but is scared to say it out loud just in case he jinxes it. And Rachel? Well, in a departure from the Rachel Berry he remembers from McKinley High, she is convinced that the phone is not going to ring under any circumstances and she thinks it's ridiculous that Kurt has made her get up so early and made Artie come over so that they can sit on her couch for nothing.
Yes, she said that.
Many times.
And while some would say (and while most love her, there's enough haters on the internet that indeed would say just this, and have) that it's false modesty, Artie knows better. Because he remembers Rachel from McKinley, the girl who thought she was the next Barbra, who barely had a second's doubt that she would make it, and that's not the Rachel he knows now. Maybe it's time and growing up, maybe it's NYADA, maybe it's the couple of years she spent looking for her big break, but much of that arrogance has been eroded now and a pebble on the shore, what's left is something still recognisable but more polished, better formed, more pleasing.
That metaphor loses something in the thinking, Artie believes, but hey, he had to get up at silly o'clock to make it here, so he can be excused.
This may be the moment that he realises he actually has it bad for Rachel Berry.
Of course, the moment that realisation comes, the phone rings.
Rachel takes one second to check the screen, says, "My agent," as she grabs it and hits the answer button. Then as Artie and Kurt sit still, afraid to move, afraid to hope, it's all nods and "um-hms" and "thank you" and when she hangs up the phone and turns back to them, her face is chalk white and her voice is breathless when she says, "I... got... nominated..."
That's as far as she gets before she bursts into tears and Kurt lets out a whoop and pulls her into a hug that lifts her clear off her feet. She is laughing and crying at the same time when he puts her down and when she leans down to hug Artie, even though she's doing the very definition of "The Ugly Cry" he thinks she's never looked more beautiful.
Rachel just about manages to call her dads before the phone starts ringing again and it's a good thing she does because it never stops all morning. It seems like everyone wants to talk to her, friends old and new, news reporters, tv channels... they all want Rachel and Artie doesn't know how she manages to keep her head together through it all. Mr Schue and Ms Pillsbury send flowers (and they all call her that still, because no matter how many years they've been married, she'll always be Ms Pillsbury to them. Besides, as Kurt so memorably points out, Pillsbury-Schuester is a disease, not a surname. ) There's a quote on the AP from Congressman Bert Hummel, now in his second term, that brings tears to Rachel's eyes and as the weeks go by, the general consensus seems to be that she's a shoo-in to win her first award.
It's the only time Artie can ever remember seeing her nervous.
Her date is Kurt, of course, and it's only partially because he threatened to bring new meaning to the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" if she didn't take him. Artie sits at home with Jack and Jill, a bowl of popcorn on his knee that he munches his way through with alarming speed - turns out Rachel's not the only one who's nervous.
She's due to perform "What I Did For Love" on the show, the same song that brings the house down on Broadway every night. That it does the same in front of a roomful of her peers is no surprise; her performance is nothing short of spectacular and if there are tears in Artie's eyes at its conclusion, he doesn't feel the least bit ashamed.
Rachel is in a tough category and for a first time nominee to win would be extraordinary. He knows for a fact that Rachel's not expecting anything of the sort, and that despite Kurt's optimism they have both been practising their "so happy for you" faces so that they both look their best on the telecast. This means that when Rachel's name is actually called out, the look of shock on both their faces is absolutely genuine.
In an apartment in New York, there is a popcorn rainfall after Artie's whoop of delight sends his bowl flying up into the air. Jack and Jill are screaming right along with him, each hugging him and they only calm down and silence themselves not because of the next door neighbours banging on the wall but because they want to hear Rachel's speech.
Somehow, she manages to make it up on the podium, accepts the statuette with a hug and then she's standing there, laughing and crying and visibly shaken with the first words out of her mouth being, "Oh my God, I can't believe this." There is laughter from the audience at her obvious shock and sincerity as she clasps her free hand to her chest, takes a deep breath and tries to pull herself together. "I'd like to thank Brad, the director, for putting together an amazing show every night....my wonderful family of co-stars who give their all to make this show amazing...the band, the backstage crew, everyone who has anything to do with our show...to the fans who are amazing...everyone at NYADA, especially Carmen Thibideaux, for getting me there and getting me here...William McKinley High Glee Club, everyone from there..." The infamous music begins to play softly and Rachel shoots a death glare behind the scenes. "Don't you dare cut me off, I've been practising for this since I learned to talk! Shelby, Beth...hi, Beth!" She waves into the camera. "Kurt, the best friend and duet partner I could ever have wished for..." The camera cuts to Kurt whose hands are clasped to his chest, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Dads, you always encouraged my dreams...this is for you, I love you both so much..." She holds the award with both hands, almost hugging it. "I love you all!"
If it was anyone else, Artie would be making snide comments about a Sally Field moment. But it's Rachel so he just smiles and if his eyes smart little, he tells himself that the salt from the airborne popcorn is obviously irritating them.
