The dress shopping was painfully slow and so boring she struggled not to pull her perfectly prim ponytail out of the back of her head. In this way, Santana Lopez avoided the typical girl stereotype which stated you must love shopping, because she hated it. With a passion. There was nothing she found more annoying than being crammed in a tiny, badly staffed boutique with a gaggle of airhead Cheerio's who made her want to vomit. In fact, she'd taken the courtesy of putting the dress she'd decided on, on hold so that she could sit away in some corner and merely act like she was paying attention as they paraded around in an attempt to choose a dress which didn't make them look like a fat whore. The only reason she'd tagged along is because Brittany wanted her there (it was way too hard to turn her down) and it gave her perfect opportunity to steer away her peers from possibly purchasing the same dress as her. That would just be humiliating and Lima wasn't exactly the biggest place. The stores which sold suitable dresses were quite limited.
"Are you okay?" Brittany piped up, brushing some of her windswept blonde hair out of her eyes with a mitten clad hand. The ditzy Cheerio was concerned. Santana seemed particularly and uncharacteristically quiet and had done for their entire outing.
It was insanely cold out and everyone's cheeks were turned rosy from the ice-cold wind whipping at them and even layers of clothing offered only slight protection from what was proving to be one of the harshest winters Santana remembered. It hadn't snowed yet, but the skies above were light gray for as far as she could see and it gave the impression that maybe it would. Santana loved the snow, the thought made her smile.
It was just her and Brittany walking now, holding cups of hot chocolate carefully, close to them, in an attempt to maybe absorb some of their heat. The other Cheerio's had decided to tackle the issue of matching shoes, but Brittany and Santana were spared, as they both decided they already had suitable accompaniments for their dresses.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Santana nodded, half smiling before blowing at the steam rising from the hole in the lid of her cup.
It wasn't like she was lying. Everything was okay.. She just felt a little weird. Tired, maybe. The cold weather always did leave her feeling a little drained.
"You look a little pale." Brittany stated unhelpfully, pouting slightly before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.
Santana laughed as her friend poked her tongue out, eyes squinted. Obviously it was too hot and she'd burned the tip of her tongue. Again. You'd think she would have learned after the first couple of times, but nope. Santana was always left hearing stories about the little bumps on her tongue and had to blow on it until she felt better. That might have looked a little weird in the middle of a Christmas-shopping-weekend crowded Lima street, so she decided it would be a little more appropriate after they finished the walk home. It wasn't far from her home and as soon as they got in, they planned on switching to their pyjamas and hitting the movies in Santana's den. They would snuggle up in a mountain of blankets and beanbags and watch her ridiculously huge television just like they'd used to do at slumber parties when they were kids.
"You okay?" Santana chuckled before she was cut off by the obnoxious honking of a car horn and the sound of an engine slowing down to allow the car adjacent to drop to their walking speed.
Santana turned her attention from her best friend, before she got an answer of more than a head nod, to see who the hell it was, a slightly annoyed expression overshadowing her features.
Puck rolled down the slightly grubby window of his truck, his eyes focusing on the Latina Cheerio glaring at him. He couldn't help but smirk. She was kind of cute when she was steamed. His company, sat in the passenger seat, Mike Chang, happily waved at his two friends walking in the street.
"I was wondering if I could ride you home." Puck started, pouting innocently, his statement obviously directed at Santana more than Brittany. "I- I mean... give you a ride home. In my car."
Santana narrowed her eyes at him dangerously before responding to his quote with a swift show of her middle-finger. Transformers was her favorite movie, and he knew it. But did he have to quote it at her in the company of other people? It made her look like a total dork and she could not have people thinking she was a total dork. Even if it was the likes of two of her closest friends, Brittany and Mike.
She gritted her teeth in humiliation.
Puck leaned back in his seat and turned his attention back to the road in front of him, smirking to himself as Mike leaned over, holding two pieces of paper in his hands.
Thankfully, it would seem none of them had picked up on what he'd said.
"Britt, I got tickets for us to go and see the ice skating show you like. The one where my uncle is in the squirrel costume." He nodded enthusiastically. "It's in like, an hour. So I was thinking maybe we could get something to eat first or something?"
