AN: Heeded your suggestions, here's Chapter 7.
Chapter 7– I'm Just Trying To Be, Happy
*Quinn*
"Quinn wait a minute. Seriously, could you stop for just a second? Quinn!" but you don't. You needed to get away and be anywhere but here so you kept walking instead, "Quinn we need to talk about this, please. I'm sorry!"
"Sorry?" you hated that word, you hated what it was a representation of and you hated why you were hearing it,
"Sorry?" her words replay in your head all over again and although you hated crying in front of anyone, you were powerless to do anything that would stop the tears from falling,
"I don't care that you're sorry because guess what? I'm sorry too but that's not going to change anything. There's nothing that you could say or-"
"Quinn-" crying made you feel weak and you hated feeling weak. You weren't bred to be weak. As a Fabray, it just wasn't done. Your dad would be a mix of even more disgust and disappointment if he could see you now.
"Don't," so you remove all trace of vulnerability long enough to deliver your next words with as much venom as you could muster, "Don't you dare."
It does the trick.
You're in your car and speeding down the I95 before you could think better of it.
"How could I be so stupid?" but you already knew the answer to that question. You were stupid because of love.
You never saw it coming but you could still hear the tires and feel the impact of the van smashing right into you, still feel the car flipping and see the roof caving in, still hear the shrill screams, still see the body, still feel your life slipping away...
"No!"
It happens like it always does when you go too far deep inside of your head and you're sedated like you always are because there's nothing else that can be done. You weren't sick anymore, not really. You lost a lot more than just a Porsche in the accident but you didn't like to talk about it or to think about it for that matter, hence the bad dreams. Your therapist said that it would get better in time but you knew better, you'd never be able to get that day removed from your memory. That was why you tried so hard to keep yourself busy all the time. It was always easier to forget when you were too preoccupied to remember why you even needed to forget in the first place. That's also why you fought so hard not to get sick either; it gave your mind to much freedom to wander.
You're not sure what day it is, but a sneaky glance at the illuminated clock on the nightstand reveals that it's 2AM. Puck's here with you as he always is but he wasn't asleep and you could practically hear his thoughts whizzing by in the air around you. He thinks that you're off in dreamland already but you're not, you haven't been able to sleep for awhile. The memories make sleeping a sordid affair and you've reached the point in all of this where the sedatives wear you down, but don't wear you completely out. Still, you pretend to be asleep for his sake because he worries too much and after the last time, he's surely worried enough. When this all blows over he's going to hound your every movement for months and even though you'll pretend to mind, you actually won't. He was like the big brother that you never had after all.
"It's all going to be ok Quinn," his words of assurance as he continues to run his hand through your hair, "You'll be shiny new and back to kicking ass in no time."
You could feel his eyes scanning your face, but you've gotten good at this game over the years and you're careful to keep your breathing steady and your face passive. If you were 'fully awake' his words would've been a whole lot different. You smile internally at his confession though. He was always verbally nicer to you whenever he thought that you couldn't hear him, the big jerk.
"I'm still mad at you for-"
There's a knock at the door, well at least you think that it's a knock. It's only when you feel him shift beside you that you know you were right. Who the hell was looking for Puck at 2AM? Probably Kitty coming to steal him away for some much needed alone time. She told you in no uncertain terms when she thought that you were asleep that she would kill you if you were anybody else because apparently their sexy times had decreased. It took all of the strength you had then to not give in and laugh your heart out.
"You look like crap," he says in greeting to whoever's on the other side of the door, "Hot crap but still crap. Seriously, have you slept at all?"
"Slow down there GQ but you don't exactly look to People's 50 most beautiful either," and your heartbeat quickens involuntarily at the sound of her voice, even in your delirious state you'd know that voice anywhere, "Rehearsal just finished and I thought I'd drop by to check in on the patient before I went to bed."
You can't tell for certain whose eyes are on you, but you get the feeling that their hers.
"How is she?"
