Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is glee whatsoever.
American Honey
June 1, 1995
It was another scorching hot day in Tennessee as a nine year old Quinn sat on her grams front porch, both of them listening to the radio and playing cards, trying to take their minds off of the heat. Even the fan that was circulating between the two of them wasn't enough to cool them down.
"Grams, I think my brain is frying it's so hot." Quinn whined as she scanned the cards she had in her hand, looking for matches. Her hair was sticking to the back of her neck uncomfortably and she couldn't help but squirm in her seat as her summer dress was starting to cling in all the wrong places. Quinn's grandma laughed at the little girl's exaggeration.
"I know baby girl! This has got to be the hottest summer yet. I feel like a polar bear with all its fur roaming the dessert!" Betty Fabray exclaimed and Quinn giggled, placing down a pair of matching two's.
"Grams! Polar bears don't live in the dessert!" Quinn shouted, a bit scandalized, with a giggle and Betty joined in with her.
"Glad you know your facts Quinnie bear." Betty replied, placing down her own pair of matching cards.
"Got a king?" Quinn asked, needing just that one and an ace to complete her deck, proving her triumphant win in the game of goldfish against her grams.
"Nope, little booger. Looks like you're going fishing." Grams said mockingly which won her a playful scowl from Quinn.
"Got an ace?" Betty asked and once again Quinn had that adorable scowl on her face and begrudgingly gave her grams her only ace card. It was the last card in her grams hand and Quinn knew she had lost again.
"That's game baby girl. Maybe next time." Betty said with a playful smile as she ruffled Quinn's hair.
"Come on Grams you never let me win!" Quinn whined as she placed her cards on the table in front of them and sighed.
"Well if I always let you win, it wouldn't teach you anything about working hard to accomplish something that you really want." Betty said truthfully and once again Quinn let out a sigh.
"I'm only nine grams. That's like a lesson for grown ups." Quinn replied with a laugh and Betty smiled.
"Well sweetheart, I've learned you're never too young for a good life lesson." Grams replied with a chuckle of her own and another ruffle of Quinn's hair.
"Tell you what little lady, since it doesn't look like this heat is gonna let up any time soon, how about you run down to the corner store and get us some cold drinks and I'll make us some lunch. That sound good?" Betty asked and Quinn gave her a wide eyed look.
"You're gonna let me go by myself? Mom never lets me go anywhere by myself." Quinn asked, surprise coloring her words and Betty let out a chuckle.
"Sure. I know you'll be responsible and stay out of trouble. You always do. It's your sister Frannie that I'm worried about getting into trouble. I'm sure she's wracking up points for the both of you." Betty said with a grin and Quinn wore a matching one. Frannie was always getting into trouble for something, especially when it concerned that boy down the street, but Quinn guessed that's what you were supposed to do at fourteen. She couldn't wait until she turned fourteen. Then she could most definitely go to the store on her own.
Quinn jumped from her seat, excitement written all over her face at the fact that she was going to the store all on her own without any supervision while her gram dashed inside to get her coin purse. When her grams came back she gave Quinn a stern look before giving her a handful of change.
"Remember, no talking to strangers. You got that darling?" Betty asked and Quinn nodded her head vigorously.
"Got it. No talking to strangers." Quinn parroted with another sharp nod of her head and that had Betty smiling.
"Alright kiddo. Off you go. I'll have lunch ready when you get back." Betty said and once she had the go ahead, Quinn bolted from the front porch and down the road like her tail was on fire. Quinn absolutely loved spending summers with her grams.
Her and her sister Frannie have been spending every summer, since Quinn was six, at their grams house in Tennessee. Quinn was never sure of, or told, the particular reason why this was but even at nine years old she was pretty perceptive. She was more than sure it had to do with all the yelling and fighting that happened between her parents. She was more than sure it had to do with the fact that ever since her grandpa passed, her grams has been a lot more lonely than usual. Of course Quinn would rather be spending the summer in Boston with her friends instead of listening to Frannie fuss at her for simply existing or making kissy noises on the phone but she wasn't too miffed abut t. Spending summers with her grams was starting to become an event she looked forward to. Plus, it was a lot quieter at her grams house than it was at her own.
Quinn was absolutely buzzing with excitement when she walked into the Quick and Go. It was her first time ever venturing somewhere on her own, that wasn't the confined areas of her elementary, and she was going to enjoy every second of it.
"Well hello there little lady, what can I do you for this afternoon?" The old, scruffy looking store attendant asked in a cheerful voice as Quinn looked around a little overwhelmed but still glowing.
"Where do you keep your ice cold drinks?" Quinn asked with a bright smile.
