Let Me Suffer, Please

I am deeply in love with the Tina/Artie ship on Glee. I felt the need to add another story to their ships on FanFiction since I feel like there isn't enough. I hope to at least inspire one of you to contribute a story to them. Please Review. It definitely motivates me! Thanks!

Chapter One

Tina let a breathe escape from her lips. She hadn't realized how her mouth had been clenched so tightly and that blood was soaking onto her tongue from biting on her lip so hard. A blue strand of hair fell forward onto the front of her face as her back relaxed and her vertebrae began to stretch once more as she leaned forward with her head touching her knees. She let go of the object that was in her right hand and wrapped her arms around her knees. She breathed in. She breathed out.

She closed her eyes and willed her mind to go blank. But she couldn't, she could still remember the events of what had taken place earlier in the day. A C on the latest French Test she received today, her Asian father and tight-lipped step-mother wouldn't be pleased. A few of the Cheerio's had mocked her stutter once more. Her parents wouldn't care about that. "Just suck it up," they said. And so she sucked in her words and bit her lip once more.

And then there was Arty. She had only left his side for a few moments to grab some books at her locker. And when she returned, he was duck taped to the flagpole. It would've been something they could've dealt with silently before. It wasn't the first time, after all, but this time it was different. The jocks were still standing around him, laughing, and he had this helpless look on his face.

At first she had felt pity, but then frustration and anger. She couldn't take it any longer so in her red, plaid combat boots she marched up to Puck and his fellow jocks.

"S-s-s-stop it! This isn't c-c-c-cool. L-l-l-let him go!"

Puck turned toward her and put his hands against his cheeks in his coined "home-alone" look and began to mock Tina, "O-o-o-or w-w-w-what f-f-f-freak? Gonna call Mr. Shu? Psh, no."

That's when he shoved her. Men don't shove girls, only fathers. Her books went flying across the concrete and she fell on her back hard. She could remember a time exactly like this when she had fallen on the spotless black and white tile in the kitchen, narrowly missing the stove after finding out that she hadn't made National Merit Scholar. Tina closed her eyes and willed Puck and his fuckers to go away. She lay perfectly still and felt the heat of the sun silently fall on her face warming up her cheeks.

"Tina, you okay?"

Tina knew that voice. If there was any voice that she could claim to know perfectly, it was that one. Arty. Tina became conscious again and quickly got up and brushed off the dead skin that had been created from her fall and was now on her knees. She picked up her books briskly and then walked over to help Arty.

"I'm f-f-f-fine. Y-y-you?" Tina began to rip at the duct tape that was surrounding Arty's right wheel.

"Yeah, thanks." He looked at her thankfully, though Tina missed it since she was focused on getting the duct tape off of his wheel. Tina felt so pathetic at times like these. What could she do against guys who were twice her size and could bench press her easily? She was nothing compared to them. Tina just bit her lip harder and winced slightly at the pain. As much as it began to hurt after a while, it felt glorious. If she couldn't beat up the guys that violated Arty so often, then she could hurt herself.

Maybe if she hurt for Arty, then Arty would hurt less. That was logical, right?

She freed Arty from the binds of the duct tape and went to go take her usual place, wheeling him around. It was comfortable, normal, she felt safe there. Not for the fact that she was basically controlling the direction that Arty would go forward, but just because she was with Arty. Like the handles were an extension of himself and that he was the one holding her hand. Both of them, not just one like a regular couple. But was firmly with her.

She pushed him to the corner of 84th and Broadmore. This was where they parted everyday. He to the left and her to the right.

She opened her eyes and found herself staring at her knees in her room in the dark. At first she couldn't believe it, that scene had been so vivid and real (well, it was, it happened today after all). She lid her knees down and then laid back. She was fully spread down on her blue bedspread. She looked around the room and spotted her cream colored walls that held the various rock posters of bands she listened to for no end. The latest one she had started to listen to zealously was Paramore. She knew it was pretty mainstream, but it wasn't until this latest album had she really started to listen. How the lyrics related to her so much in life and, frankly, she and Hayley both had a think for dying their hair.