"Better," he answers with a sigh, "I gave her something to help her sleep a while ago."
"More bad dreams?"
"More like nightmares," he answers again and you're sure that you hear her sigh, "But how about you? Show opens in one day right? Will you guys be ready in time?"
"I'm Santana Lopez; I'm ready all the time."
"I'm sure you are," and you stifle the urge to laugh when the sound of a smack reaches your ears, "Ouch! I didn't mean it like that."
"You're a guy," her tone self-explanatory, "There's no other way that you could've meant it."
"Obvious sexism aside-"
"So obvious." She interrupts.
"It's Thursday so you still have a day," he continues on through her interruption, 'Can't you like break the Jesse law and sleep in today? You look like you're ready to pass out."
"I'm already kind of breaking the Jesse law by being here right now," definitely a sigh, "He wants me solely focused on the show but, you know."
"Honestly I hate that guy. His hair-" but your ears tune out the rest of the conversation as your eyes peak open to try and focus on her. She's leaning against the doorframe and dressed head to toe in an all black Chanel sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. Her hair's up in a ponytail and she's smiling slightly at whatever crazy thing it is that Puck was saying about why he didn't like her manager. You have no idea what Puck was talking about because even in the soft light she didn't look like crap to you or maybe you were just being biased. Either way you felt sort of horrible because she should be resting but instead she was here, for you, again. It may be the pills but you certainly felt the ground shift beneath you a little bit more.
"Hey Santana," Kitty calls interrupting their conversation, "You weren't planning to leave anytime soon were you?"
"Nope," her posture shifting to fully face Kitty's direction giving you a full on profile view, "Why?"
"Because Marley is down for the count out on the couch and I was hoping to borrow this one here," she says walking up to him, "For a little while. We've got some stuff to talk about."
"That's your 'I want him to talk' face?" her gaze travelling in between the two, "Never would have guessed by the way you were looking at him."
"Well not all talking requires coherent sentences."
"That visual is disgusting on so many levels."
"Kitty c'mon, we can't-"
"Go maul each other or whatever disturbing thing it is that you two do," she says interrupting his retort, "Just so long as it's quiet and far, far away from my line of sight. I've been through enough horrible things in my life and I don't need to add that."
"No promises about the quiet part," Kitty's response and you can't see her smirk but you know it's there, "Oh and word of advice, you should lay with her this time."
"Come again?" her eyes glancing in your direction quickly to make sure that you're still unmoved before asking her question much more quietly, "What are you talking about?"
"Instead of lying on the couch, you should lay with her. There's enough room on the bed," Kitty continues and maybe you just might give her that raise, "We all do it. It's sort of a precautionary measure just in case she wakes up and she's disoriented."
"And who is this 'we' that you're referring to?" and Santana tries to keep the levelness of her voice but it wavers at the end. She obviously wasn't too keen on anyone else getting into bed with you.
"Oh you know, just the people close to her," Kitty answers in a tone that you know so well. She was toying with her in an effort to provoke a reaction but when Santana sets her jaw and sends her a glare that even you flinch at, she smartly gives up the fight, "Namely me and Puck."
He for the most part looked just as amused as you felt that Kitty would even try. The kid was good but you sincerely doubted that she would be any match for Santana Lopez. You still sort of doubted if you would be either.
"Does that happen often?" the glare sort of remains but there's concern tinged with sadness in her words.
"Often enough," Puck answers and there's a small silence before he continues, "You should hold her too, it keeps her calm. She's sort of gotten used to me doing it but I don't think she'd mind if you did it to."
Nope. You most definitely would not.
"Wouldn't she be able to tell the difference between you and me Puckerman?" her gaze flickering between you, the couch, you and then back to them, "And let's face it, I smell much better to."
"That's because I've been using your perfume," his retort earning him Kitty's laughter and a smack to the head from Santana, "Ow! You know what, never mind. Kitty we're out."
