Destined Encounters

Part Two:

Third destined encounter:

Santana didn't give a girl this much thought like ever. There was just something about Quinn Fabray that intrigued her. She wanted to find out why this one girl, no woman was constantly on her mind.

Santana had been an out and proud lesbian for at least three years. She fell in love with her best friend, Brittany, but that didn't last long. They were meant to be best friends and nothing more. She did help Santana come out to her family and friends, most of whom are supportive.

She found Quinn to be mysterious and beautiful. She didn't know if she played "on the same team" though.

Not wanting to risk the opportunity of not being with her, Santana blew off her evening class in favor of tracking Quinn down. The only info she had to go on was the name of the school she attended.

She hailed a cab and gave the driver the name of the school and the street name. Then the driver sped off.

Within minutes Santana arrived at the school and got the attention of the first student she saw.

"Which way to the dorms," she asked politely. The guy pointed to a large building all the way in the back of the small campus.

Santana jogged over there and went into the building. She looked at the directory on the wall and figured out the general area of Quinn's room. She walked through the halls and was glad that no one stopped her. She walked to the end of the hall and saw Quinn's name on the door above a dry erase board. She knocked on the door and then waited. She tried again and there wasn't an answer. She took a piece of paper out of her notebook and wrote down her cell phone number.

She wrote, "Call me!" on top of the page with her number. I had her not sign the paper because I wanted to keep it exciting a little. She folded it and put it between the board and the door. It hung out so Quinn wouldn't miss it.

She then turned around and made her way outside. She went back to her dorm, made a cup of coffee, ate something, and did some homework.

At 11 o'clock at night, Santana's phone rang.

Seeing it was an unfamiliar number she immediately picked it up and said, "When you abruptly leave a person at a coffee shop, you're supposed to either say good-bye or give her your digits!"

"Santana," Quinn said and laughed.

"Yes, it's me. You've been on my mind so I wanted to at least give you my number and see if you wanted to get coffee, err, we already did that, dinner with me sometime," Santana asked.

There was silence on the other end, so Santana said, "It's okay, Quinn. It was nice to meet you. Good luck to you…"

Santana was about to hang up the phone when she heard Quinn scream, "Wait!" into the phone.

I made Santana bring her phone back up to her ear and ask, "Yes?"

"I'd like very much to have dinner with you, Santana. I'm sorry I hesitated," Quinn said.

"You're making me work for it…I admire that," Santana said and chuckled.

"No, it's not that…it's just…"

"What is it, Quinn?"

"Well, I've been hurt in the past. Like my entire past. I don't trust people that easily," Quinn said honestly.

"Thank you for your honesty. I just would like, very much, to get to know as little or as much about you as possible. If you're open to that?"

"I am and I want to get to know you as well," Quinn said happily.

"Great…so…"

"How does tomorrow sound," Quinn said after she checked her schedule.

'That sounds perfect," Santana said and continued, "I have all early morning classes. I get out at 3 pm."

"How's 6pm, then?" Quinn asked.

"Super," Santana said.

"Do you want to come here or should I come there," Quinn asked.

"I'll come to you," Santana offered.

"Great, I'm really glad that you tracked me down and that we are doing this. I promise not to spaz out on you again," Quinn said with a light laugh.

"I'm glad also. See you tomorrow," Santana said.

"Bye, Santana," Quinn said and then hung up.

I jumped up and down as I watched the phone conversation from above.

"Yay!" I exclaimed, "Now I got a lot to do…"

That night before Quinn went to sleep, she prayed.

"Dear whoever is listening, I need your help. I like Santana a lot, but I am also fearful that this will turn into something like I've had in my past. I pray that she can understand me and where I came from. I also pray that she'll see something in me that'll make her want to stay around. Uh, Amen!"

"Did you get that, Destiny," Prayers texted.

"Yes," I texted back.

Fourth destined encounter:

At 5:45pm Santana hailed a cab and gave the driver the street that her dorm was on and was taken directly there. She had purchased a single rose earlier that day, so she held onto it for dear life.

