Santana has always been hard to read, but Quinn always manages to see through her icy exterior and know what she's really thinking. Well, that is until right now. Santana has been acting weird all morning, like she's there but not there. She's been fidgety and vacant all day, and Quinn just can't pinpoint what's wrong with her. She can tell Santana's nervous, but they're hanging out in the choir room with their friends, and they aren't actually in school anymore, so she has nothing to be nervous about.
"Okay guys, let's take lunch and then we'll come back and start the new New Directions auditions, and give this school back the song it's been missing from it's heart since we all left," Rachel announces, and Quinn's glad for a break even though they haven't actually done anything other than jam a few songs and reminisce about all the good times they've had here.
Brittany stands up and motions for Santana to take her hand, and Santana's eyes light up like she'd actually forgotten Brittany was even sat beside her the whole time. She reaches out and takes Brittany's hand, and she pulls her up off the chair.
"Will we eat here or do you wanna go out for something?" Brittany asks.
"We could order in," Quinn suggests. "I can't be bothered going anywhere. I just want people to bring food to me," she laughs.
"Sounds good!" Brittany agress.
"Chinese? Or pizza?" Quinn asks, looking at Santana, who still hasn't said a word.
"Babe," Brittany nudges Santana slightly to snap her out of her daze. "You had Chinese last night, right?"
"Huh?" Santana says, clearly not having paid any attention to their conversation. "Right, right, yeah, mom and I ordered in last night."
"So pizza, then?" Quinn clarifies. "Usual?"
"Yeah, yeah, awesome," Santana replies absentmindedly, seeming to hold Brittany's hand tighter.
Quinn calls the pizza place on her cell and orders their usual from when they used to pig out after practice. "It'll be about half an hour," she says. "Wanna go outside and wait?" she suggests.
"You guys can, I wanna catch up with Mike and Tina for a while," Brittany says.
"Santana," Quinn says, to catch her attention. "Wanna go sit under the bleachers for a while?"
Santana seems to perk up at the mention of going outside. "Please," she says, a little too quickly. "See you soon, babe," she says, kissing Brittany softly on the lips before dropping her hand and walking towards the door. Brittany and Quinn look between themselves, both wondering why Santana's acting so weird.
A few moments later, Quinn catches up with Santana and they make their way outside and settle under the bleachers. Immediately, Santana pulls out a packet of cigarettes and lights one up. That's when Quinn knows something's up, as Santana hasn't smoked at all since she's been back in Lima.
"Okay, what's going on with you? You've been acting weird all morning. You're starting to freak me out," Quinn asks.
Santana takes a drag of her cigarette and exhales the smoke slowly. A few seconds pass and then Santana reaches inside her pocket and pulls out a small box. She doesn't even look at it, just passes it to Quinn, who puts her hand out to take it. Quinn opens it, and gasps when she sees what's inside.
"Santana is this…" Quinn struggles for words. "Is this what I think it is?"
Silence.
"Are you proposing to Brittany?"
At the word 'proposing' Santana's mouth forms into a subtle smile and her eyes soften. She takes a deep breath. "Yeah, I am."
Quinn is overwhelmed with a hundred emotions and doesn't know what to do. "Oh my God, Santana! It's beautiful. The ring… it's beautiful."
"Well, it has to be doesn't it?" Santana tells her. "No good proposing to the most beautiful girl on earth with a ring that doesn't match."
Quinn wonders if Santana knows how far she's come. That five years ago they were sat in this same spot, Santana crying on her shoulder because, not only was she in love with Brittany, but she'd been rejected by her. And here she is today, about to propose to the same girl, and hopefully start the journey of making her her wife.
Quinn smiles. "When are you going to do it? Tonight?"
Santana shakes her head. "This afternoon. After lunch. In the choir room."
Quinn is shocked. Santana's never been one for public displays of affection, or one for declaring her love in front of people.