Santana pressed her lips together to try and stop herself from laughing. It was cute that he was asking her out and all; he took her to the ice skating every year, even if it was made for children, but couldn't they have at least stopped the truck to do it? Puck was still looking ahead, even though she was trying to catch his gaze to see if he found the whole situation as amusing as she did.
As if they were mind readers, the truck pulled to a stop and Mike jumped out after a quick fist-bump with Puck, darting around the front of the vehicle to stand in front of the now stationary girls.
"I know how you love it.." he said, looking down at the tickets in his hand, nodding his head as if to convince himself it was a good idea before peering back up at her. He kind of looked nervous, which was new. "If you want we can get candy canes too?"
Brittany looked up at Santana, wincing a little. Obviously she realized this entirely clashed with the plans they had to sit and watch movies and eat junk food and no doubt gossip about the two guys in their presence right now, and was in a way asking her permission to say yes. It wasn't like Santana could say no or even be annoyed that her friend wanted to blow her off to hang out with Mike. She and Britt could hang out at anytime but it was rare that Mike plucked up the courage to spend alone time with her, even though everyone knew he totally adored her. Except maybe Tina.. It was too cute and so Santana grinned and nodded her head.
"Go.. Me and the movies will be there next weekend." She told her friend understandingly, who immediately launched herself at her, arms pulling her into a tight hug. Santana smiled softly and hugged her back before continuing, "Just make sure you bring me back a candy cane."
Truth be told, Brittany was the only person who could have gotten away with that.
"Me too!" Puck called from the car.
Brittany naturally didn't get that they were joking, took them seriously and nodded her head, clapping her hands together excitedly as she released Santana from her grip. It made her look a little bit spastic, but it was cute.
"Thank you, you're the best friend ever. Of course I will." Brittany beamed, taking Mike's hand in her own. He grinned goofily and held up one of the tickets for her and before Santana knew it, in a flurry of goodbyes she was left alone, stood next to Puckerman's stationary truck.
"So..." he said, after a little silence, the familiar pout back on his lips again, suggesting that cogs were moving inside that little head of his. That was his thinking pout. "Really, do you need a ride home?"
Now that Brittany had gone, she didn't much want to endure the walk home on her own and she was feeling kind of tired. Turning him down would just be pointless, so, she adjusted her coat, took another sip from her hot chocolate and made her way silently around to the passenger's side, hopping in. Santana held up the cup for him to take so she could buckle herself in, and he did so, drinking about half of it down in one gulp. Clearly it wasn't as hot as it had been because he looked awfully tempted to help himself to a little more before she defensively snatched it back once she was securely belted in. His truck smelt like cheeseburgers and chlorine and it was a scent she was too used to, to be repulsed by, but really? If he was going to try and use his truck to pick up girls like she knew he planned on, he needed one of those pine tree things to hang from his mirror. Maybe they were always too infatuated with his charm to care what state his truck was in.
"My place or yours?" Puck smirked at her, pulling the truck back out of the stationary position and starting on the familiar route towards the house he spent more time in than his own, already knowing what her answer would be.
Santana rolled her dark eyes in response to what would usually be a proposition to sex, holding up the cup and its remaining contents for him. He took it without hesitation or thanks and finished it in a quick gulp, crushing the cup up in his hand and discarding it out of his window, before rolling it up once more in hopes of a little protection from the cold. Santana punched his arm, causing him to wince and rub at it with his free hand.
"With the state of your truck that could have stayed and no one would have even noticed." She told him curtly, resting her elbow on the door, her head against the window. The vibrations caused by bumps in the road made her head hurt, but she wanted to look out of the window.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, glancing momentarily from the road, frowning slightly.
Why was everyone asking her that today? Okay, so two people asked. But that was two more than was needed. Santana wasn't even sure there was anything wrong. It wouldn't be the first time she was in a bit of a weird mood without any explanation for it. Maybe it was lack of sex and that was entirely his fault.
"I'm fine. Cold. Tired. I kind of just want to get home and crash out on the couch and watch a movie without all your bitch talk." She answered honestly, pulling her hair band out of her hair, shaking it out and letting it fall around her shoulders, causing his eyes to linger a little longer than was safe while driving.
"What movie are we watching?"
Santana laughed silently to herself, shaking her head slightly.
