"Come on Santana, just one more time. " Finn begged. " Please. " He added, elongating the E sound in the middle as long as possible. He knew it was beginning to sound pathetic, but he didn't care. He would've groveled if it meant she'd agreed to another round. The last one was awesome, he definitely wanted more.
"Dammit Hudson ! You've been riding my ass for hours, aren't you satisfied yet ? " The Latina groaned closing her eyes, exasperation in her voice.
Fuck. It really did look like he would have to use the technique, embarrassing as it was. But hey, it had always worked on his mother growing up. Sure this was a completely different situation, and some might say, using it on Santana now was a bit creepy. But like he said, he was desperate.
So he did it. Finn Hudson 6 foot 3 inch soon to be 18 year old male got on his knees clapped his hands together in prayer position and gave his best impression of a rather disturbing puppy dog.
It was too late now he thought when his brain caught up with his body and the sense of dread and embarrassment spread through him. Maybe it wasn't as cute as he remembered it being. He just hoped Santana didn't have the mind to pull out her phone to start taking pictures.
" You know I'm smarter than that right ? I'm not Fabray or the Hobbit. That shit doesn't work on me. " Santana stated, unimpressed. He flashed his pearly whites. What else could he have added in his desperation ? " Fine !" she relented after a while trying to sound annoyed even though Finn saw the ghost of the smile she was trying to hide. " Just grab that stick and let's get to it. "
And people said he wasn't smart. See, he had his methods. Albeit his methods hadn't changed since he was 8, developed for getting ice cream after supper.
"Hey ! Are you gonna help me or am I going to do this myself ? Stop with the Frankenteen impressions and let's go. " Santana yelled with renewed vigor.
Finn eagerly jogged over to his drum set at the command. As he passed her he heard her mutter " Even though my singing's perfect and I never even asked for help in the first place, especially from you, but whatever. "
"Oh come on Santana, I've apologized to everyone in glee club like a million times about that kiss with Rachel costing us nationals. Look, when Mr. Schue gave you the solo for nationals, I volunteered … . "
"Stuck your big head in where it wasn't wanted " She interjected.
" I volunteered " he continued " because I wanted to make it up to you guys by helping anyway I could. You have to admit, you're reaction to losing was the worst out of all of ours, and it seems like you haven't forgiven me yet. You don't see anyone else still mad about it, why can't you be ?" He pleaded.
" Well maybe I'm not just anyone. You ever thought about that ? " He could see that she was starting to get riled up. " I'm serious ; this girl isn't your type. You're not just gonna walk all over me, flash that puppy dog look and get forgiveness so easily. " She lashed out.
Ok, now he was starting to get offended. " Really ? I didn't know I had a type ?" He questioned " Why don't you enlighten me since seem to know so much. "
"Oh you know what I mean " she said, gesturing her hands in dismissal. " The ones dressed like they've just walked out of the set of happy days, sweet on the outside poison on the inside, completely obsessed with being in a relationship no matter what. " She finished quirking an eyebrow in his direction.
Finn tried figuring out what girl she was talking about. Rachel or Quinn. Crap, maybe he did have a type. He thought.
Under her breathe ; he heard her murmur " Not to mention the chest of a 12 year old boy and that skinny white girl ass all you fellas like. "
"Your ass isn't skinny " He countered.
Both of their eyes widened at the accusation. The Statement could've been taken in two ways. One, he had just called her butt big and disgusting. Offensive. Two, he liked her butt. Slightly less offensive. Although it meant he had checked it out before, and was complimenting her. Guess what route she took.
" Are you calling me fat ? I'll have you know, I work hard for this body. So shut it. " She snapped turning her head sharply and whipping him in the face with her ponytail as she went to sit in one of the choir chairs. " This free dinner to Breadstix better be worth it " she demanded as she turned to face him from her chair, even though she had pulled out a king size bar of snickers from somewhere and began chewing on it.
Finn sighed. They were doing so well earlier too. He envisioned that working with Santana would be like pulling teeth. He was surprised when she even considered his proposal for help, let alone the pleasant surprise at how well they worked together. Even though she was as blunt as ever when talking to him, she actually took his suggestions into consideration and even bounced some of her ideas off of him before implementing them.
Whenever he had worked with Rachel, since she knew way more about music than him, she always took control and commanded everything. He hadn't really minded much. He knew from the start that she was a perfectionist.
When he had broken up with Rachel last month, he didn't realize how many eggs he had put in one basket. That was his entire future. What was the point of going to New York now that he didn't have Rachel ?
Well he knew one thing he had, this competition, New Directions original member's last chance at show choir glory. And he was going to see that happen no matter what. But the problem was that this year's star singer looked like she would rather have anyone else in the room helping besides him.
He carefully went to sit in the chair next to Santana. The glare she shot him, made him reconsider it so he chose a seat one chair removed from her. For a while there was only silence, interrupted by Santana's chewing. Finn realized how hungry he was when he heard his stomach growl. Maybe he should've just called it a day earlier ; they would probably be sitting at a booth at Breadstix by now.
"Are you gonna eat all that yourself ?" He chanced when it didn't look like she was about to offer to share her candy bar.
" Well according to someone I'm a big fat cow, so it doesn't really matter how much I eat now does it. " She said to the room.
