CHAPTER 1 - Déjà vu
Twice in a row. That's two years. She's not with the one she loves during prom, twice. Santana frowns as she looks at herself in the mirror. Just a couple of months ago, she was so hyped going to this year's prom with Brittany. She never thought that just weeks before prom, she would be looking at the mirror, wearing the red dress that she and Brittany picked out for prom this year, -dateless.
She looks at the wall clock and saw that it's nearing 8 o'clock. She checks her dress for the millionth time just to make sure that there are no rips. There weren't any. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and sighs. I can't do this.
"Santana! Quinn and Noah are here!" she heard her mom call. She opens her eyes and looked once again at her reflection. She wasn't admiring herself like she used to do when she knew she looked good with what she was wearing. She knew she looked good because Brittany told her she did when they chose the dress. But she was just there, looking blankly at the person in front of her. She didn't notice how long she'd been standing there until she heard a soft knock on her door and she saw Quinn slowly enter her room.
"Hey, San…" Quinn said in a voice that was almost a whisper as she made her way to where Santana was standing.
"Hey," Santana said quietly. "Um… sorry I think I, uh, lost track of time." She said as she turned around to face her friend who was standing behind her. Quinn gave her a sad smile, which Santana tried to ignore. Don't.
"You do know that we don't have to go, right?"
Yes. She knew that. She knew that none of her friends really expected her to show up to prom after what had happened. Santana looked around and walked to her bedside table and wore the bracelet that was just sitting there next to a picture of her and Brittany. She fumbled with the lock because she was shaking so much. She stomped her foot on the floor out of frustration and closed her eyes to try and slow down her breathing.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Quinn standing beside her. Her friend took the bracelet, held the latina's hand as she told her to sit on the bed. Quinn gently placed the bracelet on Santana's wrist and was able to lock it just as quickly. She heard Santana give out a relief sigh and turned to look at her.
"Thanks, Q." Santana whispered with tears starting to form in her eyes.
"You can't cry, S. Not now," Quinn said as she pushed some of Santana's bangs, behind her ear. "You can't ruin your make-up by crying when you look so beautiful…" She said trying to lighten up the mood not wanting to see Santana cry. It must've worked because Santana sniffed and gave a small laugh.
The two sat in comfortable silence and the ticking of the clock was the only thing making a sound.
"You do know that we don't have to go, right?" Quinn repeated her question. She placed a hand on Santana's back as she waited for an answer. A few seconds passed when Santana quickly stood up and walked towards her bedroom door. She turned around and saw Quinn still sitting on the bed with a confused look on her face.
"Aren't you coming? Come on, I can't wait to see what they've done with the place." Santana said with a smile on her face. She held out her hand and waited for her friend to take it.
Quinn walked over to Santana, took her hand and gave her friend a tight hug. "I'm sure Brittany did an amazing job on this one, S." Quinn whispered, still not letting go of the smaller girl in her arms. She didn't see Santana's smile fall at the mention of her name.
"Let's go." Santana slowly pulled away and put a smile on her face as they walked
out of Santana's bedroom.
The two friends made their way down the stairs where Puck was waiting, with a smile on his face. When the two girls reached the bottom of the staircase, Puck revealed a corsage that he was hiding. A corsage for Santana.
Santana shook her head and smiled shyly at her friend.
"You didn't have to, Puck." She said as Puck placed the corsage on her wrist. She instantly put the flower under her nose and sniffed.
"It was nothing, Lopez. I also got Quinn here a corsage since I'm both your dates. It's customary." Puck said while giving Santana a light hug. Santana looked at Quinn who held up her wrist revealing a corsage like hers but with a different colored flower. Santana chuckled and then remembered something,
" Oh, I forgot to get you a boutonniere…"
"Already got one, see?" Puck said pointing to his boutonniere. "Quinn gave me this when I picked her up before coming here." He finished then placed an arm around Quinn's shoulder, she playfully elbowed the guy to get him to remove his heavy arm. Quinn laughed as Puck feigned being hurt from the elbow. Quinn just shook her head and stuck her tongue out.
