Santana is at church the first time she sees Quinn Fabray. The little blonde girl is arguing with her older sister and has a graze on her knee, Quinn whines at her Daddy a lot and Santana doesn't like that. There are no other seats left so the Fabrays shuffle in next to the Lopez family, Santana finds herself inches away from Quinn and sighs.
When the priest begins talking an old man in front of them begins to snore loudly, everyone around him looks appalled but do their best to ignore him. Santana bites her lip and glances quickly to her right, to her surprise Quinn is shaking with silent laughter and her eyes are squeezed shut. Santana smiles just as Quinn opens her eyes again, they look at each other for a moment and immediately stop smiling. Then the old man gives a loud snort in his sleep and they are both gone, giggling hysterically they are escorted out by their mortified families and scolded. Santana thinks maybe Quinn Fabray isn't so bad after all.
The first time Santana forgets her homework she is having a bad week, her mama is sick and her papa is working all the time and never has any time to spend with Santana. The teacher has already given Noah Puckerman and Mike Chang a row for forgetting and she looks pretty mad, Santana thinks she might cry.
As the teacher gets closer Quinn notices Santana Lopez is shaking and frowns, she doesn't really like any of the girls in their class much but she likes Santana. The teacher is only a table away when Quinn picks up her own completed homework and nudges Santana, Santana whirls around to snap at the contact but sees that it's Quinn and stops herself.
"What?"
"Take mine," Quinn whispers hurriedly, holding her homework out to Santana.
"Why?" Santana asks suspiciously. Quinn sighs exasperatedly and waves it around impatiently.
"Just take it," Santana narrows her eyes but takes it all the same and quickly erases Quinn's name at the top and scribbles in her own. The teacher takes Quinn's homework and gives Santana an encouraging smile, Santana gulps but forces a small smile in return. When the teacher reaches Quinn she loses her patience and she sends Quinn in to the Time-Out corner.
Finn sticks his tongue out at her as she shuffles past and Santana frowns but doesn't say anything. Puck then throws a scrunched up piece of paper at the back of Quinn's head and finds his mark with startling accuracy, Santana whips round immediately and yells at him in Spanish.
Both Quinn and Santana end up in the Time-Out corner at least twice a week for the rest of the semester, Santana doesn't really mind though and neither does Quinn.
Quinn is eight when she has her first proper birthday party, she invites all the girls in her class except Rachel Berry because everyone says she's weird, everyone arrives on time except Santana Lopez. By half past two Santana still hasn't arrived and Quinn is still sitting on the stairs and staring at her front door.
The other blonde girl from her class, Brittany, takes a seat next to her and asks her why she's crying on her birthday. Quinn realizes there are tears running down her face and wipes them away hastily.
"I'm not," she says with a loud sniff. Brittany cocks her head to one side and looks confused, but then hears Mercedes giving a gleeful shriek from the living room and scampers down the stairs to rejoin the fun.
When three o'clock rolls around Quinn's daddy calls her in to the living room to open her presents, she gives one last look at the front door then does as she is told. She opens her present from Tina first and smiles weakly at the strange black bracelet. From Mercedes she receives an N*Sync CD and from Brittany a lumpy, stuffed cat which she suspects was made by Brittany herself. Her other classmates gift her with chunky necklaces and make-up with brightly coloured bottles and labels.
She's never had so many presents before and she's never been so disappointed on her birthday.
By the time the candles on her cake are being lit Quinn is thoroughly miserable and just kind of wants everyone to go home. When they're told to sit at the table a loud rapping is heard on the front door and Quinn knocks one of her guests over in her haste to answer. When she wrenches the door open Santana is standing there with a swollen cheek and a harried-looking mother, Santana kisses her mother on the cheek and waves goodbye, pushing past Quinn and pulling off her coat hurriedly.
"You're late," Quinn says with her hands on her hips. Santana frowns and points to her cheek.
"I wath at the dentitht," she lisps, dribbling down her chin and accidentally biting her lip, Quinn looks disgusted and takes a step backwards. Santana shrugs and hands over a bulging gift bag.
"Thith ith for you," she says smiling with one half of her mouth. Quinn takes the bag and peers inside, she pulls out two pom poms and decides that it's the best birthday ever.
The first time Santana kisses a boy Finn is spying on them from behind a tree and runs away the second Santana spots him to tell Quinn. Puck looks embarrassed and tells Santana she tastes of cooties, Santana doesn't know what to say and starts crying as Puck runs away to catch Finn.
Quinn finds Santana sitting by the jungle gym with her head in her arms, hiccupping loudly as she sobs. Quinn sits down next to her and draws shapes in the dirt with her finger until Santana stops crying, when she lifts her head up Quinn notices her cheeks are covered in a mixture of snot and tears and she winces.
"Boys are gross," Santana grumbles, looking down at her feet as her cheeks burn with shame. Quinn grabs her by the chin and bunches up her sleeve.
"You're pretty gross yourself right now," she says, using the sleeve of her pristine white cardigan to wipe Santana's face clean. Santana scowls but remains still until Quinn is satisfied her face is presentable again. They sit in silence until the bell rings, signalling the end of their lunch break, then they head slowly back to class arm in arm.
"So… what was it like?"
"Slobbery."
The first time Quinn gets her period she's twelve and she's spending the night at Santana's house. Quinn hasn't been given 'the talk' yet and doesn't really know what's going on when she wakes up in the middle of the night with a splitting pain in her abdomen and wet pyjamas. She's mortified for a moment and thinks maybe she's wet the bed but when she stands up and looks behind her to the mattress she sees a large, dark stain on the bed. She looks down at her pyjamas and gives a little scream when she sees the blood.