It didn't seem like she had gotten over the perceived insult yet. He wondered how long he would have to sit there waiting for her to cool down.
"Don't even think it Hudson, or I'm going to make you eat this wrapper whole. " She shot at him, still not turning to face him.
" Err, what ?" He defended, confused.
" You were thinking that it was my time of the month weren't you ? And I couldn't help myself because I'm not in control of my silly girl feelings making me overemotional. " She mimicked in a overly sugary tone. " Weren't you ?"
She was good, it was almost scary. He really was starting to think that. Maybe he had been hanging around Artie too much. Something on his face must've given him away, because Santana had suddenly developed an annoyingly smug look.
So he decided to go on the offensive. " You know. That's the second time you've told me something about myself today. Looks like I'm not the only one checking people out. " He countered with his own smirk.
Santana just scoffed and rolled her eyes. " It wasn't hard, you're not the complicated Hudson. "
Finn raised his eyebrows at that " Oh really ? Tell me Lopez, since you're so wise, what else is there about my uncomplicated self that I'm not aware of? " he questioned.
" Trust me, you don't wanna know. " She answered in a sing song voice.
" No no, you can't leave me hanging. Just tell me, I promise I won't get mad. " She didn't look convinced " You can order anything you want at Breadstix " He tempted her.
" I'm already ordering whatever I want " She pointed out.
"Fine ! Dinner for the rest of the week at Breadstix. " Her eyes instantly lit up at the offer. He was a horrible poker player, but it wasn't a game anymore. He really did want to know what she thought of him.
" Ok, let's start with you and New York. " She began. Crap. He didn't think she was gonna go there, but he might as well get what he paid for.
" You never did want to move to New York did you ?" Yea well that he already sort of knew " Do you know why ?" She questioned
That … he still wasn't sure of. From the few trips he'd taken to New York scouting with Rachel and Kurt. He had concluded that New York was a nice place to visit but not to live.
"It's like I said earlier. You're uncomplicated " she shrugged like it was obvious
Now he was the one getting mad. He wasn't going to pay just to sit there and get insulted. Before he said anything Santana held up her hands in a placating manner " Wait, let me finish " she continued " You never do look at the big picture do you ? It's always black and white or yes and no. What you see is what you get. And if you ask me ? If you look at New York at face value then it's gotta be a pretty shitty place to live. "
Now that he thought about it, even though Rachel and Kurt kept going on about how amazing the culture was and how more accepting it was than Lima of homosexuals and minorities, all he could think about was how cramped it was and everyone's rudeness. What kind of place was it that where he would say " hello good day " to the stranger sitting across from him on the subway, they either ignored you or looked at you like you were crazy. Then there were the homeless people. Being from a small town, it was a bit of a culture shock to see people living on the street, and people just walking past them like they were invisible. He was told the rule was to not give them any money, or they'd just spend it on booze. He was also told he'd get used to it but he never imagined he ever could.
"Then there's your future. " Santana wasn't done yet. " At least you're smart enough to know that Lima's a pretty sucky place to be and you should get out of her as quick as possible. " He nodded
"But what are you going to do ? Take over Burt's shop and repair cars for the rest of your life ? No you can't do that. What does it matter people need their cars repaired. People will always think car mechanic is the title of a loser, you need something impressive like Doctor or Professor. " She gestated with her hands.
" So you have to go to College now. Well you're in luck ! I mean the quarterback of the football team is the one that's supposed to get the scholarship and a free ride out of this cow town. But you didn't, so know what ?" Finn had no answer to that.
"Ding ding ding, now for the bonus round. " Santana was having way too much fun with this for Finn's liking. He didn't even notice when she moved to the seat between them. " Now let's move on to relationships. Let's see first you were dating Quinn, and then she hurt you. Black and white, you broke up with her. Then you dated Rachel, and she hurt you. Right and wrong, you broke up with her. Then when Quinn got a boyfriend, the two of you realized you still had the hots for each other. Yes and no, you two got back together … .do you want me to continue. " Santana finished when he shook his head.
" How long have you been waiting to get all that off your chest ?" He croaked out when he found his voice.
" Oh, not that long. It all starts falling into place once you realize how simple it is, which is why I should have done this in the first place. Then she did the last thing he expected of someone who had just insulted his life and pointed at how horrible he was in relationships.
She kissed him.
He had kissed her before, but they were always forceful flesh on flesh kisses. This time was different. Santana Lopez could give sweet and tender kisses, who knew.
When she pulled away from him, Finn could almost see her walls falling down from the risk she just took. He couldn't think of any words to assure her, so he did want any uncomplicated guy would've done. He kissed her back.
This kiss was more electric. He didn't know which one of them had kicked over the chair. All he knew was that Santana was currently straddling him and it was imperative to have as many body parts touching as possible.
He then realized where they were, the choir room. He sobered up and tore himself away from her. He saw her walls go back up at the sudden loss of contact.
" We can't do this now Santana. " It pained him to say
"Why ? Scared " She taunted him with her usual air of confidence. However, this time Finn could see her trying to hide the hurt in her eyes from his apparent rejection.
" No. " He leaned over and whispered in her ear " I just don't want Brad to walk in here and see his favorite student flat on her back on top of his piano. "
In response, Santana just gave him a devilish grin, leaned over and whispered " You assume too much Finnocence. Whoever said that you got to be on top ?"