A/N: I apologize for being a bit late with this. I have a lot of excuses. Anyways, here's my admissions for Quinntana Week '15 y'all! (p.s. don't mind the weirdly worded summaries. I try my best)
Day 1: Coincidence & Chance Meeting
Rating: T
Summary: Santana has always felt like something was missing in her life. Will she ever get that these chance meetings with a certain blonde actually mean something?
XXX
Santana scooted down to sit by her best friend, Brittany, sporting a scandalous smile as they hid behind the coffee counter, "I cannot believe you brought this."
"You said you were stressed," Brittany shrugged. She twisted the cap on her flask and tipped it back without another thought. She cringed before passing the metal flask to the girl next to her.
Santana watched her friend in admiration before snatching the flask and following her example. She coughed and used the back of her hand wipe at her mouth, "What's even in this? Poison?"
Brittany just laughed, took one more swig before putting the flask away, "It's a mixer of a lot of things. My dad's whiskey and vodka. And I even splashed some wine in it. Red wine. I know you like red wine."
Just hearing the mixer made Santana nauseous, "Gross."
"Hello?" A voice above them called. Santana stood up and turned to face a girl, around her age, folding her arms and rolling her eyes, "Are you going to take my order or what?"
"Of course." Santana put on the smile she reserved for customers and started up her register, "What can I get you?"
The girl bit her lip and Santana started to feel the warmth from Brittany's concoction swarm up her neck and her cheeks. She hoped with all her might that she would be able to focus enough to take down the correct order. She only had one sip though, it couldn't be that hard.
"Are you listening?" The girl snapped and Santana sighed at herself.
"Sorry. It's been a long day."
"Sure," then the girl continued with an long order of coffees not mentioned on the menu.
Santana placed the order and made the transaction with the girl before heading over to help Brittany with the coffees. It took them a bit longer than usual, but after dropping two on the floor and making one that wasn't part of the order, they got it right and Santana placed the seven ordered coffees in front of the girl at the counter.
Santana watched the girl check the coffees with a smile, "You drinking all of those yourself?"
The girl looked up with a scrunched up face, "Of course not. I'd be sick within the hour."
"I was just joking," Santana muttered under her breath. She tried not to joke too much around the customers and she assumed the alcohol was the reason she broke her rule.
The girl sighed and pointed of her shoulder to a full table of middle aged adults, "None of its for me actually. It's all for my dad's friends."
"Oh. Which one's your dad?" Santana couldn't help herself.
"Um," the girl seemed surprised by the question and Santana couldn't blame her. She pointed to a blond man right in the center of the group, talking loud and patting a guy next to him on the back, "That's him."
Santana could have guessed it simply by the same color hair they sported, but that would have been the only thing she could have identified them with. Both of their characters seemed so different. The man over there seemed so confident while the girl in front of her seemed a bit more reserved. It was weird that they were related, they seemed nothing alike.
Santana stopped herself, a bit weirded out that she felt the need to analyze this customer, "Have a nice day."
"You, too." The girl struggled with the drinks for a second before saying with a smirk, "Try not to get caught."
Santana furrowed her brows and the girl walked away with a small laugh.
Xxxx
Santana watched as her friends swayed to the music as she sulked on a couch against the wall. House parties were always fun, the music and the people were always her favorite parts. She loved letting go and dancing with her friends until she couldn't see straight.
Tonight was different though, and everything was a bit more melancholy than she could have hoped for. She had just came from home, where her mother had yelled at for losing her job from drinking with her coworker. It was the first time that they got caught but apparently once was enough and her mother was not happy.
"You keep disappointing me," her mother had said. Then not a word until before she left for her own job when she looked down at Santana and just shook her head, "Why can't you grow up, Santana?"
Santana huffed at the memory and looked down at the drink in her hand, an uneasiness settling in her stomach.
Her concentration was lifted when she felt the other side of the couch shift weight and a girl plopped down onto it. She looked angry and stared down into the crowd ahead of her.
The girl seemed almost out of place, the event called for jeans and a light shirt but the girl was in a sundress that was too cheery for Santana's liking. Actually, the dress seemed too cheery even for the girl as she folded her arms and radiated off ice from every pour of her body. It seemed a bit familiar to Santana.
Not one to be shy, Santana leaned over, "Hey, are you okay?"
Without looking over, the girl snapped, "Yes, I'm okay."
Santana immediately recognized her as the blonde from her job... her old job and felt herself smirk, "You seem a little pissy."