You don't see them leave due to your eyes being fastened to her but you know that they're gone. She remains standing against the doorframe for a long moment before she turns and fixes her eyes on you. You close your eyes then because you're supposed to be sleeping and on some level you felt like you were. Nothing like this ever happened to you in real life. Your dreams never came true.
You hear the faint sounds of shoes hitting the ground followed by her footsteps when she treads as lightly as she could across the carpeted floor. You risk a peak and your eyes find her standing close to the glass wall, a pout on her lips as her eyes focused on some faraway object. You can feel the weariness start to increase behind your eyelids and even though you were trying to fight it, you knew that it wouldn't be long now. You just wished that before it happened she'd get in the damn bed with you already.
"Well Quinn it would seem that you've got me right where you want me," her words said in a whisper, "If getting me into bed with you was your plan since day one you could've just asked. I mean you're crazy if you think that I would've turned you down."
You don't see it coming before the bed shifts under the new weight and suddenly you're engulfed in the scent of strawberries and something else that you can't quite make out, something that's entirely her. She's here, lying next to you and you feel her hesitate for a bit before you're almost passing out at the touch of her hand securing itself around your waist. You can feel her eyes scanning your face much like Puck had done and it's a lot harder to keep your breathing steady and your face passive under these circumstances, but still you try. You feel so much more relaxed with her here and if this was a dream you really didn't want to wake up and ruin it.
"Jesse is going to have a fit when he finds out about this because he's annoying and he annoyingly finds out about everything but I don't care. I would willingly break the law for you all over again, which is weird because I have absolutely no idea who you are and you have no clue who I am but it just feels right somehow."
And it does feel right. There's this connection that you've felt to her ever since that first day and now it was only getting stronger. You wondered if it was just you or if she felt it too. You hoped she did.
You can practically hear her heartbeat and in that moment, you don't think that anything has ever sounded more beautiful. You don't think that yours is beating at the pace that a sleeping persons would be but she doesn't seem to notice. She doesn't seem to notice your smile either.
"I don't know what I'm more pissed about, the fact that you won't remember this happened or the fact that I won't forget it did." her breath on your neck as she settles in behind you making you involuntarily shiver and her pull you closer.
It happens then and you're powerless to stop it. You're totally consumed by the blackness but as you drift off to someplace that you're not sure of, you can't help but think that it all feels different this time. The darkness doesn't feel so suffocating anymore, instead with her here with you it feels less frightening and more safe. It felt peaceful.
*Mercedes*
The first time that you met Santana Lopez, it's safe to say that you did not like her very much. She was a bitch for lack of a better word and she walked around like she owned the world. She was beautiful in all the ways that society had said that you were not and she was also cocky and self-assured where you were quiet and unsure. On the outside she was all of the things that you were afraid to be and maybe that's why you disliked her initially, but when you were both forced by your Music Theory professor to do a duet together freshman year at NYC, the hard exterior gradually faded away to some extent and you got to discover a bit of the real Santana Lopez and not the one who more than a few kids had come to know as Snixx. Her love for music further inspired your love in music and after you heard her cover Back to Black by Amy Winehouse at the little on campus jazz pub, you downed the last of your drink and offered to buy her next one. You didn't become best friends over night, but eventually you did and when she got that call to come in and sing for Columbia, she carried you with her. She trusted you to put your music production skills to work on her first official demo and the rest as they say is history.
"Hey," Santana says walking into the studio, "Mind if I hide out in here for awhile?"
"Well hello there sunshine," she gives you a half smile in response, "Haven't seen you around these here parts in awhile."
"I know but I've been busy with... stuff."
"Stuff huh?"
"Yeah just... you know, stuff," her eyes closing as soon as she hits the couch, "Not to mention that I'm tired and apparently whenever I'm not around all hell seems to break loose with the minions."
"Dani and Brittany?"