"Right there at the back young lady." The clerk replied with a smile of his own and with a nod of her head, Quinn made her way to the back of the store to the glass freezers that held an array of drinks from juice to beer. As Quinn studied the drinks, finger tapping at her chin in wonder of what her grams would want, a faint 'psst' made its way to her. Quinn could see someone in her peripheral but she didn't want to turn around and give them her attention. Her grams' only rule was don't talk to strangers and she was going to follow that one to a tee; lest she never get to go anywhere on her own again.
Quinn ignored the request for her attention and went back to looking at the beverages, deciding that her grams would probably enjoy a coke just like she did. Just as Quinn went to yank the freezer door open to pull out the glass bottles another 'psst' was called to her. She turned to see a little brunette girl, probably about the same age as her, waving her over. Quinn didn't know this girl from jack so she looked around just to assess that this girl was in fact talking to her.
"Yes you Blondie." The brunette replied to the silent question with an exasperated tone and a roll of her eyes. Quinn knew she wasn't supposed to be talking to strangers but this girl looked like she could beat her up so she walked over to her, slightly confused as to what it was she could possibly want her for.
"Okay, I'm gonna need you to be my eyes." She said with a pointed look at Quinn to which she received a deep frown from the blonde.
"My grams said I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Quinn stated matter of factly and once again the girl was sighing and rolling her eyes. She then stuck out her hand for Quinn to shake.
"Santana Lopez." The girl intoned as Quinn placed her hand in Santana's, to which the brunette gave a firm shake.
"There. We aren't strangers anymore. So you gonna help me or what?" Santana asked impatiently as she glanced at the scruffy attendant and then back to her.
"Well it depends on what exactly it is I'm helping you with." Quinn said with a raise of her eyebrow and her hands planted firmly on her hips. She had been trying to perfect that eyebrow raise to make her look menacing, just like it did for her mother and Frannie, for a few months now and she was pretty positive she had exceeded if the falter in Santana's face was any indication.
"Well its no guess that's it super hot today. So I want a nice cold soda." Santana said and once again a deep frown was marring Quinn's features.
"And what does you wanting a soda have to do with me?" Quinn asked, now crossing her arms in front of her. This girl wasn't making any sense.
"The fact that I'm going to take them without paying is what it has to do with you. I need you to be my eyes so I don't get caught." Santana replied truthfully and Quinn let out a tiny gasp, drawing the clerk's attention towards the two of them. Santana gave him a sickeningly sweet smile before turning back to face Quinn.
"Stealing?! That's illegal!" Quinn exclaimed in a scandalized tone.
"Oh really? I didn't know that. We got ourselves a regular Sherlock Holmes here." Santana replied sarcastically with another roll of her eyes and Quinn was pretty sure if she rolled her eyes any harder they would be on the floor of the Quick and Go.
"And keep your voice down Blondie!" Santana chastised in a stage whisper, hands waving about and probably bringing more attention to them than Quinn's voice.
"Quinn." The blonde intoned and Santana gave her a puzzled look.
"What?" Santana asked and this time it was Quinn who was rolling her eyes.
"My name is Quinn. Quinn Fabray." Quinn informed Santana.
"Alright then Quinn Fabray, be my look out." Santana declared, egging the blonde on so she would be her look out. Quinn sighed with a nervous look on her face. She knew this was the sort of thing her grams would want her to stay out of but she didn't know if she could tell Santana no. There was something about those big brown eyes, which reminded her of her puppy's back home, begging her to help her out.
"I don't know. What if we get in trouble?" Quinn asked nervously, wiping her sweating palms on the thigh of her dress.
"We won't. Look this guy has it coming. He's always hassling me and my buddy Puck about rough housing in the store or reading his crummy choice of comic books without buying them so we decided we'd lighten his load to a few sodas. Think of it as pay back for the trouble he puts us through." Santana remarked with a laugh and Quinn rolled her eyes.
"Well why don't you have your 'buddy' Puck help you out?" Quinn asked as she glanced at the time on her watch. She was pretty sure she had been gone longer than it takes to buy a few sodas from the store.
"What's with the 21 questions? Geeze, do you want me to map out a power point presentation for you or something?" Santana asked, getting overly impatient now.
"Plus he is. He's manning the door." Santana replied with a nod of her head towards the door to where a boy, with what looked like a squirrel on the top of his head, was just outside the door of the mart. Quinn guessed it was supposed to be a Mohawk but it really just looked like a rodent had died on his head. He was signaling at Santana to hurry up and she waved him off.
"So now that you know every detail of my plan, I ask again. Are you going to help me or have you just wasted my time? Don't be a wuss Fabray." Santana remarked with a smirk as Quinn mulled the idea over in her head. She could do the right thing and tell Santana no, get her sodas and leave or she could help Santana and wrack up her own points in stirring up trouble.