The girl's eyes widened as she looked over, "I'm not pissy."
Santana wanted to say something more but felt the air leave her as the girl's hazel eyes fixed on her. The Latina felt her face become warm and with no alcohol to blame it on, she knew she was blushing.
Then Santana noticed the tear streaks on the girl's face and had to decide fast between joking around or trying to care, "Are you sure you're okay?"
The girl looked away, tears in her eyes as she shook her head. She inhaled sharply before turning back to Santana, "I think my boyfriend's cheating on me."
"Oh," Santana felt a pang of disappointment before scooting closer to hear the girl, "Did he tell you?"
"No. I just know." The girl looked down at her hands before rolling her eyes at herself, "I can't even prove it."
Santana took a deep breath and shrugged, "Break up with him."
"Over a guess?"
"A relationship without trust isn't really one, you know," Santana almost gagged at herself. When did she become an all knowing-relationship-guru?
The girl smiled and shook her head, "I can't do that."
"Whatever you want to do. I'm not someone to ask about this kind of shit anyways."
The girl looked at Santana for a moment before smiling wide, "Aren't you that coffee shop girl?"
Santana nodded, "Yep."
"That is so weird!" The girl took her gaze from Santana's eyes to scan the rest of her for a moment. She flicked her eyes back into eye contact, "You look a lot better out of that shop uniform."
Santana scoffed, "I look good in anything."
The girl laughed, "I can't argue with that."
Santana felt her face become warm again and she looked away as she tried to think of something else other than this girl with a boyfriend who may or may not be flirting with her. Maybe puppies. Or rainbows. Those Louboutin pumps in her mom's closet.
"There you are!" A voice called through the crowd. Santana recognized it as her good friend, Noah Puckerman, and as he slipped through the crowd she smiled at him.
Her smile started to dissipate as she noticed that his eyes were on the girl next to her and Santana realized, "Wait, Puckerman's you're boyfriend?"
"Yeah, I guess." The girl sighed as the offending boy stopped in front of her with two red cups in his hands.
"There you are, babe," he rushed a cup into the blonde's hands before looking over towards Santana, "Hey there, Hoepez! Looks like you've met Q."
Santana stared at him, wondering where his head was. She had known him for five years and never had he once mentioned a girlfriend. There was no doubt that the guy was cheating on this blonde, "Are you serious right now, Puckerman?"
"What?" He scratched at his Mohawk and looked towards the blonde who looked like she was going to throw up.
"Hey look," Santana turned back to girl, "I can take you home if you want. You don't have to stay here with him."
"Um, what," he laughed, "You coming on to my lady, Hoepez?"
"Call me that one more time and I will sucker punch every person in your entire family, Fuckerman." Santana said as calmly as she could before turning back to the blonde, "Do you want to stay or…?"
The girl looked up the Puckerman before shoving he drink back into his hands, grabbing Santana's wrist to pull her off of the couch and away from the boy.
They slipped their way through the crowd and walked outside, the blonde walking at a steady pace in front of Santana.
It was silent between them and Santana decided to enjoy the fresh air of the night and the way the blonde's dress danced against her body as she walked. The brunette folded her arms against the chill of the night but kept warm from the sight of silk legs shinning against the moonlight.
She kept her eyes glued to those legs until they stopped and turned around suddenly to have the girl face her, "So you know Noah?"
"Yeah. For awhile now."
"So you'd know if he's been cheating on me?" The girl looked determined, a bit scared if you looked close enough, but determined to know the truth. Santana could respect that.
"Yeah, I would know."
"Has he?"
"How long have you guys been together?"
"A year."
"A year?" That was a long time and Santana had seen girls come and go in just a few a months from under Puckerman's arm. If she was to be honest, she had been one of those girls when she had been experimenting earlier this year. Puckerman was more than eager to help her figure herself out and now she felt even worse about the whole situation than before.
"Which way's your house?" Santana started to walk but was stopped by a tug on her shirt.
The girl hung on tight and swallowed back what Santana could see was tears, "I need to know."
Santana shrugged, "Break up with him."
The girl let out a shaky breath and started walking again, Santana following suit. It was quiet once more and Santana couldn't take it knowing that the girl's heart was probably breaking.
"You really like him that bad?" Santana joked.
A beat passed before the girl shook her head, "It's not that. It's like something of mine has been taken away without my permission."
Santana let out a nervous laugh, "That's a bit possessive."