Puck never subtly suggested he would join her in whatever plans she had and never did he ask for an invite. If he decided he wanted to join in on whatever it was she was doing, he would state it in a manner which insinuated she had no choice. It had always been like that. He hadn't changed since they were kids. Part of her wanted to tell him she wanted to watch the movie alone, just to burst the deluded bubble in which he thought she always wanted him around and would never say otherwise. But she didn't want to watch the movie alone. And company from him would be nice. Even if just watching a movie was regrettably all that had happened the previous night.
Santana shrugged.
"What movie do you want to watch?" she asked him, tearing her gaze from the people they were speeding past, focusing back on him.
"Fight Club." He smirked, knowing exactly what her reaction would be.
They must have watched Fight Club together about eighty times. Santana never had the heart to tell him she hated it, but he knew. And she knew he knew. When it came to him she wasn't the best liar. If he hadn't loved it so much, she would have regretted buying him his first copy.
"Puck, we watched Fight Club Monday."
"We're not watching Transformers again." He told her in an attempt to sound stern.
"Yes. We are." She smiled innocently, folding her arms across her chest, batting her eyelashes.
Rarely did Santana use the innocent look because being a bitch usually got her everything she needed. But this look worked wonders on Puck when they weren't under the scrutinising and watchful eyes of their McKinley High peers.
They both fell silent and the only noises to be heard were his fingers drumming on the steering wheel as they stopped at the red light. From there, the journey to her place was short, but they still neglected to talk to each other. It wasn't an awkward silence. Silence between them was never awkward, and in fact, was usually welcomed by Santana as a break from his immaturity. He looked as if he was thinking, and interrupting something such an uncommon occurrence seemed like a bad idea.
"We're watching Transformers again." He mumbled under his breath, looking scorned as he pulled up outside of her house, turning off the ignition and looking at her, taking in her cute little wind-swept appearance wholly. There was something about her that was so ridiculously eye-catching, regardless of what situation they were in. Now, it dawned on him. Maybe he should have used the silent time to negotiate which movie they'd be watching instead of thinking up the best plan to get her to dump that loser Finn Hudson and go to the dance with him. Stupid.
Santana led the way up the unnecessarily windy path, pouting and leaning down to pick up a parcel that was on the front step once she reached the doorway. Santana loved mail. She hoped it was for her. Before she had the chance to examine the label on the neatly wrapped brown package, or give it a shake to try and determine its contents, she felt a cold hand sneak its way down the back of her jeans, without any kind of warning, yanking her underwear up as if she was some freshman loser. It caused her to let out a squeak. Not because it was particularly painful, but because she was caught so off guard by his act of complete immaturity.
"Ooohh!" Puck snorted with laughter, quickly taking a step back for fear of losing his head as she turned on her heels, eyes dangerously narrowed in a way which made her look incredibly sexy.
Well, to him she always looked incredibly sexy, but there was something else when she was angry...
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
Puck could barely contain his laughter, especially as her mother opened the door with a look of disgust at her daughter groping her own ass.
"Santana Lopez, what are you doing?" she asked, turning her nose up a little.
Quickly turning on her heels, the younger Latina looked at her mother, letting her hands make their way into her back pockets, hastily trying to conceal her weirdo actions. They both stayed silent although Puck looked like he was positively about to burst if he were to hold his laughter in anymore. He was such an idiot and he looked away to avoid the questioning glances of Santana's mother.
Even though they had been friends since they could talk, he knew that her mother wasn't particularly fond of him. It puzzled them both, because shockingly, he'd never given her any reason to mistrust or dislike him. Unlike most other females he came in contact with. And her dad was best friends with his mother; it wasn't like the families didn't get along.
"You've company." Her mother continued, gesturing her hand inside in the direction of their reception room with mild disinterest.
Santana cocked an eyebrow. She had a visitor?
Puck's hand found its way to the back of his neck, rubbing at it awkwardly. Santana just stood there for a moment, obviously contemplating what her mother had told her and he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do. Did this mean he wasn't going to get to go inside? Damn it, he was so full of ideas, too. He'd gotten Mike to bring his ice skating plans forward a day early so that Puck could drive Santana home, knowing of course that she would be in town with Brittany while they searched for the dresses – she'd told him that earlier this morning. He'd even brought money with him so that he could buy her takeout later, while he was the one who sat and watched movies with her before he would seriously ask her whether she wanted to go to the dance with him. Just him. No swaps with Finn and Rachel. Whoever it was was seriously sending his plans to get his best friend back off the tracks. Suddenly he felt a little guilty and hoped it wasn't a sick aunt or something.
