Quinn yawned and squinted her eyes against the sun as she favored Santana with a goofy grin. "That was by far my favorite last day of school. Ever."
"You sound like you are in middle school. Stop talking. Please."
And Quinn stopped talking. Santana relaxed and reveled in the sounds of summer: The whir of the filter in the pool, the sound of Judy Fabray flirting with her gardener, Brittany's high-pitched giggle each time she dove into the water.
As long as Quinn stayed silent, this would be a beautiful way to celebrate her first afternoon of freedom from McKinley. Santana couldn't help but smile as she watched Brittany again make her way to the diving board.
"You saw her, right? She kissed me back. Just like at Nationals."
Santana wanted to pitch Quinn into the water. She was becoming insufferable. She knew how long Quinn had wrestled with her feelings for Rachel. Santana had been waiting for the moment when an argument between Quinn and Rachel ended with one of them kissing the other. But, until the Glee trip to New York, Quinn had rarely spoken of Rachel. She was beginning to suspect that Quinn wasn't going to act on her attraction at all.
She certainly hadn't expected Quinn to be sobold as to kiss Rachel in public. On a stage. In front of a shit-load of people. Who did that in real life? It only happened in romantic comedies.
And Quinn hadn't ended it there. Nope. She'd needed an encore.
(Break)
It being the last day of school, Santana was too distracted to pay much mind to Quinn and The Rachel Problem. And, anyway, she didn't even come across Quinn until right before glee club.
"I haven't seen Rachel today."
"Good. You aren't supposed to see Rachel. I'm proud of your restraint, Q."
Both girls turned to the door at the same time. Santana could just make out Rachel and Tina talking.
She was on the verge of telling Quinn to remain calm, don't stare at Rachel, get through the hour without…
Before she could even finish the thought in her mind, Quinn had bolted out of her seat and headed toward Rachel.
And before Rachel could even speak, Quinn had attached her lips to Rachel's. Even Santana had to admit that the kiss was pretty hot. Even though it was short-lived. Rachel had shoved Quinn backwards and shot Tina a bewildered look before turning her attention back to Quinn.
"Your hair looks very nice, Quinn. I always suspected you'd be even prettier with short hair."
Santana found that an odd reaction, even for Rachel. Where was the tantrum?
Quinn's response was to lean in and try to kiss Rachel again.
Rachel pushed Quinn away for the second time. "Do not try to kiss me anymore! You stand to gain nothing. Nationals is over. Or are you planning on trying to kiss me at Sectionals next fall, therefore ruining our chances of even qualifying for Nationals?"
"I plan on kissing you everywhere."
Santana cringed at the dopey smile on Quinn's face. Where the fuck did Quinn learn such lame pick-up lines? But she couldn't help but laugh as she watched Rachel's face quickly turn red. Rachel frowned at Santana before brushing past Quinn and out the door.
She never came back for glee club. But Quinn seemed fine with that. And Santana spent the hour thinking of ways to reprimand Quinn for violating the rules of not approaching Rachel.
Which is how Santana found herself at Quinn's house that afternoon: She had demanded full access to Quinn's pool for the entire summer. It definitely wasn't the worst punishment in the world, but the way Quinn was going it was only a matter of time before she'd have to come up with others.
Quinn broke the silence. Her conversational abilities were clearly stuck on repeat mode: "She kissed me back."
"Is that how you lull yourself to sleep at night, Q? Mumbling about Rachel Berry kissing you back."
"That's two kisses. Two." Quinn held up two fingers.
Santana swatted Quinn's hand. "I can count, dipshit. Are you forgetting that she also ran away from you? Twice." Santana resisted the urge to poke two fingers into Quinn's chest.
"She's just playing hard to get."
"Is that really and truly what you think?"
Quinn paused. Santana watched Brittany dive into the pool as she waited on Quinn's response.
"I don't know. Maybe. It's what I believe. She did tell me I'm pretty."
"Correction: She told you she liked your haircut. And how could she not? I'm the one that cut it."
"No. She did say I'm pretty. Her words were 'I always suspected you'd be even prettier with short hair.'"
"Sweet Mother of God, did you memorize her exact words?"
"Yes." There was that ridiculous smile on Quinn's face again.
Santana couldn't take it anymore. She rose from her seat. "Stay away from her. She's not playing hard to get. She's angry with you, even if she kissed you back. It was probably just her reacting on an impulse. Or she wouldn't have pushed you away or gotten mad at you."
Santana jumped into the pool and ignored Quinn's comeback by dunking under the water.
(Break)
The first few days of summer went by rather smoothly after that. Santana spent every afternoon lounging on the deck of Quinn's pool. Quinn said nothing about Rachel. Santana couldn't tell if this was Quinn's way of pouting or plotting. Probably a bit of both.
She put all her money on plotting when the three girls spotted Rachel at the mall during the second week of summer break.
They might have been okay had Brittany not run squealing over to Rachel. Brittany enveloped Rachel in a bear hug. Santana almost gagged. Her girlfriend was touchy-feely to a fault. Santana couldn't even entertain the thought of being within hugging distance of Rachel. But it was Quinn's reaction that caused Santana to wish she had skipped breakfast. It was a nauseating sight to behold.
Quinn nuzzled in-between Rachel and Brittany to where she was now hugging Rachel while Brittany was left dangling her arms loosely around Quinn. Santana's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. What kind of warped world did she now inhabit? She roughly dislodged Quinn's arms from around Rachel.
But she should have put her hand over Quinn's mouth.
"Rachel, would you go out with me?"
Santana's mouth dropped open at the same time as Rachel's.
Rachel didn't answer Quinn. Instead, she addressed Santana.
"Why are you letting her keep this up? Hasn't she done enough?"
"Hold up, Berry. I'm not helping Quinn with anything. I want her to stay away from you."
"Excellent. See that she does."
Rachel gave Brittany a clipped smile before moving past the girls.
Quinn sat down heavily on a bench. "I wish she would just believe me."
Santana huffed out her response. "And do you want to know what I wish? That you'd leave her the fuck alone!"
Quinn looked like she was about to cry. Brittany put her arm around Quinn and laid her head on Quinn's shoulder.
Santana didn't let either of them deter her. "You initiated contact with Rachel. And you know what that means."
She let Brittany choose the punishment this time, even though that proved a mistake. Brittany decided that Quinn could not wear dresses or skirts over the summer. Only pants or shorts.
Santana groaned. That was hardly going to prove worthy of keeping Quinn away from Rachel. She'd have to think of a better one. Something that might be a game-changer. Because Santana Lopez knew that Quinn Fabray was going to try to win over Rachel Berry by any means necessary. Unless Santana could think of a punishment bold and serious enough to cause Quinn to shudder any time someone so much as mentioned one Rachel Berry to her.
AN: Thanks for reading/reviewing/alerting!