It takes the rest of the ceremony and beyond but they've finally managed to calm down and the cheap champagne is just starting to taste good when their chatter is interrupted by a car horn blaring, getting louder as it gets closer and it finally seems to stop right outside their building. All three go over to the window to see what's going on and to Artie's shock and consternation, there's a limo outside with Kurt Hummel's head and torso, top hat in one hand, cane in the other, poking through the sunroof.
"Artie Abrams, get out here!" Kurt screams to the heavens and that's when the limo door opens and a laughing Rachel Berry literally spills out onto the street. She's clutching her Tony Award like she's never going to get it go (and knowing Rachel, that seems pretty damn likely), still in the dress she wore to the awards (long, red, slinky - Artie won't be getting that image out of his head anytime soon) and shaking her head at Kurt.
"He lives on the ground floor, you doof," she reminds him and Kurt's lip form a comical "O" before his head disappears again.
Rachel, still laughing, turns to the pavement, her laughter stopping and being replaced with the biggest smile Artie's ever seen when she sees she's got an audience. She points to the Tony, mimes an open mouthed scream then takes off at a canter (which is really something, because those red-soled shoes she's in have got to have heels that are six inches high, to say nothing of the poured into it slinky dress) and starts buzzing to be let in.
Jill takes care of that and Artie meets her at the apartment door, still not quite believing that she's here. Her first words to him are of disbelief "Artie, I won!" and he laughs as he reaches up for a hug.
"I saw!" he tells her, going along with the whole stating the obvious thing that they seem to have going. "You were amazing."
"Thank you." It's genuine, and the look of childlike wonder and glee that's on her face is something Artie knows he'll remember for the rest of his life. She accepts hugs and congratulations from Jack and Jill, then looks down at Artie again. "OK, get dressed."
Artie looks down at his jeans and shirt. "I am dressed," he points out and she rolls her eyes.
"Party wear, Artie, party wear!" He frowns, brow furrowing and she looks up to Heaven and shakes her head. "There's a party on at Cyrene's for the cast... and I'm not going without you."
Blinking in surprise, Artie shakes his head. "I don't belong there..." he begins, a phrase that has Jill emitting a strangled squeak from behind him. He's just about to suggest she take Jill when Rachel leans down (Tony still in hand) and grasps the arms of his wheelchair. Her eyes are fiercely determined and the set of her jaw is one that he remembers of old.
"You," she says firmly, "Are coming to this party with me, and I'm not taking no for an answer." A moment's pause, then, softer, "This is my big night, Artie. And I want you to be there. Please?"
She looks like a goddess and to top it all off, she's saying please. There's no way Artie can say no to that, so he doesn't.
>*<*>*<
IV Homecoming
Jack is out on a date with Jill, Rachel and Kurt are back in Lima, so Artie finds himself alone in his apartment in front of YouTube, watching amateur footage of, not a word of a lie, Rachel Berry Day. The high school is festooned with streamers and banners, kids are cheering wildly and a bemused looking Mr Schuester is interviewed for the local news channel to say that Glee Club has never been more popular, as well as singing Rachel's praises. "We always knew she was destined for great things," he says, pride in his eyes, in every syllable. "But this... it's beyond even what I ever imagined for her."
He finds another clip that shows her in an open-topped car, being driven down the main street of the town, crowds lining the street and waving. Her dads behind her, Rachel smiles and waves back but Artie knows her well enough at this stage to see the disbelief behind the smile. There's a clip of Congressman Hummel giving an impassioned speech welcoming her back home, and another of Principal Figgins in the auditorium being slightly less articulate. And then there is Rachel, speaking from the heart, tears rolling down her cheeks and when she says that she can't believe that all these people are here to see her, Artie knows it's the truth.
One clip entitled, rather interestingly, OMGOMGOMGGUH!!!!! catches his eye and to his surprise it's one of Rachel on stage, singing with a student from McKinley. The song is "For Good" from "Wicked" and it's enough to raise the hairs on the back of Artie's neck. The girl with Rachel is Rachel from another lifetime, a big voice and starry eyes, like she can't believe she's singing with her idol and if the description of the video is to be believed, she can't. At the end of the song, Rachel gives her a big hug and the microphone clearly picks her voice up as she tells the girl, "Never give up your dreams... it's so worth it."
Rachel Berry Day, Artie concludes, has been a smashing success.
When his phone rings, he picks it up without checking the number and he's surprised to hear a very familiar voice on the other end. "Hey, Artie, it's me."
"Hey." He leans back in his chair, unable to stop a grin from spreading across his face. "Should I be honoured that Lima's own Rachel Berry is on the phone to me?"
She chuckles, but to Artie's practised ear it sounds a little false. "Don't tell me you've been YouTubing me. I've asked you not to do that."
"Next best thing to being there," he quips. "If it's any consolation I was mostly scanning the crowd to see who I knew."
"Sure." He can almost see her raised eyebrow.
"There were quite a few people there...you got some turnout."
