Disclaimers: Don't own Glee or any other references to places, cars or anything else.
There will be side/little/mentions of Quick, Tike, Tartie and Quinntana
I'm also not from the US, never mind New York, and have never been (yet) so I honestly don't know a thing. I've researched stuff and hope it's accurate enough, as well as changing all my 'British' terms into 'American' terms to my best ability. If there's anything that's wrong or needs changing, please do leave a message.
Wai Po = 'Grandma' in mandarin, written as pinyin (how it's pronounced).
Ayi = 'Auntie' (as in someone else's parent, not necessarily related) I don't speak mandarin but I do know all about Chinese traditions and culture.
I wanted Tina to not be mixed or anything, but the surname 'Cohen' had Israeli roots (according to wiki) so her surname is just 'Chang'.
"Santana?" Tina presses lightly on the door handle, poking her head around to see the lazy girl, face pressed tightly to the pillow whilst sprawled all over her bed, sheets twisted and entwined with her body. Moving to pick up the other discarded pillow from the floor, Tina sits down on the foot of the bed. "Wake up sunshine." Santana groans, forcing Tina to duck when she flings a leg her way in a lazy attempt to be left in peace.
"Fuck off." Familiar with her roommate's hatred for unnecessarily early mornings, Tina rises and steps towards the veiled window. "And don't even think about opening those curtains, Chang. It's far too early to see the ugly faces that are the population of Chinatown." Intentions having been exposed, Tina returns to the edge of the bed, daring to grab Santana's ankle and shaking her gently.
"Come on, it's time to get up."
"No it's not. Last night I was still in surgery at half past midnight. It's Saturday and I'm not on-call for once, thank god. Now go away," Santana half-heartedly pulls her leg away but Tina grips her persistently. "And I'll thank you to not just walk in here without warning next time." Tina laughs good-naturedly.
"Actually, I've been knocking for the past," she glances at the bright digital clock on top of the clustered desk. Originally, Santana had an analogue clock, but two weeks after having brought it, Tina had returned to their apartment from a busy day at the hospital one day and found the remains of the clock, lying shattered against the wall opposite their front door. Apparently, the constant ticking had been 'doing my fucking head in' according to Santana. "nine minutes but you've just been ignoring me."
"Well get a hint then, maybe I want to be left in peace or maybe you just need to let me buy a damn lock." Tina smiles, laying down onto the small sliver of the mattress that Santana hadn't spread out over.
"You know Ma thinks it's dangerous to have locks for bedrooms." Santana snorts besides her, eyes still pressed tightly shut, even though she knew that there was no way she'd actually be able to get back to sleep after having spoken for so long – curse Tina and her sneaky but successful tactics.
"One. I pay my third of the rent so I should be able to do what I want. Two. I don't care that we live in the apartment above her and your ba's successful Chinese restaurant. I don't care that I love her and she is my own Asian mother. Now, despite me having personally handed her the spare key like five years ago and her using it to pop up here every other day, your ma is the one who lives three streets away and I'm the one who lives here when I'm not too busy cutting people open in hospital. Three. We're all 24 years of age, hell Quinn is almost 25, so excuse me for wanting some guaranteed security and privacy the next time I bring some hot chick here overnight. Sticking up a sheet of paper with the words 'don't you fucking dare come in' is really inconvenient." Not the slightest bit deterred by the lecture, Tina simply picks at the slight frays at the hem of her top. By now, Tina was used to Santana's rants and whinges that, despite the length, were only harmless.
"Done?" Tina took the silence as yes. "Well, Wai Po phoned and said she wanted to see us down at Columbus Park-" Santana sits up so swiftly that she almost knocks Tina off of the bed in the process.
"God, why didn't you just say that earlier?" Tina props herself properly onto the now spacious bed, unfazed by Santana's state of undress as she strips off, desperately rummaging the closet for clean clothes (honestly, having known the girl since second grade and moving on through the same middle and high school then going on to study medicine at college together and to now, having lived with each other as well as Quinn for half a decade on top of all that history, there were very, very little things that Santana could do to shock or upset Tina). "What did she want to see us for?" Tina shrugs.
"She said she wanted to give us something but didn't say what though." Santana nods, pulling on a simple pair of grey shorts.