"Just be you," Santana pep talked herself.

When she arrived at the dorm, she paid the driver and got out of the cab. Once the door was shut, the cab flew out of sight.

She nervously walked into Quinn's dorm and directly to her room. She knocked two times before Quinn opened it.

"Hey," she said and smiled.

Santana froze because Quinn looked exquisite.

"You look beautiful," Santana finally said and held up the rose for Quinn.

Quinn took it and smiled as she smelled it. "Thank you," she said, "Come on in…"

She walked into her room, but kept the door open.

"Santana, are you coming in?"

"Um, yeah, sure," she said apprehensively. She put a toe just inside the room.

"Are you alright," Quinn asked as she picked up on Santana's apparent nervousness.

"Yeah, I, just…can we go?"

"Sure," Quinn said and grabbed her purse.

They walked back into the hallway and she locked her door.

They walked outside and as soon the air hit Santana she lightened up.

"Where are we going?"

"Um, I thought pizza and then just walking around…unless…"

"That's perfect! Santana, Um, I thought we were walking," Quinn said as Santana was hailing a cab.

"Oh, sure, I never thought of walking from here!"

As they began to walk to the pizzeria there wasn't any conversation. It was neither a comfortable or awkward silence.

"So, how old are you," Santana said to break the ice.

"20, you?" Quinn asked.

"19," Santana replied, "when's your birthday?"

"February 1st! You?"

"July 14th…"

"Great! Um, Santana," Quinn asked as she stopped walking.

Santana immediately stopped and turned to face her.

"Yeah," she said.

Quinn hugged her. Santana was taken aback for a split second, but then wrapped her arms around Quinn. They hugged for a few minutes. Quinn sighed in contentment and then let go of Santana.

"Thank you," Quinn said shyly.

"You're mysterious, Quinn Fabray, but I wanna get to know you," Santana said and grabbed Quinn's hand. They walked the rest of the way to the restaurant like that.

Once they got there and sat down, they looked at the menu and placed their orders.

"So, I want to know everything," Santana encouraged.

"Oh, like what?" Quinn asked.

"Um, tell me about your family," Santana said as she picked a random topic.

Then she saw Quinn's demeanor change. Quinn lowered her head and said, "I don't have one."

Santana sat there in shock. She felt horrible that Quinn said that.

"Quinn, I'm so sorry!"

Now I thought that I should probably do something like rewind time a few minutes and change the question that Santana asked, but I don't possess that power. I also wanted to see what would happen.

"Santana, it's alright," Quinn said as she took a deep breath, "Want to hear the story?"

"Only if you want to share it with me," Santana said and took a sip of her soda.

"Yes, yes, I do," Quinn said and finally looked up at Santana. "I've done research with the agency that tossed me around from family to family. I found that my biological mother got pregnant with me and didn't want me. My father was not in the picture. So I was given away as soon as I was born. My 'mom' didn't want to hold me. I was placed into the system and was passed around. One families was nice, but the others weren't. When I reached eighteen I aged out of the system and have spent the last couple of years on my own. I lived in a hotel for a while as I tried to find a job. Then I upgraded to a lousy apartment. I was kicked out cuz I couldn't pay my rent on time…"

"How did you get to college?"

"The one thing that made me survive was my love of learning. I loved, and still do, love to learn. To soak up all the knowledge that I could is the best thing for me. I graduated from high school, night school, and went forward. My teachers wrote amazing letters of recommendation to a few schools. I chose this one, well, I don't know why I chose this one actually! While I was in foster care, I benefited from those 'perks' and had a fund set up for my college education. I couldn't touch it until I received the acceptance letter at New York Law School."

"IT WAS ME!" I screamed down at them from up above.

"Hmm," Santana said. Then she had a personal question. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure," Quinn said and smiled.

"Weren't you adopted?"