When Santana wakes up she can smell blood, she turns over on her side to see Quinn crying and though she hasn't had her own period yet her mama has told her all about them so she knows what's going on straight away. Santana navigates her way carefully over Quinn's side of the bed and leads her by the hand to the bathroom where she tells Quinn to peel off her pyjamas.
Quinn shakes her head, embarrassed to be naked in front of Santana even though she's crying and hasn't got any better ideas. Santana sighs and goes to fetch clean pyjamas, when she returns Quinn is washing her hands and wiping her eyes. Santana hands her the pyjamas and fills the bath halfway, then she sits on the toilet and closes her eyes.
They spend the next hour in the bathroom telling ghost stories as Quinn soaks in the bath and washes away the blood, Santana keeps her eyes shut the entire time and doesn't open them until Quinn is stood in front of her wrapped in a towel and looking worried. Santana rummages through the bathroom cabinet until she finds the sanitary towels and hands one to Quinn, then goes back to her room shutting the bathroom door behind her.
They spend the rest of the night on the floor, Quinn keeps apologizing for the mattress but Santana just tells her to be quiet and go to sleep.
The first time they walk in to William McKinley High School, Santana and Quinn are fourteen and they're a little nervous, the other kids are really big and they don't know that many people. They've been taking dance classes all summer because they want to be cheerleaders and when they see Brittany they give her a wave because she always share her chewing gum at the dancing studio. They have most of their classes together and by the end of the week high school doesn't seem so scary anymore.
One day Rachel Berry is in the way of Santana's locker and doesn't hear her when she tells her to move. The bell rings and Quinn doesn't want to be late for Spanish so she pushes Rachel hard and glares at her while Santana gets her books.
"Blondie! What's your name?" A stern voice says behind her and Quinn gulps, turning around slowly to come face to face with McKinley's cheerleading coach.
"Quinn Fabray," she says, taking trouble not to let her voice shake. Sue Sylvester looks her up and down then looks at Santana who is smirking at Rachel practically running down the corridor.
"Hey you, yeah you with the weave, name?" Santana turns round to face Sue and raises a hand to her long dark hair with a frown.
"Santana Lopez," Sue said nothing and looked back to Quinn.
"Fabray, why did you push that dwarf over?" She asked with a sneer. Quinn looked down at her feet and mumbled.
"We were gonna be late for class," Sue gave a small snort and shook her head then walked away. Santana and Quinn stared after her feeling very confused. When she reached the end of the now empty corridor Sue turned around.
"I'm two Cheerios down, be at the gym tomorrow at 6AM sharp if you know what's good for you," she yells before turning the corner and disappearing. Quinn and Santana hurry along to Spanish and agree that high school isn't so bad.
The first time Santana has sex she's fifteen and drunk, she doesn't really like beer but there isn't much else at Dave Karofsky's party and she really wants Puck to like her so she tries to keep up with him as he plays beer pong.
When she's in Dave's bedroom and Puck is unzipping his pants a little voice in the back of her head tells her she's making a mistake, but a much louder voice is saying she really likes Puck and if she sleeps with him everyone will like her. Santana really wants everyone to like her because apart from Quinn everyone kind of hates her, so she lets Puck get on with it and doesn't even make a whimper when it hurts or push him off when she realizes they aren't using anything.
When she's leaving she runs in to Brittany who catches her by the wrist and asks her why she's crying, Santana yells at her to let go and runs out the front door, slamming it behind her. She hits '1' on her speed dial and after the first ring Quinn picks up, Quinn's at home finishing a science project and is surprised to hear Santana crying on the other end.
"What's wrong S?"
"I l-lost it, I thought I wanted to but I didn't and I want it b-back," Santana's stuttering and slurring her words so Quinn walks through to the hall and picks up her mom's car keys. Praying her parents don't wake up she gently eases the front door open and tip toes down the driveway to her mom's car while Santana babbles nonsense on the phone. Quinn doesn't have her licence yet but her sister has been giving her lessons so as soon Santana gives her Karofsky's address she eases the car out of the drive way and speeds the five blocks to his house.
When she finds Santana sitting on the sidewalk with her heels on the ground next to her and mascara all down her face Quinn's heart breaks a little and she knows immediately what Santana meant when she said she "lost it".
They don't talk much when they get back to Quinn's, but they eat Nutella straight from the jar and draw on her sister's Thunderclap while an old zombie film hums in the background and Santana stops crying. The film isn't really scary but Santana shuffles closer to Quinn on the sofa anyway and Quinn doesn't say anything when Santana grabs her hand. They fall asleep before the film ends and Quinn says an extra prayer for Santana every night for the next fortnight.
The first time Quinn walks in on Brittany and Santana in the Cheerios' locker room she gasps and her pom poms fall to the floor. Santana looks mortified and tells Brittany to get her clothes back on, Brittany doesn't really understand what's going on and Quinn doesn't either.
Quinn doesn't talk to Santana for three days and as Santana eyes the silver cross hanging round her neck she thinks maybe she hates her. On the fourth day Quinn finds Santana in the library while she's doing her math homework and hands her a pocket bible with a bookmark in Corinthians, she walks away with a small smile on her face. Santana squints at the paper marking the page and in Quinn's bubbly hand-writing she can make out "Corinthians, 13:6", Santana looks up the passage and when she finds it she tears up a little.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Brittany takes a seat down beside her and asks what Quinn wanted, Santana hastily wipes her eyes and crumples the note in her fist.
"I think she wanted to tell me not to lie to her again or she'll be really pissed," she replies with a laugh, Brittany cocks her head to one side and doesn't understand. Santana points her finger to the passage and smiles as Brittany carefully reads it aloud to herself.
"But what does that mean?" she asks with a frown. Santana closes the bible and looks around to see if anyone is watching them, then she places a hand on Brittany's leg and squeezes gently.
"It means I love you and my best friend says that's okay."