The first thing most people would notice about Santana Lopez was her body. There was no denying, the girl was gorgeous. Dark hair, tanned skin, tight body, and full lips that came together in a natural pout. Her curves. The next thing they would notice was the way she carried herself. The way she walked into a room. And these were all things Ms. Lopez knew. What she herself didn't know, however, and what most people would never bother to notice was what was underneath. And for now, Santana was okay with that.

[\\]

From the moment she opens her eyes, the first thing that becomes apparent to her is the overcast weather as she feels a chill creeping along her legs. She almost prefers it this way all things considering. She's in no mood to deal with bright, sunny weather, birds chirping, and all that other nonsense. She rolls out of bed, noticing the time. Her twisted bed sheets fall in disarray as she stands, serving as a reminder of last night's conquest.

As she walks over to the mirror on the far side of the room, she notes the dark circles under her eyes. She quickly works a brush through her matted hair. Still operating in a half-dream state, she decides to skip the make-up this morning. She throws on jeans and a t-shirt before pulling her hair into a slick ponytail. Before she walks out the front door, she makes sure to have the two things she never leaves the apartment without: her phone and her satchel. With those in hand, she unhooks the red coat hanging by the front door and braces herself for what awaits her outside.

Walking down the worn out sidewalks of her apartment, she notes to herself that today feels like one of those filler days that don't end up meaning much. Instead of walking briskly among the crowd with their briefcases and overworked cell phones, she keeps the languid pace of those that look a little less sure of themselves. She remembers how walking amongst the flurry of people used to excite her when she had first moved to NYC, but now she never looks up to notice any of them. As she waits on the platform for the subway to arrive, she shoves her tanned hands into her coat pockets.

Damn. Should've brought gloves.

This had become a daily ritual for Santana. She was stuck. It had been something that plagued her throughout her adolescence and for most of her high school career. Even though she had felt as though coming to terms with her sexuality had solved part of the problem, the empty feeling had snuck back up on her just as she was about to graduate.

Maybe it had something to do with losing her romantic relationship with Brittany or being disowned by her family. She knew in her heart that wasn't true though. With Brittany, she had tried to hold on to her as long as possible because she was afraid of losing her best friend. Brittany had helped her discover who she really was, though ultimately she had also discovered that it wasn't enough for them to stay together. She was incredibly thankful that it hadn't destroyed their bond as they still remain close as ever. Even though losing her family had hurt Santana more than she cared to admit, a little part of her knew she would lose them the day she decided to come out of the closet. Idly, she had thought that college might have been able to keep her from falling into a rut but that hadn't exactly worked out either.

And so here she stands, waiting for the subway. And just like any other day, she prepares herself for the blaring mechanical sound as it pulls into the station.

Right on cue.

People start rushing toward the end of the platform as the subways comes to a halt. The doors swing open and she is pushed inside with the group of people surrounding her. She grabs onto the first passenger handle she can find. Still lost in her own head, it takes her a moment to register the fact that someone is talking to her.

Groggily she shakes her head and stares down into the troubled eyes that await her attention.

"You're on my foot."

Still it takes a moment for Santana to process what the girl has said before quickly removing her foot from hers and muttering an apology.

"Sorry."

Maybe it's something in the way that she responds that makes the other girl's facial features soften a bit.

"Umm… You can sit down if you want."

The girl gestures to the cluttered seat next to her. She drags her satchel off the seat making room for Santana to sit down.

"When I got on this morning, it was surprisingly empty. I had forgotten it was there until only a moment ago."

Santana nods and sits down next to the girl as she rambles on.

"I guess people probably thought I was pretty rude taking up two seats." The girl sighs a soft little sigh to herself and it's only now that Santana allows herself to look at her, distracting herself from her clouded thoughts. The first thing she notices is the pretty blonde hair that cascades down her alabaster skin and falls down to her shoulder blades. Next, her full lips and striking hazel/green eyes, the color of which she can't really make out in the dim lighting of the tunnels. Her facial features are soft and lovely but well defined, reminding her of a girl she once saw in a painting. Santana smiles to herself, appreciating the beauty of the girl. The blonde doesn't seem to notice, which relieves Santana as she lets herself relax a little bit more.

"Thanks," she finally replies. She watches as the girl's eyebrows shoot up in surprise as if she never expected her to respond. The girl perks up a bit and a tiny self-satisfied smile flirts across her lips.

"So where are you headed this morning?" The blonde asks as she plays around with the iPhone in her hand.

"Who wants to know?" Santana quips light heartedly. She notices as the girl's eyebrows shoot up in surprise once again. She holds in a little laugh noting she enjoys being able to surprise her.

"Gee, you're a friendly one, aren't you?" The girl smiles to herself as she continues typing away on the keypad of her phone.

"Not usually." Santana answers knowingly. "But I have my moments." A confident smile crosses her lips.

The girl turns to look at her a bit quizzically before losing interest in her phone and deciding to focus her attention on the girl sitting next to her. Feeling the girl's gaze upon her, Santana quietly wonders to herself if today was really the best day to skip make-up.