"That's what you would expect right but no, sadly now that Dani and Brittany seem to be cool I have to deal with Marley and Jake drama, Mike and Tina drama, Brody and everyone drama, not to mention that Jesse is becoming a pain in my ass," and she glares at you when you laugh, "Seriously I'm beyond pissed at this point and I swear that I'll kill them all before Saturday if they don't work their shit out."
"I didn't know that Marley and Jake were a thing."
"They're not but clearly they want to be and it's driving me crazy," a sigh escaping her lips as she silences her ringing phone, "If Jesse calls you don't answer him. I'm boycotting today."
"What time is rehearsal?"
"I don't know but whatever time it is I'm not going."
"Ok what is going on with you?" one of her eyes peaking open to look at you, "I only ask because you're acting weirder than usual."
"I don't see you for a day and suddenly I'm acting weird," her eyes going close again, "We need to talk about your co-dependency issues wheezy."
You knew her well enough to know when she wasn't saying something and ever since she disappeared on Monday, there'd been a lot that she wasn't saying.
"John called," you say in address to the clearly distracted figure lying on the studio couch, "He said that Love The Way You Lie should be number one on Billboard by next week and that we should start prepping your next single."
"The dynamic duo strikes again," her eyes never opening as she replies, "Don't we have like 5 completed tracks to choose from? What do you think the next one should be?"
"What I think it should be?" now you know for certain that she's distracted, "You're the one who always picks what song goes next. It's all part of your chart domination vision remember?"
"True but I don't feel like picking this time," her eyes opening one at a time as she rights herself, "Whichever one you like best just email it to him and if he doesn't agree, tell him I said to unkindly go fuck himself."
"Yeah I'm sure that he would love to hear that," your words receiving nothing but a smirk from her, "Ok talk to me what's wrong?"
"Why do you think that there's something wrong?" her eyebrow quirking in question.
"Because I've been around you long enough to know when something is," her head hitting the back of the couch with a thud, "You've been distracted in rehearsal and you've been avoiding the studio, why is that?"
"I already know all the dance routines, what happens when and what goes where. They're the ones that need to get their shit together."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"What question?"
"Santana."
"That's my name, not a question."
"Don't be a smartass, it's not cute."
"Everything that I do is cute, and or sexy."
"Does your weirdly emotional mood have to do with whatever you disappeared on Monday for?"
"No and before you ask, I don't want to talk about it."
Her eyes find yours then and you know that you've struck a nerve. Her jaw tenses momentarily before she just sighs, gets off the couch and walks over to the glass window. She's not going to talk about it, whatever it is and Blaine, Marley and Sam had all refused to talk about it either. You weren't sure why she would ask them to keep quiet about it or why she felt like she couldn't talk to you but you weren't going to push it, she'd talk when she was ready.
"Did we ever finish the last one?" her focus still on something beyond the glass, "The one with the left in it."
"The left? Oh yeah of course I know which one that is," your sarcasm earning you a brief glare before she continues staring outside, "Could you be a little bit more specific please?"
"The one we started with Bey," she says walking back over to the couch, "It's unfinished if I remember correctly."
"I think so," you say already searching for it, "You want to do this one?"
"It feels like the right one to do for some reason," her hands already placing the headphones around her neck, "And there's some new stuff that I've been working on but we'll deal with that later or tomorrow."
"New stuff?" you say handing her the iPad with the finished lyrics, "Should I even bother to ask? Or do you not want to talk about that to?"
"I'll tell you eventually," her focus switching to recording mode, "Play it from the top and I'll add in the rest as it goes on."
"You got it boss."
(Beat Plays)
Hook:
To the left, to the left,
To the left, to the left
Verse1:
To the left, to the left,
Everything you owned in a box, to the left,
In the closet, that's my stuff,
Yes if I bought it, baby please don't touch (don't touch)
And keep talking that mess that's fine,
But could you walk and talk at the same time and,
It's my name that's on that jag,
So remove your bags, let me call you a cab,
Standing in the front yard, telling me how I'm such a fool,
Talkin' bout, 'I'll never ever find a girl like you'
You got me twisted.