She twisted around and grabbed the object and put it on her nightstand. No need to keep it secretive. Her parents never went into her room. But for safety she stuck it between the pages of her Glee Binder. Pages full of tomorrow's songs and yesterday's performances. She fell back down and closed her eyes.

Time to believe in dreams.

Tina awoke to the sound of knock on her door. She glanced at the clock, winced with dread, and quickly got up.

"Young lady, your five minutes off schedule. Time to get ready now!"

She flew in a haze to the shower to her room. She dressed in a pair of regular blue jeans and pulled over a black tank and then her black sweatshirt. She felt a sharp stab at her stomach as she reached for her shoes on her desk but she paid it no mind. Less pain for Arty.

She raced out the door, narrowly forgetting her Glee Binder. Her backpack would slide down her shoulders as she raced to the corner to meet up with Arty. She saw him check his watch punctually, this was Arty, they kid who ironed his shirts and still stuck them in his pants. She wasn't one to talk when she didn't have to. She just ran faster.

"Took you long enough," Arty smiled at her mischievously. He knew that she had once again managed to over sleep. He waited a minute for her to catch her breathe and then began wheeling himself down the street with Tina walking right beside him. They walked in silence and they parted when Tina had to head into French while he turned to Graphic Design. This was usual.

Tina spent the day with her head in the clouds. Lately she couldn't help but come up with situations where it seemed as if Disney had taken over. Dream sequences of Arty walking, she not stuttering, and they were dancing. Typical Disney crap-ola.

Days at school had always been a blur. A time for Tina to escape to a dream world where she didn't have to really concentrate. Didn't have to face her parents. She met other demons, sure, like Puck and his gang. But that didn't really matter, because she just enjoyed spending time with Arty. And then there was always Glee Club.

She only signed up because Arty wanted to do it. And Tina needed a reason to stay at school than to go home everyday. Plus she wasn't one to turn down a reason to spend time with Arty. She rushed to her locker after school so she could meet him at his last class so she would be the one to walk beside him to Glee Club.

However, today, that wasn't what really happened…

Mrs. Markin kept Tina behind at the end of her last class, Calculus I, in order to discuss her college applications. Tina had heard this whole spiel before, "You're a good student, Tina, and I was concerned about your future at college. Many of the other students have already had their first pick since Freshmen Year. Do you need help at all choosing? I went to (Insert Preppy College Name Here) and I would love to put in a word for you…"

"No, t-t-thank you." Tina smiled courteously and then walked away from her Professor. She just wanted to get out and not listen to this crap anymore. Frankly, Tina wasn't sure where she wanted to go. She knew what she didn't like, but she had yet to discover what she loved. And if she wasn't sure of that, then what was the point? Waste time? Hell no.

Tina threaded her fingers through her hair and began to twist a blue streak with her pointer finger. She bit her lip and walked to her locker. She opened it smoothly and then reached for her other books and such. She was about to stick her Glee Binder into her black backpack until she trembled and lost her steady breathing.

"Tina! You ready for Glee?" Arty spoke to Tina with a bright smile.

Tina dropped her Binder on the ground and turned around to Arty to smile. She was looking straight at him, but noticed that his eyes weren't meeting hers. She traced his pattern of sight and looked to the floor. He was looking at something silver, shiny, and sharp. Tina picked it up quickly with her right hand. Shaking slightly because of fear but offered no words to Arty.

"Tina…?"Arty questioned.

Tina zipped up her backpack urgently. Nodded her head towards him to signal a quick good-bye and then walked speedily towards the front doors. She walked briskly out of the front doors and once she was a block away from the school she began to run home. It was awfully bright out, and any other day she would've smiled and felt peaceful. But now she just wanted to burn in pain.

Tina went straight home. Her step-mother questioned her being home so early, with Glee and all, but Tina quickly replied, "C-c-college apps" and was then out of the line of questions.

She went up to her room and closed the door silently. She slid down it and began to cry. She cried for herself and she cried for Arty.