Quinn drew quiet again and Santana drew nervous. "If it's too personal…"

"No, not at all," Quinn said, "Just trying to figure out how to answer. Long story or short?"

"Whatever you're most comfortable with," Santana encouraged.

"Well, almost," Quinn said flatly.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what that means," Santana said shyly.

"It means that a couple came to one of the foster care places and, I thought, fell in love with me. I was promised that I'd be adopted by them. So I get all ready with my little suitcase and I have on my little pink dress with my hair up in pigtails. I sat on the stoop for hours and no one came for me. No explanation why or anything. That was the last day I ever wore a dress," Quinn said with tears falling down her cheeks.

"Console her Santana!" I yelled at her.

Santana got up from her chair and walked over to Quinn. She raised her head up to look at Santana with tears in her eyes. Santana extended her hand to Quinn, which she took. As soon as they made contact, Santana pulled Quinn up and into her arms and hugged her tightly.

Quinn lost it then. She began to cry and cry with no end in sight. Santana didn't say a word. She was just there for Quinn and would be no matter how long it took. She massaged Quinn's back with her hand.

Quinn never really allowed herself to cry over her life. She prided herself on being strong. When times were extremely difficult, she would cry herself to sleep. Prayers told me that right after Quinn would pray, she would just cry for a few minutes and then fall asleep.

This feeling of being vulnerable with a person was new to Quinn and if anyone asked her she'd deny it, but she enjoyed it. She was shocked that a complete stranger, pretty much, allowed her to do this.

Quinn finally looked up at Santana while still in the embrace. Santana looked at Quinn and for a second there I thought that they might kiss. But something stopped them.

"Uh," Santana said with her arms still around Quinn, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, thank you so much for comforting me," Quinn said humbly.

"It was nothing," Santana said as she held Quinn's chair out for her.

"It was everything," Quinn said as she sat down, "I haven't done that in a long time. I don't let myself."

"It's okay to be vulnerable sometimes, Quinn," Santana said sincerely.

Quinn just listened and nodded her head.

"What about you," she asked to change the subject.

"You want to hear about my childhood," Santana asked surprised.

"Of course," Quinn said and smiled.

"Well, it was typical," Santana started, "Two parents, only child, strong family. Until something happened."

"What happened," Quinn asked intrigued.

"I came out," Santana said.

"Out of what?" Quinn asked.

"I came out," Santana said again.

Quinn's face told Santana that she got the meaning. "Oh, I guess it didn't end well."

"No, it didn't. My parents are supportive enough to deal with it. My Abuelita…"

"Who?" Quinn interrupted her.

"Oh, sorry, my grandma, disowned me like totally," Santana said and lowered her head.

"Oh, Santana, I'm sorry, were you two close," Quinn asked.

"Yes, I used to go to her house after school and she was like a second mother. When I told her and she rejected me, I felt so low and useless. If my own grandmother couldn't accept me who would…"

'Wow, I'm sorry," Quinn said apologetically. "Do you regret coming out?"

"Nope," Santana said proudly, "Once I found out who my true friends would be and that my parents were kinda accepting, I thought I'd be alright. So another personal question coming at ya!"

"Shoot," Quinn said and smiled.

"Are you straight?"

"No," Quinn said straight forward.

"Are you a lesbian?"

"Maybe," Quinn said as she questioned it.

"Can you define 'maybe'?"

"Maybe…" Quinn said and chuckled.

Santana smiled, but didn't say anything.

"Am I a lesbian? I don't know. I've been attracted to more girls than boys over the years and I tend to gravitate more to girls. I just thought it was because I never truly had a mother," Quinn said.

"Are you sexually attracted to women," Santana asked shyly.

"Some," Quinn responded quickly.

Santana took a deep breath. Quinn saw this and smiled.

Then their meals arrived and they devoured them. It was odd and strange to me to watch from above.

After a while of eating in silence, Santana asked, "How was it?"

"Yummy," Quinn said and then blushed.