"You do realise that I'm totally Wai Po's favourite grandchild." Tina laughs. She was an only child, but somewhere between the years of growing up with each other since middle school to now being roommates, Tina had picked up a calm, collected blonde older sister and a feisty, witty latina younger sister.
"That's because you're the only one who pretends to listen to her repetitive re-told stories of her youth."
"Which is why I always get the most money at New Year and birthdays," Santana turns around so Tina can see her smirk and wink. Tina throws her head back in laughter as Santana pulls on a plain grey t-shirt that had a low v-neck, revealing her cleavage.
"She's not going to like that," Tina gestures to her chest as she stands up and moves towards the door.
"Eh," Santana shrugs, reaching past her friend to push the door handle, "I bet you ten bucks she won't say a word about it."
"Deal." Santana lightly ushers Tina by the shoulders out of the room and follows her past the living room to the kitchen, where Quinn stood, leaning against the counter with a mug of coffee in hand and staring intently at the television on the opposite side of the room. Tina heads straight to the coffee pot but Santana decides to move towards the blonde.
"Oi Q, you got any more of that? 'Cause I needs my morning cup-"
"Shh." Santana blinks with hand half outstretched, hovering over Quinn's mug.
"What crawled out of your-"
"Shut up." Eyes still glued to the screen, Quinn nods towards it as Santana rolls her eyes and swirls around to see what could possibly be so fascinating. Even Tina, who stood behind the two, pauses to look up at the television.
A photo of a brunette with a sexy smirk flashes onto the screen, followed by photos of the same young woman with two German shepherds, then one where she was obviously on vacation somewhere hot with a group of friends.
"Lauren Chloe Gray was a normal, friendly 23 year old who had been the life and heart of all her friends. Having not had been in a relationship for four years, well-known party girl Lauren was said to have been dating around for a while now. However, Taylor was never reported missing but was found two days ago in the back alleyway of a local convenient store."
The images change to a white van behind a police-sealed tape as two people, complete with masks and gloves, lifted an obvious body within a thick black bag into the back of the van. The screen suddenly fills of a nervous-looking middle-aged man who had a cluster of microphones pushed towards him.
"I was just shutting down the place like any other night I went outside to throw away the garbage and there she lay. I swear it was most bizarre sight – she had on the prettiest dress I've ever seen and a beautiful necklace, skin of a porcelain doll, I tell you, and looked so beautiful and peaceful. Hands, clutching a photo – a photo of herself sleeping actually – right to her chest in the middle of a dirty old alleyway. I shouted to her a few times, but she didn't reply so I went up to her. I swear she didn't have a single mark or bruise on her but when I checked her pulse, she was stone cold, I tell you, absolutely gone."
The rush and chaos of different channel cameramen trying to video the body and the alleyway behind the police returns as a voiceover speaks over it.
"No doubt is this another victim of the serial killer, dubbed 'Prince Charming', who has been terrorising normal, young women all over New York. This would now be the third victim in the past two months. His trademark is that he always leaves his victim in a seemingly innocent slumber, with nothing but a beautiful dress, flawless make up and a photo of the very same victim sleeping contently in a blank, white bed. It is the way, the victim always seem to be just a kiss away from waking up that gave this killer the nickname 'Prince Charming'."
The screen cuts to a young man, tall and broad with stern eyes and shaved hair apart from a strip down the middle. The caption at the bottom reveals this man to be 'Investigator Noah Puckerman'. He was walking quickly away but the press persists and follows, just as he arrives to particular black car, he pauses.
"There are strong proofs that this is the work of Prince Charming, however, any evidence found will be analysed in more depth by our team for more detail. Thank you."
With a deep frown, Quinn switches off the TV with the remote when it returns back to the presenter at the studio. Frowning and deep in thought, the blonde finally allows Santana to steal her mug.
"Your boyfriend looks horrible on camera, you know. And what sort of statement was that? 'Analysed for more detail' – is that supposed to mean something? He didn't say anything useful at all." Quinn rolls her eyes as Tina moves closer to listen in on the conversation.
"Trust you to miss the entire important part and skip straight to the not-funny let's-make-fun-of-Puck bit." Santana shrugs and settles the mug onto the counter to quickly tie her up into a purposefully messy ponytail.
"I try. So come on then, little miss Federal Bureau of Investigation, what's going on with the whole case?" Quinn seizes the opportunity to retrieve back her mug and sips from it.
"You know we only took over on the case two days ago. Besides, there's the whole confidentiality thing where I'm not supposed to tell you guys."