"It's not my best quality," the girl looked down before shifting emotions, "Are you like celebrating a big promotion or something?"
"Not even close," Santana shivered a bit as they turned the corner, "Why would you celebrate getting a promotion at a coffee shop? Like congrats you've just been bumped up to espresso maker."
The girl laughed, "Some people do that."
"Not me." Santana sighed, "Besides, today was my last day."
"Moving on to better things?"
"Yes, unemployment." Santana looked up at the stars, "I got fired."
"That sucks. Must have been from drinking on the job."
Santana furrowed her brows at the girl, "How did you know that?"
"I saw you drink right in front of me," the girl gave an incredulous laugh, "Not very slick."
"I usually am but today just wasn't my day."
"Why would you drink while working anyways?" The girl slid her finger against a fence as they passed it and Santana watched as her mood had completely lifted, "It seems like too much of a risk to me."
"I like to take risks." Santana didn't want to tell this girl the real reason behind her drinking but she could barely stopped herself. It's always easier to talk to strangers anyways, "I haven't really been feeling myself so I've drowning myself with booze for awhile."
"My father does the same thing," the girl looked down, not really in sadness but held a face that Santana couldn't read, "It changed him a lot."
"I guess I'll just have to choose a new habit then." Santana cleared her throat in a way to clear the air before changing to topic, "By the way, how are you not freezing? I have way more clothes on than you do but you seem fine."
The blonde stopped and shrugged, "We're just walking fast I guess."
"Sure."
"This is my house," the taller girl pointed to the house they stopped in front of, "Thanks for walking me home, uh..."
Santana put out her hand to introduce herself, "Santana Lopez."
The girl smiled brightly, "Quinn Fabray."
Quinn walked away and gave a small wave before entering her house, while Santana stood in the same spot trying not to smile. When she started to walk away she noticed how warm it got outside though the moon had barely moved.
Xxxx
High school was finally over and Santana was glad. She secretly somewhat loved high school, but she was more than happy to leave it. Of course she'd miss the friends she had made or whatever, but it didn't mean she didn't rush out of the school once she got the chance.
Right now she should be relaxing, getting ready for college, or even partying it up with her best friend. Instead she's driving a moving truck to her older brother's new house. She would suppose that's the only sad thing about graduating from school. Her brother said that he was only going to leave home when she did for school, and he never broke a promise.
Santana rolled down the window and turned up the radio, content with listening to anything as long it distracted her from thinking about her future.
Maybe she'll use this new freedom to find that piece of her that she always thought was missing. Whatever that was.
She turned the radio up a bit more to drown out that thought.
Just as she turned the corner and she spotted a car slanted on the side of the road with two people trying to flag her down next to it. On any other day, she would have drove past to make sure that she wasn't going to end up in her own personal horror movie, but today she slowed down to a stop and rolled down her window, "You guys okay?"
A short brunette girl came over, her hands folded against her heart as she rambled, "Thank you so much for stopping. My boyfriend and I were taking my friend to the hospital and we got a horrible flat and there's no extra tire thing in the trunk or wherever you keep it. I'm not sure because I'm no mechanic but my boyfriend is. Well his father is. His step-father. Anyways, the cell service is just horrible out here, so we can't call the ambulance. Oh by the way I'm Rachel and this is Finn. Say hello, Finn."
"Wait, wait, the hospital?" Santana stopped her and looked towards the car, "Is your friend, okay?"
"Oh, yeah, she's fine." The brunette gave a weird smile, "Her water broke so we're just taking her to the hospital."
"She's in labour?!"
"Um, yeah."
"Shit," Santana looked at her watch, and sighed. She was going to be so late but she supposed it was going to be for a good deed. Good deeds meant better karma and better karma meant she had a better chance of convincing her mom to buy her that new car she had her eye on, "I'll take you to the hospital. I can only fit two more up here and I can't really have anyone in the back. It's illegal or something."
"That's fine. I'll stay here," the boyfriend, a tall lanky guy, said, "I'll get her and put her in."
He wobbled away and left the both of them in a awkward silence. The brunette drummed on the side of the door, "So... Do you pick up strangers from off the highway often?"
"No. Hopefully you won't notice the dead body I have in the back." It took a second, but the girl laughed while Santana looked ahead, trying to remember how far the hospital was from here. She didn't notice the two girls shuffling into the car until blonde caught her eye and she gasped when she noticed who it was, "Oh my god."
"Santana Lopez?" Quinn gasped as well, "What are the odds?"
