Day six prompt, holiday Quinntana. Holy Cow, barely got this one in on time. Seriously 10 minutes to spare before its day 7.
QW14- Day 6: All I Need Is You
"I think every Christmas should be like this." Quinn says softly in the dark. She snuggles in a little closer to Santana.
Santana turns her head and stares a little incredulously at her girlfriend. Her teeth are chattering and you can see the puffs of breath coming from their mouths. Quinn is currently settled on her lap and they are pulled off on the side of the road as a blizzard rages on around them because it was too dangerous to drive.
They were in the middle of nowhere and their only light source was an old flashlight that's brightness had a dulled over the years. They were supposed to have been at Santana's parent's house spending Christmas with her family. A warm fire in the fire place, Christmas carols, and the best food in the entire continental U.S… possibly Europe too. But no, instead they were freezing their buns off in her tiny little car, sharing the back seat trying to conserve heat, starving, and stuck until the storm passed. And Quinn, the love of her life, one of if not the most intelligent person Santana had ever known had just said that she wanted every Christmas to be like this.
"Um babe, I can think of a lot of ways I would like this Christmas and all of our future ones to go, stuck in the middle of nowhere, freezing our asses off is not anywhere on that list."
"Granted it's not the ideal location or situation but honestly, this is one of the best Christmases I have ever had."
Santana laughs, "You must have had some pretty shitty Christmases then?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth she would have given anything to be able to take them back. Santana knew exactly what kind of assholes the Fabrays were. Quinn had admitted to her that her father had been physically abusive, and that while her mother never got physical that she was just as bad emotionally. So why the hell would Christmas time make them act any more human.
"Yeah… I guess I have." Quinn says sadly.
"Quinn baby, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to-" Santana tries to apologize feeling about three inches tall.
"No, it's okay. You're right, Christmas wasn't all that fun for me. It just meant that there was no school to escape to. Some kids grew up counting down the days till Christmas, I spent my time counting down until I could go back to school."
"Quinn… I… I didn't mean anything by it. It's just for me Christmas was always such a great time, my entire family would get together and it was always so fun and I just-"
"San it's okay really. I understand that this isn't your ideal Christmas but can I explain to you why this, for me, is the best Christmas I have ever had?"
"Of course you can." Santana says as she hold Quinn just a little tighter.
"Growing up I always hated Christmas. My family, my parents weren't nice people. We'd go to church and we'd here all these different sermons about how Christmas was a time for giving and sharing and forgiveness and fresh starts and then we'd go home and if I was lucky my father wouldn't beat me and my mother would be half passed out drunk in the kitchen.
I wasn't present deprived, that was actually the one part of Christmas that people would say I was really lucky with. The living room would literally be covered in gifts, I don't know, maybe it was guilt. Maybe my parents felt so guilty for being the way they were that maybe they were just trying to buy my forgiveness. More likely they just wanted to show off, look at how rich we are and how much we can afford.
Anyway I would open my gifts, I would say thank you and then we'd go to the Fabray family Christmas dinner. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents… basically the whole family would get together and then we'd sit at this huge dinner and have this beautifully prepared gourmet Christmas dinner, because hey, who the hell actually cooks their own Christmas dinner right?" Quinn scoffs bitterly.
"The dinners always looked to be the picture of perfection but I can promise you that no matter how good the food may have tasted it always left a foul taste in my mouth. We'd eat in almost complete silence. You could cut the tension at that table with a knife. And if anybody spoke up it wasn't to wish someone a merry Christmas or to wish someone well or show any gratitude for all of the things we were blessed with, it was to take a snipe at another person or to bitch about something.
It was just a bunch of angry bitter people with too much time and money and a severe superiority complexes all sitting around trying to outdo each other. By the time we left I was always depressed and my parents were in a worse mood than when they arrived. The tiniest thing could set them off, hell one year I got screamed at on the ride home because I accidentally spilled some food on my dress, I was five by the way."
Santana has tears streaming down her face at this point, "Quinn-"
"Anyway, that should give you an idea of what Christmas was like for me growing up… and then I got pregnant and I got kicked out of my house. I spent that Christmas alone, I don't even remember who I was staying with at the time but I did know that I wasn't welcome to intrude on their holiday. I was just the pregnant tramp who was mooching off their kindness.
And when I moved back in with my mom, the damage had been done. I didn't know how to even talk to her. I was always afraid she would change her mind and kick me out and I would have nowhere to go. And as time went on I could tell that she resented me, she began to blame a lot of her problems on me and my actions. So those two Christmases where it was just the two of us were spent in an awkward silence as we ate take out, both of us trying to put forth some kind effort but wishing we could just get the hell out of there. And then I went to Yale and I had no one there really so I spent those Christmases alone."
Through all of her story Quinn's voice and demeanor had betrayed no emotion. And to Santana's surprise when she finally does let something show, it's not tears or anger or resentment. Quinn smiles at her warmly and leans forward and gives her soft kiss. "Then three years ago you and I got together. You asked me out and we started dating. By that time I had pretty much stopped celebrating Christmas… or any holiday really, I just never really had any reason to celebrate. But you were always so enthusiastic that I played along and eventually I started to appreciate what this day could really be.
"You let me spend Christmas with you and your family and you didn't ask for anything in return. You just wanted to share your happiness with me and so for the last three years, Christmas has actually been something to look forward to and enjoy. But the reason that this one to me is so much better than even those is that this is the first Christmas where it's just you and me. And yeah the lights and the trees and the carols and the food are all good, but to me, Christmas is you.
Christmas is supposed to be a time of renewal for the world. And that's what you are to me, you took away from me all of the bad things that happened in my life and replaced them with the good. And so here we are, completely alone in the middle of nowhere and yet I'm happy because you're here. And I get to share this day with you and I know you miss your family and for that I am sorry but I can't help it, I'm happy. I'm here with you and life is good."
Santana was all but a blubbering mess at this point. She crashes her lips to Quinn's and kisses her as fiercely and as passionately as she ever has. Words seemed so paltry, so insignificant, so in adequate in being able to describe how she's feeling about the girl on her lap. So Santana kisses her with everything she has in the hopes of conveying just how important and just how special Quinn is to her.
Finally the need for oxygen becomes a necessity again and Santana pulls back. Both girls are panting and Santana is staring intensely into Quinn's eyes. "Querida, I love you more than anything in this world. You are everything to me and you're right, any Christmas I get to spend with you is going to be the best. I don't need anything but you and I promise you, I fucking promise you, that I will always be there for you to make this day and every day special. I love you."
"I love you too and so that's why I got you this." Quinn reaches into a pocket inside her coat and pulls out a tiny little wrapped box.
"Awe baby, thank you." She holds the little wrapped box in her hands like it's the most precious thing in the world because to Santana it was. "My gift for you is still in the trunk…" Santana looks out the window and the blizzard doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. "I…" Santana hesitates before firming her resolve. "Let me just quickly go get it for you and-"
"Santana Lopez! You are not going out there in this weather!" Quinn scolds her before smiling softly. "It's too dangerous plus… I kind of really want you to open this right now."
"Okay." Santana says as she begins to carefully unwrap Quinn's gift, a stark contrast to the way she usually just tore into her presents. It's a tiny little box and Santana's eyes widen in shock and she stares at Quinn in amazement. Quinn is looking at her a hopeful smile on her face and she nods her head encouragingly.
Santana opens the box and gently resting inside is the most beautiful engagement ring Santana had ever seen.
"So how about it San, will you marry me?" Quinn asks after a few seconds of silence.
"Yes." Santana gasps breathlessly, almost too choked up to form a real sentence. "A thousand times yes."