"That's good," Santana said and smiled, "Do you want anything else?"

"No, I'm okay, thank you."

Santana waved the waiter down and asked for the check. As it was delivered Santana extended her hand and grabbed it.

"Can I help," Quinn asked.

"No, I want to treat…this time!"

Quinn smiled warmly. "Thank you!"

Santana was mesmerized by Quinn's eyes when she smiled.

She stared at Quinn for a while.

"Can I take that," the waiter asked when he came back.

"Oh, oh, thank you," Santana handed him her credit card.

"What were you looking at?"

"You," Santana said boldly. Quinn smiled again.

The waiter came back with the receipt and she signed the paper. Santana then put her credit card away and got up. Quinn followed. Before they moved away from the table, Quinn grabbed Santana's hand and gripped it tightly. They exited the establishment like this.

When they were outside, Santana asked, "Do you still wanna walk around?"

"Absolutely," Quinn said and pulled her away from the restaurant.

"So, I need to tell you something," Santana said apprehensively.

"Ok," Quinn said.

"I like you, Quinn, a lot. I'd like to get to know you more, if you're open to that," Santana said.

"Um, Santana," Quinn started, but Santana interrupted her.

"It's okay if you don't want to," Santana said in defeat.

"Whoa, wait a second. You don't know what I was going to say," Quinn said defensively.

"I'm sorry. Please go ahead."

"I was going to say, that I like you too, but I don't trust people easily. Ya know because of my past experiences…"

"Oh, I totes get that," Santana said.

"Totes," Quinn asked with a smile.

"My word for totally," Santana said.

"I may push you away at times cuz that's all I've known," Quinn said sadly.

"You can try to push me away all you want, my dear, but I'll always stay around," Santana said intensely.

"Really," Quinn asked shocked and utterly happy. She thought she might cry. No one has ever really wanted to stay around for her and with her.

Now it was Santana's turn to stop walking. She said, "I like you, Quinn. I think you're a very strong person for all that you've survived in your life. I doubt I'd be able to do it with half the style and grace that you have. I'd like to get to know you. We can get to know as much of each other as you'd like. I don't know…there's just…just about you that pulls me to you. I can't explain it…"

"I can," I yell loudly from high above them.

"I know what you're saying," Quinn said. "From the first time we met until now I've never felt the need to see someone so strongly."

"Me too," Santana said, "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"Hmm, I think we should get to know each other with no pressure and see where it leads us," Quinn said rather happily.

"I agree," Santana said.

After they made their agreement, they talked about everything they could think of. They decided not to delve into questions that related to intimacy. They thought they'd have all the time in the world for that to happen between them.

All of a sudden it started to get late.

"I'll walk you back to your dorm," Santana said chivalrously.

"My hero," Quinn joked.

They walked hand in hand as they shared a completely comfortable silence.

When they were at Quinn's door, they both got shy.

Quinn was the first to say. "I had such a great time, Santana. Thank you for dinner and everything we talked about."

"I enjoyed myself too," Santana said and smiled.

"When can I see you again?" Quinn quickly asked.

Santana chuckled, but said, "You know we never talked about our favorite movies. What do you say to a movie marathon weekend, this weekend?"

"I think that's amazing! I'll come to you?" Quinn asked.

"Sure, I'll host," Santana said, "Come by Friday night at 7-ish?"

"I'll be there," Quinn said happily, "I'll bring some movies that I have."

"I'll get food," Santana said, "Any requests?"

"Surprise me," Quinn said.

Before Santana walked away, Quinn pulled her into a soft hug. They both could feel the other's chests and they both inhaled their scents as if to hold them over until the next time they'd see each other.

Santana let go first and started to walk away.

When she got to the end of the corridor, Quinn yelled, "Hey, Santana!"

"Yes, Quinn?" Santana yelled back.

"Can I text you in between now and then?"

"You can text me anytime you want, Quinn. I'll always respond," Santana yelled happily and blew her a kiss.

Quinn smiled as Santana walked away.

