A short one-shot of the upcoming Quinntana fight in Thursday's episode "Thanksgiving."
CONTAINS SPOILERS
Not everything is based on spoilers. The conversations are made up.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
Thanksgiving
Does she look different today?
You're not sure. Tired, maybe. Has she been sleeping okay? Is there something that is keeping her up at night? What is she thinking about? Does it involve you?
No, it doesn't. You're just imagining things. Maybe it's Lord Tubbington keeping her up at night. She worries about him too much. Maybe it's her homework.
How is she handling school? Are her grades better than last year? Did she get a tutor? Maybe you can… No. She doesn't need your help. Not anymore.
You focus on her face and realize there's a small smile on her lips. You trail your eyes up to hers until you lock gazes. You quickly look away.
You had been staring. You have to stop doing this to her and to yourself. You broke up with her. You set her free. You don't deserve that smile and look of adoration. You have to let her move on.
You look up when you feel a presence next to you. The flash of blonde hair has your heart racing immediately. But this person is shorter. She doesn't radiate the same way as Brittany does.
"Hey, Q." You feel yourself smile. Really smile. She had come back home the week before. Everything has changed since you had last seen her. It feels like part of the past has come back with her. The past when you were still in high school.
When Quinn came home, things between you and Brittany changed. Only yesterday you performed a song together for the Glee club. The Unholy Trinity is complete again. It is like a part of Brittany has made peace with the break-up.
You know that has been a harder thing to do for you.
Quinn wraps you in a hug. The familiar smell of her shampoo brings back memories of when the three of you were only teens. Inseparable.
"How come I didn't see you last night, Santana? You weren't at the home coming party. Everybody else was. Puck, Mike, Mercedes, Finn and the entire Glee club." The look in her eyes tells you that she already knows the answer. It's her way to start the conversation about how you're feeling.
But instead you lie. You know she will know you're not telling the truth, but you're so used to lying that you don't even feel silly doing it anymore.
"I went to bed early," you tell her.
You can't stop your eyes from searching for the red Cheerios outfit again. When you find her, she's talking to the other Cheerio, one of those new kids in the Glee club. You frown when you see her chewing on her lip nervously. Your eyes shift to the other Cheerio. She's wearing a devious grin as she looks up at Brittany.
You clench your jaw and instinctively take a step forward. You don't like that girl at all.
Quinn rests her hand on your shoulder and you snap your attention back to her. When you realize she saw you watching Brittany, you shrug her off.
"That Kitty girl is a bitch," you huff.
"She's just lost," Quinn says. "She reminds me of who I was in high school." She turns to smile at you. "Who we were."
"I don't like the way she treats Brittany."
"She just needs someone to help her find her way," she says.
You let out a short mocking laugh. "And you think you can help her with that?" you guess.
Quinn looks back at Kitty and squints her eyes. You can see the gears turning in her head. You really don't like that. Kitty doesn't deserve her help. She's worse than they ever were in high school. Anyone who is a bitch to Brittany doesn't deserve anything good in their lives.
"How is Louisville?" Quinn changes the subject and snaps you out of your thoughts.
You don't tell her the truth.
"It's great. Loads of great people. It's difficult to keep up with the schoolwork sometimes, but I like being busy."
"I never expected you to continue cheerleading. I know you were mostly on the Cheerios for the popularity," Quinn says.
You don't know how to answer that, so you shrug.
"Do you want to go inside?" She looks at the school building like it's a foreign place. Like it isn't the same building that she used to see every school day for the past four years. Like she hasn't been inside just the day before.
You cast another glance at Brittany and see that she has moved on to talking with Sugar. She's smiling and hopping up and down with the energy of a little child.
You miss her.
You tear your eyes away when Quinn gives you a gentle push towards the entrance of the school. You walk in and make your way to the choir room.
"It's strange to be here. So much has changed, but this place is still the same." Quinn leans against the piano as she looks around the room.
You walk to the other side of the piano and place your hands on top of it. You look down at the shiny black surface. You see hand streaks and fingerprints and slowly trail over them with your finger. You wonder if any of them are Brittany's.
"Why didn't you go talk to her over there?" Quinn's soft voice makes you look up.
"We're not together anymore." You look down again.