Quinn and Puck dated during the summer between their first and second year in McKinley High School. Needless to say, they were better off as friends than lovers. And they both knew that after fighting so much that they didn't speak to –or rather Quinn ignored Puck— each other for a few months. After reconciling their friendship, the two have grown closer than before; closer than when they were dating. Surprisingly, the two were actually okay with the fact that they just weren't meant to be with each other like that. In turn, it was most definitely okay with Santana who always seem to find herself stuck in between Quinn's crying and Puck's rants when the two would fight. She was glad that those days were over.
Santana looked at the two of her closest friends as she remembered their past. Quinn was fixing Puck's mohawk because some of what's actually there, was out of place. She saw Puck picking something off of Quinn's shoulder. Probably a freckle that he thought was dirt. The two turned to face her and each gave her a smile; she smiles back.
And just in time, Santana's parents walk in, and said that it was time to take a few pictures before the three head for prom. After about 30 minutes of taking photos of different poses, Santana felt tired from all the smiling. They made their way towards Puck's car, and Santana decides to sit in the backseat when normally she would call shotgun to any car that wasn't hers.
The car ride to McKinley wasn't that long, but Santana stayed silent and just listened to the two talk about who was going to sing what song during prom. Mr. Schue said that everybody from New Directions should perform during prom, be it a solo performance, a duet, or a group performance.
She knew that Puck was supposed to sing with the guys for "What Makes You Beautiful" but gave up his spot for teen Jesus because he wasn't able to attend the rehearsals. And she knew that Quinn was going to sing "Take My Breath Away". She remembered Quinn had asked her if they could sing it together and initially, she had agreed but after what happened, she told Quinn she wasn't too sure about singing it with her. Up until now she still wasn't sure and Quinn was patient enough to wait for Santana's final decision that she still hasn't made.
Puck decided to drop off the two girls in front of the school so they didn't have to walk back to the entrance after parking the car. After 10 minutes of silently waiting and just enjoying the light wind that breezed through, they saw Puck quickly make his way towards them. When he got there, he stood in between the two girls and offered his arms for each of the girl to take, in which they both did.
The three slowly made their way towards the gym doors and Santana's heart start to beat faster with every step she took. Here's to another prom without you. Santana thought sadly, not noticing she had stopped walking. She was jolted out of her thoughts when she felt a light tug on her arm when Puck and Quinn had stopped walking.
"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up with you later." She said, letting go of Puck's arm. She saw Puck look at Quinn and heard her say something about meeting him at the door. Puck gave Santana one last look and she gave him a small smile, then he turned around and walked towards the doors to wait. Quinn walked towards Santana and quietly asked her if she was sure she wanted to be here.
"Yeah, I just—I just need a minute."
"We can wait, S." Quinn said, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"It's okay, Quinn. I'll be there in a while." Santana said, reassuring Quinn that she will in fact be there. But Quinn doesn't seem to be convinced at what she heard and stayed silent with worry in her eyes. Santana sighed, "I promise, Q. I promised her I would come. I just need a minute…"
Quinn's gaze softened after Santana said that, and she finally believed the latina that she would in fact, be there. "Do you want us to wait for you at the door?" she asked. Santana shook her head and looked down at her hands. She felt her friend hug her, "You look amazing tonight, S. She picked a nice dress." Quinn gave her a quick peck on the cheeks and slowly made her way towards Puck.
As the two entered the gym doors, she made her way to a bench near the gym, but was slightly hidden by the trees that surrounded it. Santana's thoughts circled back to the thought that she was once again not with Brittany for Prom. Last year's prom was her fault, and she knew that. She regretted it, to this day, not showing up at Brittany's house to film "Fondue For Two". But this time was different, and yet she still thinks it was still her fault.
She remembered that one phone call she received a few weeks ago so clearly.
"Is this Ms. Santana Lopez?"
"This is she. Who's this?"
"My name is Jason and I'm calling from Lima Heights General Hospital. We need you to come over as soon as you can."
"Why? What's wrong? Who's in the hospital?" Santana asked the man on the other line with panic in her voice.
After a few seconds, "Tell me what's going on!" She said a little louder on her cellphone while grabbing her keys as she quickly made her way to her car.
"Ms. Lopez, there's been an accident. We need you to…"
"What happened? Who's been in an accident!" She walked a little faster while cursing herself for parking a little farther than she normally would. As she got to her car door, she dropped her keys when the man on the other line said the name that she was most dreading.