Chorus:
You must not know bout me,
You must not know bout me,
I could have another you in a minute,
Matter fact she'll be here in a minute, baby
You must not know bout me,
You must not know bout me,
I can have another you by tomorrow,
So don't you ever for a second get to thinkin'
You're irreplaceable.
Verse2:
So go ahead and get gone,
Call up that dude, and see if he's home,
Ooops I bet you thought, That I didn't know,
What did you think; I was putting you out for?
Because you was untrue,
Rolling him around in the car that I bought you,
Baby drop them keys,
Hurry up, before your taxi leaves,
Standing in the front yard, telling me how I'm such a fool,
Talkin' bout, 'I'll never ever find a girl like you'
Got me twisted.
Chorus:
You must not know bout me,
You must not know bout me,
I could have another you in a minute,
Matter fact she'll be here in a minute, baby
You must not know bout me,
You must not know bout me,
I will have another you by tomorrow,
So don't you ever for a second get to thinkin'
You're irreplaceable.
Bridge:
So since I'm not your everything, (you're irreplaceable)
How if I'll now be nothing, nothing at all to you, (nothing)
Baby I won't shed a tear for you, (I won't shed a tear)
I won't lose a wink of sleep, (I won't lose a wink of sleep)
Cause the truth of the matter is, (truth of the matter is)
Replacing you was so easy.
Hook:
To the left, to the left,
To the left, to the left,
To the left, to the left,
Everything you owned in a box to the left,
To the left, to the left,
Don't you ever for a second get to thinkin'
You're irreplaceable.
Chorus:
You must not know bout me,
You must not know bout me,
I could have another you in a minute,
Matter fact she'll be here in a minute, baby
You must not know bout me,
You must not know bout me,
I can have another you by tomorrow,
So don't you ever for a second get to thinkin'
You must not know bout me, (baby, yeah)
You must not know bout me,
I can have another you in a minute,
Matter fact she'll be here in a minute,
You could pack all your bags, we're finished, (you must not know bout me)
Cause you made your bed, now lay in it, (you must not know bout me)
I could have another you by tomorrow,
Don't you ever for a second get to thinkin'
You're irreplaceable.
(Song Ends)
"Songs that take us two takes to get done are always my favourite," your eyes focused on the laptop as she leaves the booth, "I think this is going to be another hit single."
"Me too."
"When Rachel hears this she's going to be so pissed," her lips quirking in amusement, "She's one in a million remember? Hearing you say that she's not irreplaceable is going to be hard to swallow."
"So was finding out about her and Finn," she responds with a shrug, "She'll get over it."
"Are you over it?"
"What Rachel and Finn?" she responds while silencing her phone again, "Completely. I mean I still can't believe that she cheated with the obvious descendant of a Tyrannosaurus Rex but I'm over it."
"So that's not what's been bothering you?" your question catching her off guard, "And don't say that nothing is because we both know that's a lie."
For a second you think that she's going to talk about it, but that moment quickly passes.
"You worry too much," she says heading for the door, "This was fun but I've gotta go. Apparently I'm needed in rehearsals after all."
"Santana c'mon, why won't you just talk about it?" you want to add with me, but you don't.
"Give me some space with this one ok," her last words before she walks out of the room, "Just leave it alone."
*Santana*
You hadn't woken up like you had fallen asleep. The first few rays of sunlight had already started to filter into the room and for a split second you thought that you were all alone because she was no longer in your arms, but when you shifted her grip on your sweater tightened and you realized that she was no longer in front of you because instead of Quinn being in your arms, you were somehow now in hers. It'd been awhile since you'd been held and if you were being honest you'd admit that you felt more at home than ever before laying there with her wrapped around you, but you wouldn't because that wasn't the way it was supposed to go. You were supposed to be the one keeping her safe, not the other way around.