"Just because you're not together in that way anymore doesn't mean you're not still her best friend." Quinn reaches forward over the piano and places her hand close to yours. She doesn't touch you.
"She seems happy, don't you think?" you ask softly. You look up again.
Quinn squints her eyes for a moment and tilts her head to the side.
"I want her to be happy," you explain.
"She does seem happy." Quinn nods.
You smile faintly. Good. You want Brittany to be happy. You're glad that she's doing better than you are. She's starting to move on. Maybe it will start getting easier for you now too.
"How is Yale?" You change the subject.
She breaks into a grin. "Yale is amazing. It is all I have dreamed of it to be and more. It's different than I expected. It's much more sophisticated. The professors treat me like their equal–" She continues talking about Yale and her life in New Haven.
You can't help but feel jealous. Quinn is living her dream. But you? You feel like your life shattered apart when you moved to Louisville. Cheerleading is something that chains you to the past. It's that one thing that remained the same. But everything else changed. You know it had to.
Things weren't working the way they were going. You changed when you moved away from her. Brittany didn't. She was still the same old perfect Brittany. You still loved her as much as you always used to, if not more.
But you were holding her back. You weren't the same. You were sad and Brittany easily takes over your emotions. You know if you had been with her in Lima, she would have given you a simple peck on the cheek, which instantly made you feel better. You would have blushed and she would have wrinkled her nose at you with a smile on her lips. But you couldn't do that when you were so many miles apart.
Breaking up with her had been a stupid thing to do, but you know you would do it again if you had the choice. What other option was there? You couldn't keep pretending like everything between you was okay. You know you were disappointing her every time you had to say goodbye on the phone or through Skype.
Those goodbyes hurt. Every single time, they made your heart clench, because you knew what the look on Brittany's face would be. Sadness.
And then there was her own school. Her grades weren't going up and you knew it had to do with you. You still had text messages to prove it. Things like "got a F on math. Who knew t ansewr 2 'wat comes aftr 69' isnt moutwash? ;)" or "failed Spanish cuz I kept thinkin about how sexy u sound when u speak it."
You know breaking up had been the only choice if you want her to pass this year and if you want her to be happy again. It may hurt in the beginning, but Brittany isn't a person to dwell on something. She will move on. She always does.
"–He's really smart. He fascinates me. There is something extraordinary about him that makes me want to know more about his life." Quinn pauses for a moment, which makes your attention snap back to her. "He may have taken a special liking in me as well," she says with a timid smile on her lips.
"Wait, who?" You quickly shake your head, freeing your thoughts from Brittany.
"Christopher? Christopher Harrington. He's my professor–"
"Hold up." You hold up your hand to stop her. "You're screwing your teacher?"
Her brow furrows and she clears her throat. "I never said anything about screwing him."
You arch and eyebrow at her. She clenches her jaw and slowly breathes out through her nose. She gazes back at you, but after a while, her stance begins to waver and you know the truth.
"Oh my God! You're totally screwing your teacher!" You slap your hand against the surface of the piano and she flinches.
"It's not like that. I'm not just screwing him," she begins.
"Oh, so you're doing more than just screwing, huh? What happened to the leader of the celibacy club? You do realize that being involved with a professor in that way is illegal, right?"
"Can you stop judging me? It wasn't my choice to fall in love with my professor, Santana. You can't choose who you fall in love with. You of all people should understand that," she says.
"You know there is a big difference between dating another girl and dating your teacher, Quinn." You lean forward over the piano as she does the same.
"I really don't care what you think, Santana. I have never felt this way about anyone else before," she starts to explain, but you cut her off.
"That's what you said about Finn and Puck and Sam. And who knows? You probably thought that about Joe. Don't you remember Puck and Shelby?" You really can't believe how blinded Quinn is by this man. She could be kicked off school because of this. Doesn't she realize that?
"Can't you just support me in this? I have always supported you and Brittany."
"Me and Britt aren't the same!" You let out an incredulous laugh. "What you're doing is illegal."
"Less than ten years ago acting on homosexuality was illegal in the US too," Quinn exclaims, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's not the same!" You clench your hand to a fist and smack it against the piano again.
"You're right. But Chris is smart–"
"Clearly he isn't, if he's letting this go on."
