Artie took me to Breadstix to talk about us and the baby.  "I'm really sorry about ignoring you, Jamie, I thought you and Puck were still together when it happened." Artie said.  "It's okay I should have told you that we weren't.  I just don't know how I'm supposed to tell my mom, I mean I'm growing another human inside of my body."  I put my head in my hands.  I was getting worked up over nothing.  

He reached across the table to grab my hand.  "It's gonna be okay, I promise.  If your parents kick you out you can always stay with me and my mom, and we have more than enough money to support the baby," he said reassuringly.  He took a bread stick from the basket and bopped me on the nose saying "Let's just enjoy now and pick out some baby names.  I was thinking Bartholomew for a boy and Rosacea  for a girl."  "Ew, and that's a skin disease."  He laughed and looked at me lovingly.  "What?" I asked.  "Nothing," Artie started, "You're just really pretty, and the mother of my child, and I love you."  

He said it.

He said he loved me.

That was the first time anybody had said that to me.  Puck and I dated for 2 years, and not once did he ever say that to me.  

"I love you too, Artie." I said, and I meant it.  He smiled and looked down at his legs.  His smile faded quickly.  "Why me?" he asked sadly.  "What do you mean?" "Why did you choose me over Puck?"  I looked down knowing what i was about to say.  "Artie, he hit me. A lot.  He would try to have sex with me, and when I told him no he would hit me.  Never hard enough to bruise, but always hard enough to tell me I was in the wrong.  And I thought I was, for a long time.  And I had no one to turn to. That's where glee club came in.  You smiled the whole time I sang about it.  Nobody caught on thankfully, but I got a good punch after school that day.  I knew from then on that you were my best friend.  And you are, Artie, you saved my life."  Tears were falling out of my eyes.  

Artie paid for dinner despite my many attempts to split the check.  We decided to walk to the park, which ended with me on his lap rolling there, which was much better.  We stopped at our favorite spot by a weeping willow.  I helped him out of his wheelchair.  We lay there with our hands violently close to each other's, looking at the stars.  He did this thing where he would find a star that was not as bright as the others, and he would sing to it.  He sings to the ones who aren't appreciated as much as the others.  I loved that about him.  I looked for a while and found the perfect star.  I quietly sang "You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen.

He turned to look at me and rested his head in his hand. I did the same and was singing to him now.  He looked towards my baby bump and sang to it.  It wasn't noticeable yet, but in no time it would be huge.  He sang softly to our baby and smiled when he finished.  He's gonna make such a good father.  We snuggled up and told stories about when we were young.  I told him about the time when I was 11 and I broke my arm climbing on a bunk bed ladder.  I told him that it was the reason I was so careful around ledges and stairs.  We laughed at each other before we were facing each other.  He looked into my eyes and told me that I was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.  I told him that he was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.  He laughed and stroked my cheek.  Then he just leaned in and kissed me.  

It wasn't like when he kissed me before.  This kiss was full of love, and passion, and fireworks.  It was the kiss that let me know that he was the one.  He was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.  He was wearing his Letterman jacket, and I was wearing a tank top for some reason.  I guess he felt me shiver because he took off his jacket and draped it over the both of us. He hummed my favorite song to me, Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.  We both fell asleep in the others arms.  

I woke up before he did.  He looked so peaceful when he was asleep.  He looked like nothing in the world was wrong.  Like nothing could hurt him.  I watched him sleep for a while longer before kissing his nose to wake him up.  It was just barely daylight.  "Hi." was all he said.  He pulled me closer to him and closed his eyes again.   I ran my hand through his hair, getting it out of his eyes.  He smiled before checking his phone.  "Oh no, we have an hour before we need to be at school.  Help me in my chair we gotta get you home."  I laughed at how deep his voice was in the morning.  I loved it.

We made it to my house in time, and he borrowed a pair of men's sweatpants that I wear when i workout.  He also borrowed my Nirvana t-shirt.  I put on a pale yellow sundress and a light brown cardigan and my combat boots before we walked to school.  Today was the day that he made a confession to Glee club.