Jesse would come looking for you soon enough and even though you knew that you should leave, that you kind of actually had to, you didn't want to. You couldn't let her go, not then, not just yet. Not when she looked so much more peaceful than she did the last time that you were here. You wondered if it was because you were there with her but then you remembered that she didn't know that it was your arms that she'd been wrapped up in and you silently die a little bit inside. You curse Kitty and Puck for putting the idea in your head and you curse yourself for giving in and doing it. If you had slept on the couch leaving wouldn't have been so hard but now that you'd gotten a taste of what it felt like to hold her close and to have her hold you, you didn't want to let it go.
There's a soft knock on the door before Puck's head peaks in, "Sorry to spoil the moment but Jesse's outside and he doesn't look to happy."
But of course good moments could never last.
"Does he ever look happy?" you whisper ask as you begrudgingly disentangle yourself from Quinn, "What time is it?"
"7."
"Does it look like I slept here? Or does it look like I got here this morning?"
"Definitely looks like you slept here."
"Where is he exactly?" your hand holding onto Puck's arm as you put your other sneaker on, "Outside outside or inside outside?"
"Inside outside," his hands smoothing out your surely god awful morning hair, "Kitty and Marley roped him into their early morning game of charades."
"Thank god for them," his hand stopping you from going towards the door, "What?"
"Take a minute," his head gesturing in her direction, "She'll be pissed if she finds out that you left without saying goodbye."
"I was opening the door for you idiot," his eye roll something that he's clearly picked up from you, "I'll be out in a minute."
There's a small smile playing on her lips when you carefully brush the hair away from her face and place a kiss to her forehead. You wonder then what she's dreaming about and if she was dreaming about the same things that you did. You wondered if she was dreaming about you like you dreamt about her. Probably not.
"I got to go Quinn but I'll be back later to check on you ok?" and for a split second you think that her smile grows a bit, or maybe it's just your imagination, "I hope you feel better."
"I should've known that regardless to my instructions I would find you here," Jesse begins his inevitable tirade as soon as he spots you, "You seem to always be here. Why is that?"
"And you seem to always be stalking me," your smile significantly tighter than his, "I don't recall being a nuisance as one of your managerial requirements St. James."
"It's my job to get you a job and then to make sure that you do that job Lopez," his hands folding over his chest as he leans against the wall, "Tomorrow is the last day before the big show or haven't you been paying attention?"
"Your job's to be a pain in the ass," you mutter as you spot the frown on Puck's face, he seriously wasn't too fond of Jesse, "I need a shower and breakfast. There are rehearsals and studio sessions to do remember?"
"Lead the way."
.
"Why don't you just tell Jesse and Mercedes about Quinn?" Sam asks from his spot in the passenger seat of the car, "It's been a real bitch pretending like I don't know what the hell is going on with you."
"Yeah I second that," Marley chimes in from her spot next to you in the back, "Everybody knows that something's up with you and they keep asking me."
"What do you say?"
"I say that you're nervous and pissed because I banned you from Chipotle."
"Uh, Marley we went to Chipotle yesterday," Blaine adds from his place behind the wheel, "I'm pretty sure that there are pictures of the four of us leaving on the internet by now."
"I panicked ok?" her response as she stares out the window, "I'm not a very good liar."
"We know," you, Blaine and Sam say in unison before you continue on, "Jesse's going to say what he always says and I'm not in the mood to suffer through yet another diatribe about why he's not going to support this new relationship."
"What do you think his reason would be this time?" Marley asks.
"What it always is," Sam's head nodding in agreement, "Seriously, the man thinks that no one is good enough for me."
"So does Mercedes," Blaine interjects, "Is that why you haven't told her?"
"Technically yes but no, that's not why," Sam's eyes finding yours in the rear view mirror, "She does this thing where she sort of predicts what's going to happen with anyone that I like. She did it in college and she continues to do it now."
"What do you mean?" Blaine asks as you cruise down the stretch.