"Fine. I'll help you." Quinn obliged and Santana gave a little whoop before opening the glass doors and taking out two glass bottles of coke and handing them to Quinn before taking two in her own hands and then sticking them under her shirt. She 'oohed' and 'ahhed' at the chill from the glass. Quinn glanced back at the front counter to see the old guy nodding off in a magazine. The coast was clear.
"Alright, the old geezer is sleeping so on my signal just run okay?" Santana announced and Quinn nodded her head quickly.
"1…2…3!" Santana exclaimed in a whisper and they both took off from the back of the store. Santana was clear but just as Quinn reached the door she stopped herself. She knew she couldn't do it. She couldn't steal. It just wasn't in her. The clerk was woken up by the commotion and Quinn just placed the two sodas in her hand on the counter top.
"Oh and my friend had two sodas too. How much will that be?" Quinn asked with a shaky smile on her face.
"That'll be three bucks all together miss." The clerk retorted with a knowing look. Quinn placed the money on the counter, took her sodas, and booked it out of the shop. Once she was back outside in the heat, she saw Santana and her friend Puck waiting down the road for her. Quinn sighed and began to walk towards them and back to her grams house.
"What took you so long?" Santana asked, slowly taking a drink of her soda as the blonde finally reached them.
"I was paying for our sodas." Quinn declared in a clipped tone as she continued to walk down the road, Santana and Puck falling in line beside her.
"Aw come on, you paid?" Santana whined while Puck laughed.
"Yes I paid because stealing isn't nice. Even if that guy is an old geezer as you say." Quinn related and to that Santana rolled her eyes with a scoff.
"We should call her goody two shoes Fabray form now on." Puck chimed in and that earned him a laugh from Santana but a scowl from the blonde.
"I'd rather be called that than Puck. What kind of name is that anyways? Plus, it looks like you have a rodent on your head so I wouldn't be laughing at anything if I was you." Quinn said with a bite. Puck glared at her but Santana was laughing so hard that soda came out of her nose. That had them all in a fit of giggles.
"That was a good one Fabray. And as of now you aren't allowed to poke fun at her Puck because you have a squirrel on your head." Santana remarked bumping her should against Puck's and earning a smile from Quinn. Puck bumped her shoulder back and continued to drink his soda. The three of them walked in a comfortable silence until Santana spoke up.
"So Quinn did you just move here? I've never seen you around before." Santana asked kicking at a rock that was in her path.
"No. I don't live here. I live in Boston but my sister and I come down here every summer to visit my grams." Quinn related as she put one of the sodas she was carrying against her forehead. The heat was still sweltering and the chilled glass felt good against her skin.
"Boston huh? Must be a lot cooler than this crummy old town." Puck commented and Santana agreed. They were only nine years old and already they were tired of this small town. They already practically knew everyone here.
"Yeah it's nice. There are a lot of trees over there and it doesn't get nearly as hot over there as it does here." Quinn said as they were nearing her grams house. Her tummy grumbled just thinking about lunch.
"Well hopefully you don't get too bored over the summer and let me tell you that happens fast here. There isn't nearly enough to do in this town." Santana spoke up and Puck nodded his head in agreement.
"Stick with us though and you'll have fun." Puck said with a wink to Quinn which had her blushing. Santana just shook her head at the two of them with a slight smirk on her face. Pretty soon they were stopping at Quinn's grams' front gate.
"Well this is my stop." Quinn voiced and Santana looked at her surprised.
"Oh you're Ms. Fabray's grandkid? She's a cool lady, never yells at me for picking her flowers and doesn't tell my abuela half the trouble she hears me getting into." Santana said with a smile and new appreciation for the blonde girl. Quinn returned that smile as her grams appeared on the porch.
"I see you've met the resident trouble makers huh Quinn?" Betty asked with a chuckle from her place on the stairs. Santana laughed. Quinn made her way over to her grams on the stairs and handed her the sodas then skipped back over to Santana.
"Aw Ms. Fabray we aren't trouble makers we're just adventure seekers." Santana spoke up and that had Betty laughing.
"If that's what you're calling it now days. I don't want you getting my Quinnie Bear into trouble." Betty warned playfully. Quinn turned beet red at the nickname her grams had adopted for her and that had both Santana and Puck in giggles.
"Grams!" Quinn complained, not wanting that particular nickname to stick to her with her new friends. Betty waved her off.
"We won't get her into trouble. Promise. Scouts honor." Puck piped up and Santana bumped his shoulder at him being such a girl.
"I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you Noah Puckerman." Betty intoned with a chuckle which earned her a playful scowl from Puck.
"You kids want to stay for lunch?" Betty asked and they both shook their heads.
"No can do Ms. Fabray. My abuela wants me to water the flowers as soon as I get back. She said if I can't take care of them, what's the point of me planting them? She says its my duty to Mother Nature or something." Santana told her with an eye roll.
"Gotta babysit. Mom's got a double shift. Lunch and dinner hour." Puck supplied and Betty shook her head.