Without another word, they both made their way inside her house and he made sure to shut the door after him, as if to tell her he wasn't planning on going anywhere. Santana placed the package that was in fact addressed to her, down on the side table to open later, and it made him laugh silently to himself how she was still walking awkwardly as they progressed towards the reception room where her visitor awaited.
Well, the person waiting wasn't a sick aunt and Puck involuntarily groaned out loud in annoyance, but thankfully not loud enough for Santana or Finn to hear. It wasn't like he ever cared about being rude or anything.
"Uh, hey." Finn started, clearing his throat a little as if he hadn't talked in days, getting to his feet awkwardly. He looked as equally annoyed with Puck's presence as his fellow Jock was with his own.
To Santana's surprise, Finn looked as if he was dressed for an occasion.
"What are you doing here, Finn?" she asked, coming across as more rude than she had meant to. She knew she intimidated him and he looked nervous enough already.
"Well. We're going to the dance together, right?" he said it in a way which sounded like he still didn't quite believe it and already his voice was grating on Puck's nerves. "So, I thought maybe I could at least take you out to dinner or something. You know, so we can talk about the dance.. stuff."
Was he for real?
Santana was finding it hard not to laugh at how awkward he looked. Well, he always looked awkward, and she never let him forget it...But now especially.
"Dude, where in Lima do you plan on going dressed like that? I burned my Acafellas outfit." Puck snorted with laughter, eyeing him up purposely in a way which would bash his confidence – which already seemed shaky. "Did Kurt pin you down or something?"
Santana folded her arms across her chest. It was pointless defending Finn because she was asking all the same questions as Puck was, just in her head.
"I've got my car. I was going to take her somewhere out of town. I don't need to explain myself to you, Puck." He shot back defensively.
Santana and Finn both remained silent, but Puck sniggered to himself. Did he really thing she was going to say yes to going out with him? Puck wondered to himself. This was blatantly supposed to be a date, right? Santana didn't do dates. It was either sex or nothing and everyone knew it. The most she would accept from a guy was a burger after the deed was done. Or, in their own case, Chinese takeout was more her thing.
"You realize I'm just using you as my date to the dance so I don't look like a loser, right?" Santana finally spoke up, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. Maybe if she was harsh with him he'd tell her to shove it and she'd be free to go with Puck. Assuming he hadn't already asked Rachel, in which case she just wouldn't go at all.
"Yeah, I figured." He shrugged, holding eye contact with her for a brief moment.
Santana felt a twinge of guilt because it seemed like maybe he wasn't using her like she had assumed and there was something flickering in his eyes which looked a lot like disappointment.
"Okay. Good." She pouted casually before continuing, "Then I guess I'll come to dinner. You're buying, right?"
"Yeah, sure. Of course."
Puck stood still, his fists clenched slightly and his expression had melted away from amusement to disapproval. So she was going on this stupid date with him? Fuck. All his work had been for nothing? It was all screwed up because of this loser? He was Puckasaurus damn it, why wouldn't she want to spend her evening with him? And after all the trouble he'd been through to pick her up instead of just dropping by. Chewing on the corner of his lip he watched as Finn lit up and Santana turned on her heels.
"Looks like a change of plans. You can watch Fight Club on your own, loser." She smirked, kicking him playfully in the shin, giving him time to bring his leg up and almost trip her over.
Puck turned his head to watch as she made her way up the staircase, a little unusual spring in her step which he noticed as he checked out her ass. It was like she was happy about this shit. Surely she just pitied his ass since he broke up with Manhands, right?
"Did I interrupt your plans or something?" Finn asked as Puck still neglected to leave.
"Nah man, you saved me. Didn't want to sit and watch her shitty girl movies anyway. Nice one." He shot him his signature smirk before pouting a little, "Good luck."
With that, the shorter Jock left and regretted not taking her home to his to watch the shitty girl movies that he loved laughing at with her. Finn didn't save him from anything. Idiot.