"He wouldn't do anything to get either of us in trouble," Quinn defends.
"You already are! You could both be kicked off of Yale for this. Do you realize that?" You lean forward again.
"Santana–" She clenches her jaw and places her palms flat against the piano.
"Why are you being so stupid and reckless?" you go on.
"I'm not the one that is being stupid here!" Quinn cries out, smacking her palm against the piano. "You're the stupid one for breaking up with Brittany!"
As soon as the words are said, rage takes over your mind. She shouldn't have brought up your break-up with Brittany. She shouldn't have called you stupid for it. You clench your jaw and lunge forward over the piano. Before you know it, your hand has impacted with her cheek. A sharp sound fills the room. Quinn lets out a surprised grunt as her face is forced to the right.
It only takes a moment for her to recover and soon she is swiping her own hand across your cheek. You feel the sting immediately. It feels like someone has thrown a slushee in your face, but you ignore the pain and walk around the piano with only one goal set in your mind. Beat the shit out of her. You've done it before. This time there's no one to stop you.
At least that's what you think. But as soon as you throw your body forward, your waist is encircled by two strong arms. You gasp and instinctively shoot your elbow back, impacting with the person behind you.
The person cringes for a moment, but doesn't let go. You momentarily try to wriggle free, but as soon as the person speaks, you freeze.
"Stop the violence," she breathes into your ear and she tightens her arms around you.
The rage leaves your body as fast as it had emerged. You stop struggling and take in a sharp breath and hold it. You can't stop the flutter in your stomach. You don't mean for your heart to quicken it's pace.
She releases her hold on you because you've stopped struggling. You immediately miss the contact. You know you're not being fair. Her touch shouldn't affect you so much. She deserves to move on.
You slowly look up at Quinn, who's glaring at you with her arms crossed. You scoff and stand up straight, recovering from your sudden disconcertion. You turn around to face Brittany, but immediately regret it when you see the look on her face. You see a mixture of longing, adoration, sadness and disappointment.
You quickly look away.
"You shouldn't be fighting," Brittany finally says.
"She deserved it," you immediately defend.
"You deserved it," Quinn shoots back. "I didn't do anything wrong. I was simply stating the truth."
You clench your jaw and ball your fists, struggling not to punch her right then and there. But Brittany is there. You're not going to beat Quinn up in front of her. It's out of line for her to call you stupid for breaking up with Brittany. You open your mouth to speak, but Brittany does before you can.
"That's not true, Quinn."
You snap your head around to look at her. She wears a deep frown and looks at Quinn with a small pout on her lips.
"Santana isn't stupid," she clarifies. She sends you a short glance and her gaze immediately softens. She heard you talking? How long had she been there before she stopped your fight?
"I– I didn't mean she's stupid, Brittany, I just think it was a stupid choice–" Quinn wavers before Brittany cuts her off.
"You don't know what happened between us. You don't get to call Santana stupid when you don't know the situation." She glances at you again and you suddenly feel tranquility wash through you.
"Yes, we broke up," Brittany says, turning to Quinn again. "For now."
"Britt–" you begin, shuffling your foot over the floor.
"Things had to change. I know that now." She turns fully to you this time, taking small steps towards you. "But I also know that we're not over, Santana. Like you said: it isn't an official break-up."
You can't help but smile at that. You know Brittany should be moving on. She should be happy. But she is now, isn't she? Things are working again. You miss her, for sure. Any moment apart hurts you, but you feel like a weight is lifted off your shoulders since you broke up. Brittany wasn't that weight. It was the thought that you were holding her back.
But now that you're not together while being apart, chained to each other, you're both free. Maybe you can be free together. Maybe you can get that feeling back. That feeling of being carefree and proud.
The school bell rings and you startle out of your thoughts.
Brittany smiles at you before turning to Quinn one last time.
"We love each other. That's all."
I know the ending is really open. The reason for that is because I honestly don't know anything of what is going to happen to Brittana in the upcoming episodes (though I'm 100,69% certain that they are endgame) and because this one-shot purely fixates on the Quinntana fight.
If I know more of the upcoming episodes, I might write more one-shots like this one, or update this story with new chapters.
Thanks for reading. Please leave a review. :)