Santana held her breath before doing a quick scan to see if that was really the blonde girl she met months ago.
Many things were different with her, her stomach was huge and her clothes seemed even more out of place than she last saw her.
Even though the blonde's hair was covered in sweat and she looked exhausted, her skin was glowing and her orbs were still sharp against Santana's eyes.
Santana faced forward, turned on the A/C and tapped on the wheel, "To the hospital we go."
They drove with only with the radio murmuring and the short brunette asking Quinn how she was doing every other minute. Santana held her tongue, though she had a lot of questions she couldn't wait to ask.
"So you're like a mover now?" Quinn broke the silence with a small voice and hooded eyes.
"So you're like pregnant now?" Santana mocked.
Quinn gave a small laugh, "You're a bit small to be a mover."
"Shouldn't you be in pain or something? Why are you talking?"
"It comes and goes."
"Do you guys know each other?" The small brunette on Quinn's other side peaked over.
"Nope." Santana said with a light lipped smile, "So like, you're about to have a baby."
"Yeah. I know it seems a bit weird but-" Quinn stomped in mid sentence to hold onto the dash board and bowed her head in pain. She was silent as the pain passed and only leaned back once they stopped at a stop sign, "How far is the hospital by the way?"
"Like five more minutes if I go fast enough," Santana bit the side of her cheek, feeling a bit of panic as they kept driving past fields and no buildings, "Should we be timing the contractions or something?"
"I'm not sure," the short brunette said, obviously starting to panic as well, "This is the first baby I've ever delivered."
"What? You're not delivering the baby in here!" Santana sputtered as she pressed down on the gas petal, "We're renting this!"
"She can't just hold it!"
"Guys, calm down. I'm having a tough time even without you two screaming like assholes!" Quinn yelled as another contraction hit her.
The two quieted down as Santana finally drove them into a hospital parking lot and parked in front of the door.
The short brunette that for some reason couldn't stick her name with Santana, and Santana helped Quinn into the hospital before letting a nurse take the blonde away. Two hours later the baby was born and groups of people showed up to say their congrats.
People were called in the visit the new mother and Santana felt more and more awkward just sitting in the hospital lobby when she didn't really need to be there. She considered leaving, just sneaking away and no one was going to care or notice.
That was until a nurse called for her to come back and as confused as she was, Santana followed her into Quinn's room.
Santana stood at the door and waited until Quinn looked over to her, her arms full of a large blanket wrapped around a small moving thing.
"Come on in," Quinn gave her a soft smile and Santana followed directions, sitting in a chair next to the bed, "It's so weird to see you like this."
"Yeah." Santana looked down at the newborn in Quinn's arms and smiled, "You had a baby."
"I know right," Quinn looked down and smiled as well, "She's so beautiful."
"She looks like her mom," Santana rested her head on her fist.
Quinn snorted, "She looks like her dad."
"She's got you're eyes, Quinn."
Quinn looked back at the Latina, "You're never going to talk to me again. Will you?"
"Of course I will," Santana lied. She didn't know for sure, she hadn't seen the girl since that party months ago and she just almost gave birth in front of her.
Quinn gave an incredulous laugh and rocked the baby in her arms, "I'm probably not very attractive right now."
"You're very attractive," Santana patted Quinn's leg and looked back at the baby, "What's her name?"
"We named her Beth."
"You and Puckerman?"
"Yeah," Quinn adjusted the pink hat on her baby's tiny head, "Jut cause he'll barely be in her life doesn't mean he doesn't get a say in what to name her."
"I guess it doesn't."
"Do you think," Quinn looked around and whispered, "that they have chocolate ice cream here?"
"Do you want ice cream or something?" Santana held in her smile as she noticed how serious Quinn suddenly had gotten.
"Is it weird that I do?"
"I'm not sure," Santana moved to stand up, "Do you want me to ask?"
"Wait. No, just like stay here for a second."
Santana stayed for awhile, small talking with Quinn and watching the baby doze off and on. Soon, Quinn was the one to doze off and Santana decided then to head out and drive to her brother's house.
By the time she made it there, the sky was dark and her eyes were heavy. Her brother had laid a pillow and a blanket down on his couch and offered it to her for the night, which she obliged ruefully.
His couch was old and bumpy and she ended up staying up staying up all night thinking about Quinn and her new baby.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Her brother asked around 3 am once he walked into his living room to find her channel surfing.
"Shouldn't you?" She snapped.
