Part Two: Redemption Song

Quinn did such a splendid job with theirs, Santana said she should start planning weddings for a living as a joke and she literally took her word for it. With the commission she made from selling them their first place, Quinn decided to take a break from real estate to plan her own.

Finn had proposed just six months after Brittany, shocking no one. The jaw-dropper came when they announced that in place of a wedding they would be having a "commitment ceremony" instead. Finn said it was in solidarity to Kurt. Quinn said she didn't care to participate in an institution that excluded the people she loved the most.

The first to call bullshit was her church. Quinn's pastor refused to officiate the ceremony if the couple didn't agree to sign a legal marriage license, so she stopped attending the same church she practically grew up in and started going to a non-denominational one instead. Finn had begun accompanying her then, knowing there was zero chance of running into Russell Fabray there. Quinn's estranged father hadn't even responded to her request to reconcile and walk her down the aisle.

The second to voice her reluctance had been Santana. Granted, she'd observed a dramatic change to their dynamic as a couple once they started to openly date again, but what she couldn't help finding shady was how they always went about their relationship in secret. If only for the fact that Santana spent most of her teenage years doing the same and never for the right reasons.

Perhaps she didn't think asking for Quinn's hand in fake marriage was sincere enough, even though Quinn hadn't really expected it, and Finn had yet to crack under the pressure she was already putting on all of them to carry out her dream wedding. Regardless, Santana still couldn't reconcile Finn's sudden change of heart about his past with her best friend. She'd kept her mouth shut because Quinn was over the moon and she didn't really want to be the one to burst her bubble. Brittany flat-out didn't agree with her, either. The hold she had on her quick tongue was bound to slip eventually but Santana rationalized this was as good a reason to leave it alone for a while.

But then a few weeks before the wedding, Quinn held a small gathering at their old apartment as an excuse to get her guests to help finalize the cake and menu. It wasn't a complete bum deal, the food was tasty and Santana never turned away a free meal, but most of their friends were still out of town so the only people that showed were Quinn's colleagues, Finn, and Matt. Santana sat quietly against the arm of the couch, bored out of her mind while Brittany and Quinn chatted animatedly below her, eventually noticing how fantastic the view down the top of Brittany's dress was. She was ogling her wife happily when Quinn caught her and rolled her eyes. Brittany followed their direction, turning her head to find Santana still smiling to herself.

She shrugged unapologetically and Brittany smirked, raising an eyebrow and eyeing the glass of red wine in Santana's hand curiously. A friend of Quinn's started gushing over her engagement ring then and Brittany took the opportunity to turn around fully, patting her lap invitingly. Santana grinned before sliding down on top.

"You're blushing," Brittany observed smugly as she embraced her.

"It's the wine."

Brittany giggled. "I know."

Santana bit her lip, leaning in to whisper in her ear. "Wanna make out?"

Brittany didn't bother replying and simply reached for the back of her neck, ever eager for an excuse to do just that. Santana smiled into the kiss and pulled back after a second to shake her head.

"Not here," she leaned in to whisper again, pausing to brush her lips over the tender spot below her ear and basking in the way Brittany's skin instantly goosebumped.

"Sit for a couple of minutes then meet me in the bathroom?"

Brittany nodded, a playful smile dancing on her lips as she sucked the bottom one into her mouth and gazed after Santana's retrieving form.

Santana was baring her teeth in the mirror and running her tongue over the pearly whites when she heard a knock on the door. Throwing herself a kiss first, the giddy smirk that followed soon left her face when she opened it to a stranger. She sighed disappointedly and moved aside to let the guy in before spotting Brittany finally making her way over. A much better idea popped into her head then and she leaped across the hallway to lean against the opposite wall, hiding in the shadows. Brittany jumped when Santana snatched her hand in the darkness to pull her towards their old bedroom and into the bathroom inside.

She closed the door behind them, her lips curving into a mischievous smile as she turned them around and pressed Brittany against it. The blonde pulled Santana flush against herself by her belt loops and Santana's breath hitched, a feral growl escaping her before attacking Brittany's mouth in a hungry kiss. She gripped her hips with need, pressing against her insistently and whimpering into her mouth when the mere contact wasn't enough.

Brittany grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back, holding her just a few inches from her face to suck in a lungful. Santana surged forward again but Brittany held her in place and smiled breathlessly when she hissed. Her desperate tongue slipped out as far as it could reach, straining to give Brittany's bottom lip a tiny lick. Brittany grinned and mimicked the action, slower and with more tongue while still keeping Santana at a distance. Santana groaned and writhed against her hold until Brittany released her and like magnets, their mouths crashed together again in a bruising kiss. They moaned in harmony and made out sloppily for a few more minutes before Santana trailed her lips down to the inviting warmth of Brittany's neck.