"She doesn't even have to meet them. Based on how I respond to certain questions that she'll ask she gets this vibe and it freaks me out. She did it with Dani and Rachel and I'm pretty sure that if she knew Brittany beforehand that she would've predicted that shit too."
"So you haven't told her because you're afraid of what she'll say about Quinn?" Marley adds through a sip of her coffee.
"I wouldn't say afraid," Blaine's scoff earning him a smack from Sam, "I know that you're all probably thinking that I'm crazy but if you had all of your relationship outcomes predicted you'd be too. It's creepy."
"I still think that you should tell her," Sam interjects and you roll your eyes because of course he does, "She's your best friend and she's worried about you."
"I think you should tell Jesse," Blaine adds after he brings the car to a stop back at the hotel, "He's your manager and he's worried about you too."
You knew they were, and that was the problem.
.
"C'mon guys let's do it again!" Brittany calls to the dancers who were surely more annoyed than tired at this point, "We have one more day until show time so we'll be here all night if we have to be!"
"She is getting on my last nerve." one of them mutters behind you and you kind of had to agree. Britt was seriously going crazy.
"Seriously Britt can we take a break?" you voice all of their thoughts, "We've been at it for hours."
"Wanky!" Dani and Jake say in unison and the laughter that follows helps to dim the tension a bit.
"C'mon guys behave," you chastise with a wink, "But seriously Britt, 10 minutes tops?"
"Fine," she relents with a sigh, "Everyone thank Santana for your 10 minutes."
You wave off the invitations to walk around and instead seat yourself on the staircase. You were going to use this break to think.
"Are you going to tell me what's on your mind?" Jesse's voice breaking through the haze of your thoughts, "Or do I have to guess?"
"I thought we talked about your stalking St. James," you're mind more than a bit preoccupied with thoughts of a certain blonde, "You're becoming a major pain in my ass."
"Now you know how I feel about you," his reply as he joins you on the stage steps, "You're thinking about Quinn right?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," his little headshake paired with a rare smile, "You're going to have to guess again Jesse."
"You're not very good at keeping secrets Lopez-"
"That's a lie if I ever heard one," you interrupt with a smile of your own, "You didn't know about Coachella for weeks."
"I meant love secrets," he continues on, "You think I haven't noticed how your face lights up whenever she's mentioned? It's my job to notice."
"I thought it was your job to get me a job and then make sure that I do it?" you repeat back his earlier words to him, "So you're a stalker and a liar, who knew?"
"And you're the queen of deflection," his shoulder nudging yours, "I know you think that I'm going to give you the whole 'she's not good enough for you' speech, but I'm not. I've met her already remember? She kicked my ass at our last meeting."
"There's actually someone that could kick your ass besides me? I'm impressed."
"So was I," his following laughter also a rarity, "I never thought I'd see the day but I think that you've finally met your match."
"My match?" you ask facing him for the first time, "Is that your way of saying that I have your approval to pursue this without fear of sabotage?"
"If there ever was a person on planet earth created to go toe to toe with you, it's surely Quinn," his eyes delighting in your scepticism, "I like her and so I promise to behave."
"Wow," and you ruffle his perfectly coifed hair as your way of saying thank you, "You're the best Jesse," his hand swatting yours, "When you're not being a dick."
Your only problem now was Mercedes. She tried to talk to you in the studio but you weren't ready to go there with her just yet. She's been the one to say 'I told you so' without actually saying it more than anyone else and you needed time to process before you professed. You wouldn't change your mind about Quinn even if she said no but still, her opinion did mean a lot to you.
"Oh and by the way," he says standing up, "When you stop being a big baby and decide to tell Mercedes, I guarantee you that she'll tell you the same thing. We all just want to see you happy Santana."
"Me too Jess," you say more to yourself than his retreating form, "Me too."
Songs used: Beyonce - Irreplaceable
Disclaimer: All credit to the singers/songwriters/producers of these songs and to the creators of these characters. The use of them are strictly for entertainment purposes only.