"I'm Quinn."

"Santana."

"Pretty." As the blonde says it, she sees slight smile on the other girl's lips.

"So what brings you to NYC?"

"Who wants to know?" Quinn teasingly shoots back at her. She seems to doubt herself as she says it though because she quickly finishes with, "I'm just visiting."

Santana gives her sideways glance.

Perfect. I could use a distraction.

"Nice. Well, if you get bored or just get tired of being surrounded by assholes, you should stop by a club called Fusion Wednesday or Thursday night. That's when I work."

Quinn nods with a questioning glint in her eye. Her eyes follow Santana as she stands up and the subway comes to a halt.

"My stop." She gestures toward the opening doors.

And with that, she steps onto the platform feeling the blonde girl's eyes follow her as she walks away.

No turning back, Lopez. Play it cool.

[\\]

The door to the small boutique swings open as the sound of a bell goes off, preceding Santana's entrance.

"Hey Britt, I'm here!" She calls out as she heads behind the counter to put away her satchel and remove her coat.

A voice from one of the back rooms calls out, "Be there in a sec!"

Santana sits on the bar stool by the register as she waits for her friend.

"San!" The blonde rushes over to her to greet her with a hug. "How was last night? You kinda don't look so good… Well, by Santana standards, anyway."

The darker haired girl frowns but then smiles, deciding to take it as a compliment. "It was okay for me. I totally rocked her world though."

Brittany chuckles at her friend's modesty (or lack thereof), "I'm sure you did."

"So did you and Rachel get home alright?"

"Yep! She told me to tell you that if her and Richard ever break up that she's off limits from you and your lady charms."

A mortified expression immediately appears on Santana's face. "As if! I'd rather love up on Smeagol than that little Jewish hobbit."

"The fact that I got you to watch Lord of the Rings with me is one of my proudest accomplishments."

"It was awful. Cate Blanchett wasn't on screen nearly enough. I had to start pretending Orlando Bloom had a vagina."

Brittany chuckles. "Just F-Y-I, your blonde obsession gets kind of scary sometimes."

"It's not an obsession. I don't discriminate… I just have a weakness for blondes… Speaking of which, I saw a pretty hot one on the subway today."

The other girl's eyes immediately light up, "Ooohh! Spill!"

[\\]

It's dusk when Quinn finally arrives outside the tall brick-building apartment. She barely has time to press buzzer before she sees the beautiful brunette boy running down the stairs to greet her.

"Quinnie!"

Quinn squeals in excitement. "Jeremy!"

She drops her satchel and jumps into the boy's arms, hugging him tightly.

"I've missed you so much," she sighs breathily into his hair.

He sets her down and gives her a wide smile. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Well, are you going to let me into your apartment or what?" She teases.

"Of course, milady."

She smiles at him. "Always the gentleman."

Quinn picks up her satchel and follows the boy to the third floor.

As they enter the apartment together, she notes how small it is compared to her apartment back home.

Jeremy seems to pick up on her thoughts because he adds, "And believe it or not, this is big by New York standards."

She laughs. "I thought you were exaggerating when you told me about it before. It is really nice though. Comfy."

"Well, we aim to please. Let's get you settled in."

Quinn spends the rest of the night unpacking most of her things. She feels the exhaustion set in as she sprawls across the bed. The other side of the bed dips as Jeremy lies down beside her.

"I bet you're tired, huh?"

"You can say that again."

"So how do you wanna celebrate your first official day in NY tomorrow?"

"Hmm…" The blonde rubs her eyes trying to keep herself awake. "I don't know. You can decide."

"Well I guess we better get all the touristy stuff out of the way first. We can do that during the day and then I'll take you out tomorrow night."

Quinn nods. "Sounds good... By the way, have you been to a club called Fusion? Some girl on the subway told me about it on my way over here."

"Oh, Fusion. Yeah, I've been a couple times. It's pretty popular actually."

"She told me she works there Wednesday and Thursday nights."

Jeremy seems to be lost in thought before adding, "She must be pretty hot."

Quinn laughs and slaps him gently on the shoulder, "Why do you say that?"

"It's kind of an unspoken rule. If you work in big clubs like that you have to be at least an 8… Maybe a 7.5 if you're lucky," he adds with a grin. "So on a scale of 1-10 where—"

"Oh shut up." Quinn says with a smile. "You can't keep it in your pants, can you?"

"So did you want to go? Tomorrow's Wednesday, your friend would be there."

The blonde girl sighs as she stares at the ceiling. "I guess so. I mean, if I'm going to be in New York for a little while, it would probably be nice to hang out with some people other than you every once in a while." She nudges him in the ribs as he laughs.

"I'm down... Heeeey, maybe you could hook me up with her. Win, win."

"Actually I don't think you're her type, if you know what I mean."

"I've turned girls straight before."

Quinn's mouth drops open in amused horror. "I'm going to be slapping you a lot, aren't I?"

Jeremy grins at her.

"And besides…" Quinn adds teasingly. "I saw her first."