"Alright well you guys try not to get into any more trouble than you usually do and say hi to your abuela for me Santana." Betty replied and they both shook their heads.
"Will do." Santana agreed. As Betty headed back in the house, Santana turned back to Quinn.
"So we better get going. Pucks mom gets her panties in a twist when he's late." Santana accused laughing and Puck punched her in the arm playfully.
"She does not! I can do whatever I want!" He protested and Santana scoffed.
"Sure you can." Santana mocked before turning to Quinn and mouthing that he couldn't. Quinn giggled and Puck only glared at Santana harder.
"Anyways mi abuela will make me wash all the windows in the house if I am and if I'm gonna beat your butt in Super Mario like always, I can't be doing that junk all day." Santana explained with a pointed look at Puck who simply rolled his eyes at her but didn't deny that she always beat him in Mario. It was true. She did.
"So it was cool meeting you Quinn." Santana said turning back towards Quinn with a bright smile that was immediately returned by the blonde.
"Yeah goody two shoes Fabray." Puck added in with a chuckle to which he received a glare.
"Shut up Squirrel head." Quinn snarked at him causing Santana to laugh but punch him in the arm just before pointing at him warningly.
"Geeze I was only kidding!" Puck exclaimed before mumbling a 'girls…' under his breath and shaking his head.
"Don't listen to this dope. Anyways don't be a stranger alright. It gets pretty dull hanging with this lame-o all the time. I could use another girl with some intelligence around here." Santana joked and Quinn giggled.
"Oh I can imagine. You must lose brain cells just talking to squirrel head huh?" Quinn sassed with a smirk and a raised eyebrow daring Puck to say anything.
"Hey! What's with all the animosity?" Puck protested a frown on his face.
"Whoa careful using such big words Noah. You might just choke on one." Quinn replied and Santana let out a low whistle.
"I believe that's three Quinn and zero Puck." Santana jested, high fiving Quinn. Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and looked to Puck, waiting to see if he was going to come back with anything.
"Whatever." Puck grumbled and Santana let out another laugh.
"And the boy admits defeat!" Santana yelled, throwing her fist up in the air triumphantly.
"I'm just not saying anything because I don't want to make her cry." Puck claimed in a dignified tone.
"Yeah. Sure." Santana piped up disbelievingly. Santana threw her arm around Pucks neck and squeezed him a bit.
"Calm down sweetheart. We're just ribbing you. No need to get your superman undies in a twist." Santana intoned and Puck scoffed.
"Um excuse you; they're Batman thank you very much." Puck replied and both girls giggled.
"Anyways…" Santana drawled out, rolling her eyes at Puck.
"So we'll see you around Quinn." Santana said with a smile and Quinn returned it with a small wave. Puck gave her a dopey grin before the two of them headed down the road, Santana flicking Pucks ear causing him to spring into action, chasing her until they both disappeared from sight. Quinn smiled and then made her way into her grams house. It was nice and cool inside and the thought of food had her tummy rumbling again.
"Grams?" Quinn called out, kicking off her shoes and placing them by the front door.
"In the kitchen sweetheart!" Betty called back and Quinn bounced her way into the kitchen taking a seat at the table. As soon as she took her seat Betty placed a delicious looking sandwich in front of her with the ice cold soda she had gotten from the store earlier.
"Thanks grams." Quinn said, immediately taking a bite out of her sandwich. Betty sat in the chair across from her.
"I'm glad you made some friends today. That way you don't have to be cooped up in this stuffy old house with me the whole summer." Betty said as the blonde continued to dig into her lunch.
"I know me too!" Quinn replied excitedly with a bright smile, mustard staining the corner of her mouth and Betty chuckled at her enthusiasm. Quinn didn't have many friends at school. Most of the kids in her grade made it their mission to find things about the blonde that they could pick on her for; whether it be the way she looked or the way that she dressed. She was happy that Santana nor Puck seemed to care about any of that stuff. They just accepted her the way she was. They made her feel like she was good enough. Betty smiled at Quinn as she continued to eat, her legs swinging as she buzzed with happiness. Quinn just knew in her gut that it was going to be a really good summer.
AN: Well that's the first chapter. Hoped you guys liked it. This story is a work in progress but I already know what I want to happen with it so stick along for the ride. Each chapter will be alternating between flashbacks when Quinn and Santana were younger to the present day life of Quinn and eventually introduce Santana in later chapters. Just so you won't get confused I always let you know when the date is changed lol. Hopefully it wont disappoint ya'll. Remember reviews are greatly appreciated. P.S. if any of you were reading If I Lost Myself it was taken down, if you didn't realize that by now, and my old computer that the story was on blew out and I stupidly didn't back it up so as of now that story is no more. Hopefully the guy extracting the stuff I had on the old computer can be saved and I can re-upload. Thanks!