She wrapped her lips around the pulse point and sucked greedily, earning her a gasp of delight from the other girl. Red wine wasn't her favorite but it always made her want to devour every inch of her. Just distractedly watching Brittany have a conversation had made her mouth water, not to mention the dress she'd worn to the shindig was decidedly Santana's favorite.

She was about to make an official statement about it, only momentarily distracted by the way Brittany's breath hitched when she scratched her perfectly manicured nails across the back of bare thighs, before she finally opened her mouth and someone beat her to the compliment.

"You look super hot in that dress."

Santana pulled back to shoot Brittany a puzzled look but the loud thud against the door quickly startled them both back up to speed.

"I look super hot in everything," they heard Quinn panting on the other side.

Brittany's jaw dropped at the same time Santana's eyes widened in horror, realizing they were trapped. She had every intention of yelling at them to stop, not really caring if they got caught doing the same as much as spending another second inside that bathroom, but then Brittany clamped a hand over her mouth and Santana froze in place against her better judgment. They were fully aware that their friends had a sexual relationship, but they'd been pretty discreet while they still lived under the same roof and even before then, Quinn had always been weirdly private about it so this sort of situation was new territory for them. Surely Quinn wasn't the kind of host to leave her own party for a quickie, though.

Santana resigned, shutting her eyes and trying to think about anything other than Quinn and Finn humping each other on the other side of that door, just inches away from their faces. Her eyes flew open again when Finn started grunting and images from a distant past inevitably flashed before her closed lids. Brittany had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. She brought a finger to her own lips, warning Santana to be quiet before removing her other hand to give her a tentative peck. Santana tried really hard to close her eyes again but then she heard a zipper that wasn't hers and immediately decided that she couldn't.

"Okay no," she vehemently shook her head. "No fucking way."

"Shh!"

The movement against the door stopped abruptly and Brittany swung them out of the way as it pushed open. Quinn glared at them, blushing while struggling to pull the tight skirt of her dress back down. Completely unaware, Finn leaned against the door frame with a dopey grin on his face.

"Hey ladies."

Santana scowled, muttering a quick apology before rushing out of the room with Brittany in tow and Quinn barking after them about this no longer being their apartment. An hour later she hid Santana's keys from them anyway when they both started slurring their words and passing out on her living room couch.

Santana woke up in the foulest mood the next morning as Finn moved about the kitchen loudly and Quinn argued with their caterer over the phone. She sat up and immediately clutched her head, shooting a particular glare in Finn's direction. Somehow she always failed to remember why she disliked red wine in the first place and the resulting headache was only being made worse by all the noise he was making. It was a wonder Quinn could hear the person on the other end of the line at all.

Santana must have set off his spidey sense because just as she was getting ready to growl at him, Finn noticed her awake and grinned like the number one fan of mornings.

"You're up! Breakfast is almost ready."

She briefly wondered if it was the sex. He probably just realized what he'd let go of back in high school after Quinn finally let him have at it. Putting a ring on her finger was a sure way to guarantee he wouldn't go without it ever again. Santana had no idea what about Quinn's baby maker drove men nuts, but she wanted nothing short of the perfect husband for her and Finn's track record didn't exactly strike her as promising.

Normally Santana would've hurled back an insult in broken Spanish, just to vent her frustration, but her stomach growled at the prospect of food. She mumbled one under her breath instead and shuffled over to her usual spot on the table. The scene was reminiscent of the months leading up to her and Brittany's own wedding, before they were finally able to move into their own home where it was always peaceful and quiet on Saturday mornings. Finn dumped eggs on Santana's plate as Brittany appeared right on cue from behind her, kissing her temple and plopping down on the chair next to her.

"Morning Britt," Finn said quietly as he emptied the rest of the pan on her plate, likely made aware of Santana's sour mood by the look on her face and attempting to be considerate. Brittany returned his greeting in a whisper and they shared a knowing smile. It annoyed Santana all the same.

As if reading her thoughts, Quinn placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of her, reminding Santana exactly why they were best friends. She would've kissed her had she not been raising her voice a few inches from her ear as she did, but the ibuprofen she placed next to the coffee before apologetically squeezing her hand sort of made up for it. Quinn hung up the phone shortly after and joined them.

"I'm sorry but if I have to worry about this on my big day, I will destroy lives."

She frowned at the bacon Finn nonchalantly slipped onto her plate.

"Babe, I told you, only yogurt and granola for breakfast. We're in the homestretch now."

"It's turkey!" He defended, the guilty smile on his face still giving away the poor effort he'd been putting towards making sure Quinn fit into her dress. She groaned and reached a hand to yank at his hair playfully when Finn leaned in for a kiss, anyway.