"Someone's a bit mean," he sat next to her and rested his arm on the back of the couch, "What's wrong?"
"Do not talk to me right now," she stopped at a channel featuring some horrible reality channel slash dating competition.
Her brother shook his head and kicked up his feet, "So why were you so late today?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Santana grumbled.
"Whatever it is it can't be that bad!"
"I..." Santana sighed and muted the television, "I took the most beautiful girl, like ever, to the hospital to have a baby on the way here."
Her brother furrowed a brow, "Minus the fact that that was random, you met a beautiful pregnant woman and did a good deed. Why are you so mad?"
"I'm not mad. I'm disappointed," Santana folded her arms, "And I didn't meet her today. I've met her a couple of times."
"You have?"
"Yeah and I've completely missed my chance all times. But first she had a boyfriend and now she has a baby. I shouldn't have gone for it and I didn't, so there!"
Her brother burst out laughing and shook his head, "Looks like you've missed out on a lot there, San."
The younger Lopez grumbled to herself while her brother patted her on the shoulder, "I don't want you to miss out on the opportunity in front of you."
"Opportunity for what?"
"For love."
"Shut up and leave me alone," Santana spat and pointed her brother away.
He shrugged and moved to stand, "Next time then."
"There will be no next time!" She called behind him and she sulked even more at the thought of never seeing the blonde again.
Xxxx
Santana sat on a bench in City Park, exhausted with her run. She tipped her water bottle back and sighed when nothing came out of it. Her run was cut short by construction, her job was constantly stressing her out, and Brittany was getting married. To Sam of all people.
And now she realized that she didn't have enough water in her water bottle. She dropped it on the sidewalk and leaned back with a groan, "This is my life now."
Santana looked over to find her water bottle back on the bench next to her and a small child at it's side. The small, maybe four-year old girl sported a large smile under a mane of yellow hair that covered most of her face.
"Um, hi." Santana smiled back at the girl and motioned towards the water bottle, "Thanks."
The girl gave a shrug and faced ahead of her with a smile on her face. Santana watched her for a moment, just kicking her legs and enjoying herself, before looking around, "Where's you parental person?"
The girl gave another shrug before asking, "Do you like ice cream?"
"Um," folded her legs, half focused on anyone looking like they had just left any kin behind, "Ice cream is nice."
"My mom likes it too," the girl looked over and Santana supposed that she was adorable. Adorable for a weird child, "Will you buy me ice cream?"
Santana snorted, "Kid, I don't even know you. Why would I buy you anything?"
The girl shrugged once again, but this time with one shoulder, "Cause I'm cute."
"Who told you that?"
"My mom."
"Right." Santana rolled her eyes, "Look, kid, if I agree to buy you ice cream will you point out your mom so that no one thinks I've abducted you or something crap?"
The girl pointed, "Here she comes."
Santana looked over to see a woman with short blonde hair huff and puff the way over. She almost fell of the bench once she recognized hazel eyes looking towards the weird small child.
Santana stood up and wiped off imaginary dust from her workout shorts before smirking at the incoming blonde, "Found your kid, Quinn."
Quinn came to a halt and place her hand on her chest, "Santana?"
Santana looked down towards the younger girl on the bench, "If you would have told me that you're Baby Beth than I would have offered you at least five ice creams, kid."
"Like five?" Beth jumped from the bench and scrunched her face at Santana, "How do you know me?"
"I met you when you were a baby."
"What? No!"
"Beth. Don't be rude," Quinn tugged the girl into her side and smiled apologetically to Santana, "She's usually super shy."
"It's okay." Santana looked around once more, "Are you with anyone else?"
"No, we were just going to the park but this one," Quinn patted the girl on the head, "Got away from me. She's so fast!"
Quinn and Beth laughed, almost identically, and Santana felt the familiar warmth she always got around Quinn. This time however, she felt it in her chest.
"I know that you guys are probs busy going to the park and all," Santana picked up her water bottle and rolled it in her hands, feeling nervous suddenly, "But I promised Beth here some ice cream and I was wondering if you would join us. I mean, I would really like it. I would prefer it actually."
Quinn just gave another smile, a soft one, and nodded her head, "Of course, Santana."
"Great!" Santana clapped her hands and motioned the two to follow her, "I know a great place that has amazing chocolate ice cream."
"I love chocolate ice cream!" Beth just about screamed.
"So does your mom," Santana smiled at Quinn, whom turned away as heat rushed to her cheeks.