There's a quiet sigh from the other end of the phone. "It's weird," she tells him. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it was great to see everyone again... Finn and Brittany and Santana, Mr Schue... but there were so many people who came up to me, congratulating me... Artie, they acted like they were my best friend and I know for a fact at least five of them slushied me. A lot." She pauses and he can picture her shaking her head. "And now I'm back here in the bedroom I grew up in, and it just seems so..." Her voice trails off. "I don't know." He's silent, letting her speak. "It's just... I was singing with that girl today, and she was me. I mean, right down to the personality; Mr Schue said so! And I'm thinking of how different things are now... I mean, people know my name, they want to know me, there's all these guys who want to ask me out but i dont know if they want to ask me out or ask Rachel Berry out so I've never taken any of them up on it..."
Artie's "Um-hmm" when she pauses is a little more clipped than any tone he has ever used with her; he's quite well aware of how many guys want to date Rachel Berry, has read the gossip columns, had Jill point them out to him. He's so busy thinking of that that he almost misses her next words.
Almost.
"So I was thinking... that I might let you take me out. On a date. Maybe. If you'd like that."
In the pause that follows, he can hear her holding her breath, just like he can hear his heart pounding in his ears. "I would really, really like that," he finally manages in what he thinks might just be the understatement of the century and the breathless laugh he hears from the other end of the phone is somewhere between relief and happiness.
"That would be nice," she says and it's one of the first times he can remember since they met again that he disagrees with something she says.
He's going to make sure it's better than nice.
>*<*>*<
V Graduation
Almost a year since Rachel's triumph at the Tonys, it is Artie's graduation day from NYU and he still has to pinch himself to believe that she's there with him, for him. He's involved in a presentation at the ceremony so he had to get there early to make sure everything was just so. He'd arranged to meet hos parents and Rachel at the same time at the same place; he hadn't expected his parents to insist that they'd collect Rachel and give her a ride over, just like he hadn't expected Rachel to accept the offer. It shouldn't have been that much of a surprise really, after all the three of them get on like a house on fire and he stops in his tracks when he sees them from across the quad. Her face is lit up with a smile as they talk, her hands waving as she chats animatedly with them and his parents are looking at her like she hung the moon. Her hair is, as ever, long and kept back by a headband, her dress white with brown polka dots, a wide belt around her neck; the look that made her a target in high school is now what the media have for the last year taken to describing as "Berry Chic" and is selling out in stores all over the country. Even E's notoriously hard to please Fashion Police can't find anything bad to say about her; well, so says Kurt who is the only one of their group who watches the show religiously. She is a household name now and heads, not just Artie's, turn to look at her, but she doesn't pay any attention, only has eyes for his parents as they talk.
As he watches, a young girl who couldn't be more than thirteen comes to up her, camera in hand, asking for a picture. Rachel smiles, happy to oblige and Artie begins moving over, is close enough to hear the girl ask Rachel what she's doing here. Rachel's smile changes, becomes softer, warmer and Artie can hear her clear as day replying, "My boyfriend is graduating today."
The way she says it, it's the most natural thing in the world and Artie's finally starting to believe that it just might be.
And when Rachel sees Artie, it gets that much easier.
Her smile, which Artie wouldn't have said couldn't get any wider, does exactly that and regardless of his parents standing right beside her, she all but runs over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and sitting down on his lap. Leaning in, she tilts her head towards his, brushes her lips across his before resting her forehead against his. Somewhere a camera flashes, and Artie knows just what the picture will look like; almost a carbon copy of the one that had been taken the night of the Tony Awards party that she'd dragged him to, albeit with a little less distance than there had been that night. That picture had been all over the internet before Artie made it home that night (or morning) along with countless posts and commentary wondering who Rachel Berry's "special friend" was.
Almost a year later, no-one is wondering any more.
Not that it's been easy. Getting a Master's Degree is no walk in the part nor is performing on Broadway, and when juggling a relationship is factored in, they both get that much harder, particularly when oftentimes their schedules are diametrically opposed. They make it work though, have become very good at carving out quality time when it's just the two of them as well as hanging around in a group with their friends. It hasn't been easy, they would both agree on that. But they would agree that it's been worth it.
Still though, he hadn't actually believed until he saw her standing talking to his parents that she would skip a matinee performance to see him graduate, despite her repeated insistences that she wouldn't miss him graduating for the world, that a turn on stage would do her understudy good, despite the fact that Kurt had helped her pick out the perfect outfit and he'd told Artie that he wouldn't see it go to waste.
She knows that too because she swats his shoulder, shaking her head as she does so. "Dope," she says fondly. "How many times do I have to tell you? There is nowhere else I'd rather be."
When she says it like that, with that smile and those eyes, it's easy to believe her, easy to smile. Just like it's easy to smile when he looks down from the dais and sees her standing beside his dad, Dad with his camera held up high, Rachel clapping for all she is worth. As he watches, she puts two fingers in her mouth and gives a piercing whistle that makes his mom's face go slack with shock. It makes Artie laugh and he can't wait to hold her in his arms later on.
Because he's realised that she's giving him the look that he normally gives her when she's performing, which means she's finding him as amazing as he finds her, and if today is the first day of the rest of his life, he can't wait to start it with her.