"Aw come on, you've shared stuff in the past and there's no way Mister I'm-26-but-I-think-I'm-so-badass-with-my-landing-strip hasn't told you something." Quinn shakes her head stubbornly.
"I really don't know much." Santana pouts. She then proceeds to nudge Tina who catches the cue and pouts as well causing Quinn to roll her eyes again. "Cut it out, I really don't. Look, I promise when I get the lowdown, I'll tell you guys… some of it, okay?" Santana breaks into a smirk and high fives Tina.
"The sucker always falls for it." Tina laughs and even Quinn has to repress her laughter.
"Excuse me, the sucker is right here."
"Ha! You just admitted you're a sucker!"
"Yeah, well takes one to know one." Tina smiles as she shakes her head at the way the two playfully glare at each other.
"Honestly, I'm worried about the innocent citizens of New York. Their safety and lives are in unsteady hands. One's an FBI agent, the other is an orthopaedic surgeon, but both are just as crazy and childish as each other."
"Yeah and that attending physician who lives with them really isn't much better, right Q?" the blonde nods feverishly.
"Didn't you hear? She practically cried with happiness when that gorgeous, beautiful blonde roommate of hers brought her the newest Pokémon game for her birthday." Santana slaps on a faux-surprised face.
"Really? I also heard whenever she can't think of a remark or a comeback, she always go back," Santana puts on her eerily similar 'Tina-voice', "'yeah, well… your mom.'" The mischievous pair pauses, waiting for Tina to say something. The instinctive remark that Santana had correctly pointed out was on the tip of her tongue, yet she obviously couldn't say it or it'd prove the other two were right.
"Yeah? Well, your… dad." She finishes lamely, head burrowed deeply in hands with shame as the other two laughs.
"Told you." Tina could do nothing but sulk playfully as her two best friends high five each other.
Ten minutes later, the trio were finally ready to leave. They stood in the middle of the pavement, waiting for Tina to finish locking up the main door. Tourists, complete with maps, cap and camera whizzes around them, face revealing awe of the oriental displays and Chinese characters. During the years of college, when the three had initially decided to live together, Quinn and especially Santana had received the strangest looks in the neighbourhood. The only non-Asian people that occupied the Manhattan Chinatown were tourists, but one blonde and one latina permanent residents had baffled the sceptical locals. However, over the years, the community relaxes and incorporates them into the tightly-knitted society. They were always invited to go to get-togethers, given food constantly for being too thin (they had lost count on how many 'don't idolise those skinny American girls on TV' talks they've been given) and sometimes had to gently remind people to speak slower. The pair had learnt Mandarin in no time, yet even Tina occasionally had to ask people to repeat when they spoke hurriedly and with uncommon slang.
Having finally locked the door, the trio puts on sunglasses in synchronise, the summer sun beating down onto the city of New York pleasantly. They make their way down the street, waving to Ma, Ba and the other waiters inside the restaurant.
"So Tina, how's Grandpa Wheels doing lately?" Tina laughs at Santana's mocking, as she briefly steps off the sidewalk to allow a tourist, nose deep in a map, past.
"Artie is fine. And so is his dress sense," she adds as an afterthought. Santana scoffs, lifting the sunglasses a little higher and running a hand through her hair.
"Oh per-lease, those dodgy jumpers and high-waist flares were so not hip since… well, ever." Quinn rolls her eyes and flings an arm over Tina's shoulder.
"Ignore her; she's had a grudge against Artie ever since that time we made her carry him up three flights of stairs to our apartment since the elevator broke, but it was actually just an April fool's joke." Santana scowls behind her dark rims but even she had to admit it was a pretty good prank in hindsight. At that time, she had found it far less amusing as she stood there, arms aching and out of breath. Needless to say, a lot of curses had been thrown around that day and she's been plotting ever since for her revenge this year. "But really Tina," Quinn squeezes her friend lightly around the neck with her arm, "planning on telling Ma and Ba about him anytime soon? You can't hide behind Mike for the rest of your life."
"Not to mention it's super creepy that you have the same surname. I know you guys say you aren't related but still," Santana shrugs, "seriously creepy."