"It has to be the choir room y'know? There's just so much history there. And you guys…" Santana looks at Quinn for the first time since they got there. "You guys have helped us both through so much, and you've always supported us. It feels right for you to be there. I don't think Brittany will mind."
Quinn smiles. "No, I don't think she will. I don't think she'll even notice we're there, Santana."
Santana laughs, and then quietens. "What if I mess it up, Quinn? Or worse, what if she says no?"
"She won't. And how could you possibly mess it up? This is the thing you're best at. Not singing, not acting, not dancing, not even the bitchy insults you throw around - although some of them are pretty genius - but above all that, you're the best at being Brittany's girlfriend. You won't mess it up. And just think. When she says yes, you can start calling her your fiancee," Quinn teases.
The word 'fiancee' seems to almost knock the breath out of Santana's lungs, and she smiles at the thought.
"You almost done with that cigarette?" Quinn asks, as Santana goes to take another drag. "Do you want Brittany to have to kiss you with cigarette breath when she says yes?" Santana's face drops.
"I didn't even think of that," Santana panics.
"Don't worry, I have gum," Quinn tells her, taking a piece from her purse and giving it to her. "You want your first kiss as an engaged couple to be perfect, don't you."
"Yeah, I do," Santana says, taking the gum and putting it in her mouth.
Quinn can see Santana is having the time of her life singing a mashup with Brittany that includes one of her favourite Alanis Morissette songs. When the music ends, Rachel stands up and claps.
"Santana! Brittany! That was excellent! Brittany, I must say your vocal performance has improved drastically since senior year, and your-"
"Rachel," Santana interrupts, and everyone's head turns to her. "I'd just like to say something before you give your feedback."
Rachel shies away and sits down again, "Of course, Santana, go ahead."
The room is silent and Quinn is nervous. She hopes Santana can find the words to start this. She knows as soon as Santana starts, she'll be fine. A few more silent seconds pass, and then Santana starts to speak.
"Brittany," she says, taking her by the hand. "Some of the best times of my life have been spent in this choir room, and almost all of them have you in them. Whether we were dancing together, singing together or just sitting back there, playing with each other's hair, all of those moments have made this choir room such a special place to me."
Everyone in the choir room is completely silent, hanging on Santana's every word.
"I told you once before that I'd sit in this room and I'd count the days you'd smile at me, and I'd die on the days you didn't. I don't know if you noticed, but you make me smile all the time. You've made me smile since the day I met you and every day since. When I moved to college and you went to MIT, it was the worst time in my life. Because I had you, but you weren't there. And then we broke up, and I didn't have you in my life anymore, and it sucked for a while but we found our way back. And now we're here."
"We come from this shitty little town in the middle of Ohio, and people say nothing special ever happens here. And, yeah, for most people that's true. But not for us. We found each other here. We fell in love here. We had first kisses and first dates here. And for me, that's something special. To find what we have in this crappy little town, is something really, really special."
Santana's voice is cracking as she tries to keep the emotions at bay, and Brittany's eyes are starting to glisten with tears, she too staying silent and hanging on every word Santana says.
"I love you, Brittany. I love you more than I can even describe. I want to spend every day with you. I want to travel the world with you. I want to have kids, and a mortgage, and a dog with you. And, of course, Lord T can stay, too," Santana laughs, and everyone else joins in. Rachel's crying, Quinn is on the edge of her seat, and the guys are looking between themselves in disbelief.
Santana reaches into her pocket and pulls out the ring. She gets down on one knee, and the whole room gasps. "Brittany, will you marry me?"
Brittany's tears spill over as she squeaks out a "yes!". Santana starts crying, too, and the choir room erupts in applause and cheering as Santana slips the ring onto Brittany's finger. Santana leans in to kiss her, Brittany kisses back, and Quinn starts crying because she didn't think she'd ever see them both so happy. In some ways she thinks it feels like the end of the story, that Santana got the girl, but really it's just the end of a chapter. Their story is only just beginning.