Santana took note of the way she happily obliged, the argument over the phone and the high calorie breakfast before her quickly forgotten. Even she had to admit the difference between the girl Quinn was in high school and the girl sitting next to her then was night and day. If Santana was truly being honest with herself, the giant kid looking back at her with stars in his eyes as she pulled away had a lot to do with that.

Quinn's phone rang again and she snarled at it, stuffing a piece of bacon into her mouth before getting back up to answer it. Finn's eyes followed her ass moving under her robe with a lopsided grin on his face.

"What changed?"

Brittany choked on her eggs next to her. "San!"

"What?" She shrugged innocently. "I genuinely want to know."

Finn waved his fork in dismissal. "It's cool, I'm actually kinda surprised it took you this long."

Santana narrowed her eyes accusingly; Finn wasn't exactly known for his stellar instinct, after all.

"Well Quinn said you'd give me a hard time..."

"I'm not giving you a hard time," she deadpanned.

Quinn glanced over her shoulder from the far end of the kitchen then, her phone still pressed against her ear. Santana flashed a cheeky smile and Quinn eyed her suspiciously. Finn chuckled at the exchange.

"Okay well, everything changed. Quinn was really there for me after Rachel left, you know?"

Santana snorted, immediately put off by his response. Finn must've realized how his words sounded out loud as soon as they left his mouth because he quickly retreated.

"I meant as a friend," he clarified. "I was too upset about Oscar to care about anyone else, to be honest. We'd never really been just friends before so, that was nice. I don't know, I guess she really helped me deal with not having him around and stuff. It made realize what that must've been like for her before. I mean, I wasn't really thinking about what it felt like to have a kid and then lose it back when we were in high school..."

His eyes drifted back towards Quinn, who continued to argue over the amount of guests she originally gave them versus the amount they actually bid her for.

"I'm not making excuses for myself, though," he continued, smiling distractedly as Quinn stomped her foot for emphasis. "I was kind of a douche back then and that's not who I want my son growing up to know."

Finn shrugged when Quinn hung up for the second time and walked back over, winking at her as she approached.

"She just makes me want to be a better person," he concluded despite her renewed attention.

Quinn's mood lightened visibly at his words. The leftover scowl from the argument she'd just finished having vanished and a sappy grin took over her face. Walking around his chair, she gently pulled his head back by a lock of hair and peered down at him curiously.

"My ears are ringing."

"Santana cracked," he explained, pointing a finger in her direction.

Quinn looked over, feigning annoyance by halfheartedly rolling her eyes and smiling fondly. She came up behind Santana and wrapped an arm around her neck, squeezing her head in semi-painful hug.

"Ow."

"Did you get it out of your system then?"

"For now," Santana admitted, unable to keep from smiling along when Brittany tilted her head sideways and tucked her hands under her chin adorably, beaming at their friends through the unfussy filter of childlike eyes.

In the end, Quinn Fabray did almost exactly as she said she would and Santana couldn't help but admire her resilience. As soon as she made up her mind to turn her life around, she sailed through every obstacle by simply refusing to end up another statistic. She never lost focus of what she'd always wanted until she was walking down that aisle, eyes locked on her first love and everyone that at some point had challenged her rather specific ambitions in life there to witness it all. They dared mock something so organic and pure as home and a good man and a stable, independent career, and Santana was proud of the perfect way she sort of threw it all back in their faces, shamelessly and without malice.

She'd learned a lot from her best friend over the last two years. It was Quinn who'd kept her anchored while Brittany was gone. She came to recognize the subtle way she constantly kept Santana from straying, keeping her focused on herself rather than the menacing distance between them. Quinn latched on to few, but took great care of those she loved like the fierce mother she was made to be and would subsequently set out to prove she was.

Further throwing everyone in for a loop, the couple announced that instead of a honeymoon they'd be going on a mission trip to some orphanage in Vietnam and asked their guests for donations in lieu of wedding gifts. The whole thing reeked of Quinn's idea but if Finn was upset about it, his demeanor never showed it. Santana thought that maybe all that church going was starting to get to him. She couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not, but at that point she'd stopped questioning their friends when she saw the ease with which everything fell into place for them, too. That wedding had every right to be a disaster considering the guest list and yet everyone in attendance was surprisingly merry and had a blast.

Santana found herself contemplating the unlikelihood of their unconventional families as Beth slipped out of her ballet flats and onto Puck's feet before he led her across the dance floor, all the while Quinn watched them lovingly from across the ballroom, bouncing Finn and Rachel's giggly 21-month-old on her lap. It shouldn't have worked but somehow it did. Somehow their lives ended up forever intertwined by fate, and only peacefully because it was.


a/n: I sincerely hope marriage equality soon dates this chapter. It's crazy I didn't even think it a possibility when I wrote this 3 years ago!