Tina sighs as they round the last corner; the park was visible now down the end of the street. Tina and Artie have been together for one and a half years now and around their schedules, they've been on many dates, spent weekends together and even went on a holiday to London once for three weeks. Tina really, really liked Artie – he was a goofy, funny guy who cared and treated her well. It was with a heavy heart that Tina had to admit the truth that her parents would never, ever allow them to be together. She knew that in their eyes they only saw a handicapped, IT technician who had no future, couldn't provide their daughter with a comfortable life and was in no way up to her standards. Tina knew that to them, an ideal candidate to date and marry, no doubt, would be someone perfect like Mike Chang. He was tall, polite, came from a respectful family and was an FBI agent too, working steadily besides Quinn as partners. Both parents approved that they matched flawlessly – a fearless agent and his intelligent, doctor wife.
After an awkward barbeque party that Tina had thrown last summer, inviting both family and friends (never will she make the same mistake again), Mike had agreed to cover for the couple and pretend to date Tina. Throughout the entire party, Mr and Mrs Chang had given long, embarrassing lectures to their son about not having a girlfriend and may have to reduce to setting him up on blind dates, loudly for everyone in Chinatown to hear and cringe to. Meanwhile on the opposite side of the grill, the truth about Tina and Artie's relationship had been on the tip of Tina's tongue, before it had fizzled and slid back down to lie heavily in her stomach when she caught the sideway glances of disgust her parents' threw at Artie and their quick, hushed mutters of disapproval of him as even just simple friends with their daughter.
"I really don't even want to think about it, to be honest." The trio steps into the park, tall thick trees providing shade for the crowd of elderly people in the middle practising Tai Chi. "Maybe I'll try to slip him into conversations more often-"
"Santana!" A particular small, grey haired woman breaks rank and waves at the three of them, slowly making her way over to greet them.
"Heeey Wai Po," Santana throws a smug smirk over her shoulder at the other two as she leans down to give her grandma a tight hug. Pulling back, Wai Po was exactly eye level to Santana's low cut chest, yet all she did was frown and shake her head disapprovingly before moving on to greet Quinn, who quickly remove her sunglasses before she is greeted in the same manner. Santana pulls her sunglasses down enough just so Tina can see her wink exaggeratedly.
"So not fair…" Tina mumbles before making a mental note to give Santana her ten bucks when they get back. Wai Po releases Quinn before turning to Tina and hugging her snugly, who despite was her biological granddaughter, was in no way anymore preferred over the other two.
"You girls are always working so hard and busy saving lives." Whilst speaking in Mandarin, Wai Po leads her three grandchildren towards a circular stone bench nearby. "I made you three soups," she gestures towards the two large flasks sitting on the bench. "Just reheat it and have it for dinner tonight, it'll give you more energy and it's good for your skin too. You need to look after yourselves more – especially you Quinn, those bags under your eyes are rather dark." Instinctively, Quinn's hands fly to the spot underneath her eyes at Wai Po's blunt words. Santana and Tina immediately burst into laughter before swiftly sobering up at Wai Po's amused expression and lifted eyebrow. "Tina you're far too pale and Santana, your skin looks awfully dry." It was Quinn's turn to laugh loudly whilst the other two splutters about as she subtly high fives her grandma underneath the table.
"Thanks Wai Po. Thanks a lot." Santana runs a hand across her cheek self-consciously, muttering in perfect Mandarin. "We're going to head for breakfast now, going to join us?" Wai Po glances back at the other elderly people still moving gracefully to the slow calming music emitting from the radio.
"Maybe tomorrow, if the three of you can wake up earlier." Quinn raises her hands in a don't-look-at-me way.
"I was awake for ages, but some lazy people refused to get out of bed." She looks pointedly at Santana who stuck her tongue out at her.
"Uh like you didn't wake up earlier just because you knew Puckerman was going to show his ugly face on the news." Wai Po chuckles at their childish interactions as Quinn responds with a roll of her eyes. She slowly moves to stand up again, giving each girl a kiss on the forehead.
"Now you girls behave and get out of here before I tell you a story of three young sisters who weren't obedient. Their family were very rich and spoilt them-" All of sudden, the trio grabs the flasks and runs out of the park leaving nothing but screams of 'not this story again!', 'okay, that's lovely, thanks for the soup' and 'Bye Wai Po!' in their trail and a chuckling grandma in their wake.
Thanks for reading! Do comment please =] I have completely written the entire story, there are 11 parts all roughly same length and I will post each chapter maybe once a week.