Quinn was so happy that she found Santana and that Santana had found her. She couldn't quite explain the connection and spark just yet.

I was extremely happy that I had a hand in their meeting. However I knew if I wanted them to have a happy ending, which I did, I needed to visit Love. I really didn't want to, but saw no other alternative.

"Hi, Love, it's Destiny," I said shyly after he opened his door.

"Hey, Desty, what I can do for ya," Love said manly.

"First, it's Destiny. I need your help," I said.

"With what?"

"I've brought two people together and I think they deserve to fall in love," I said honestly.

"Why are you so sure they deserve to fall in love?"

"Well, each girl has had a difficult life so far and I just think…wait a minute, everyone deserves love," I said a little angrily.

"Cool your jets! I was just askin'!"

"Oh, ok, so can you help me," I asked.

"I can do it," Love said.

"No, I said help me. Not totally take over," I insisted.

"What are you saying?"

"I want you to give me some of your powers only for this one case," I pleaded.

"I don't know," Love hesitated.

"Look, Love, it's not gonna make you any less powerful, you know? I just want and need to do this by myself. I think I deserve that," I said with conviction.

"You're right," Love started, "But I will be watching!"

"Ok, ok," I surrendered.

Love then walked up to me and put his two hands on my shoulders. "I hereby give some of my powers to you, Destiny!"

I felt a little surge of whatever he sent me. "There you go," he said.

"That's it?"

"Pretty much," he said, "Good luck!"

I left his office and went back to mine.

I immediately called Prayers!

"Hey, Prayers, it's me…"

"Hello, you," Prayers kidded with me.

"Guess what I just did," I said excitedly.

"I dunno," she replied.

"I got some of Love's powers for awhile."

"No way," she yelled.

"Yup," I said, "He's gonna watch over me though. I think that's wise to do. Got anything for me?"

"You're in luck my friend…both Quinn and Santana have prayed tonight for each other."

"Cool! What's Santana's prayer?"

"She asked to be able to make sure that Quinn knows that she doesn't have to be afraid that she'll hurt her. And she wants Quinn to know that she's gonna stay around despite any attempts to be pushed away," Prayers said.

"Aww, that's sweet…and Quinn's prayer," I asked.

"Quinn wants their relationship to turn into something special for her, but she is afraid that she'll ruin it like she thinks she has ruined everything else in her life," Prayers said sadly.

"Oh, okay," I said and took a sigh.

"Yea, I know…"

"Keep me posted," I said.

"Absolutely, good luck," Prayers said and then hung up.

As Quinn was lying alone in her bed, she was thinking about her "date" with Santana. She wanted to talk to her so she pulled out her cell phone and began a new text message…their first one.

Hi, it's Quinn, did we just have a first date tonight?

She sent it and put the phone down on the comforter. She took a few deep breaths and tried to fall asleep.

Then her phone buzzed. She picked it up and read.

Yes, it was…for me anyway. Was it for you?

Quinn thought about how to answer. She typed a simple "Yes!" and hit the send button.

Well, nice to hear. I think we have something special. I'd hope u'd think so 2. I'm excited 2 find out where this could take us.

Quinn's eyes bulged out of her head when she read Santana's heartfelt message. She had to answer it.

Santana, I 2 think we might have something. U're too good 2 b true for me. May I ask something of you?

Quinn sighed as she sent the message.

In a second, her cell buzzed again.

Of course…anything.

Quinn feverishly texted back.

I have the talent of ruining anything good that I receive. Please help me 2 not let that happen with us.

She wiped away a tear from her eye as she sent the message. Then she put the phone down only to pick it up in a minute.

Quinn, as we begin to form whatever we begin to form, friendship or intimate relationship, I promise that I'll help US not to ruin us. Okay?

Quinn smiled the brightest smile she had in a while.

Okay. Good night, Santana.

She sent the message and turned her screen off.

Then it buzzed for the final time that night.

Good night, Quinn!