Unsurprisingly, Eliza's heart won out over her head. After school she brought Santana to her house, and they got about halfway through an episode of America's Next Top Model in her room before Santana's hand started creeping up Eliza's thigh. Eliza spent a few minutes trying to ignore the Latina's touching before giving in to the pleasurable sensations. The brunette calmly picked up the remote and shut off the TV before turning to Santana and seizing her lips in a kiss.

The two teenagers took their time teasing and pleasuring each other, not wanting to rush anything. After an hour or two, they were in a particularly compromising situation when a car door slammed outside the house. Santana's entire body froze, and Eliza whined in response, trying to grind closer to the cheerleader. "Relax," the brunette hummed into the Cheerio's neck, "My mom doesn't get out of work until 6, it was probably the neighbors."

Santana nodded in response. She relaxed into Eliza's touch, tilting her head back to allow Eliza's lips to graze her throat. The little moan she released was not enough, however, to mask the sound of shuffling about downstairs and then Eliza's mother calling her name up the stairs. This time, both girls stiffened and made eye contact. In a matter of seconds, they were springing apart and pulling on their clothes, smoothing down their hair and trying to look as normal as possible. Eliza's mother's footsteps echoed up the stairs and progressed closer, Eliza flipping on the TV last minute and resuming the episode of America's Next Top Model.

Eliza's door opened. Her mother looked surprised to see Santana lounging on Eliza's bed with her daughter, but if she had any idea what they had just been doing, her face didn't show it. "Oh, hello," the older woman said pleasantly, smiling as her gaze slid to Eliza.

"Mom, this is my friend Santana," Eliza introduced to her mother, the Cheerio giving a slightly sheepish smile and wave. Making her voice sound as calm and casual as physically possible, Eliza pointed out, "You're home early."

"Yeah," her mom sighed, "I wasn't really feeling well, I've had a massive headache all day and just wanted to come home and relax." She shrugged her shoulders before looking back at Santana. "Nice to meet you, Santana. Are you planning on staying for dinner?"

Santana paused for the briefest of moments before she gave Mrs. Crane her most charming, perfect cheerleader smile. "I really appreciate it, but I promised my abuela that I would help her make dinner tonight. Actually," the Latina slid off the bed and glanced at her phone, "I should probably head home before it gets dark."

Eliza knew that her excuse was bullshit- Santana hadn't mentioned anything about having to be home at a certain time, much less having to cook with her grandmother. However, she was certainly convincing, and Eliza wasn't sure whether to be impressed or scared by the girl's easy lying. "I'm going to drive her home then I'll be back," Eliza added, turning off the TV and walking towards her door.

Mrs. Crane nodded and stepped back to led the two teenagers exit the room. "Sounds good," she agreed easily. "Have a great night, Santana!"

"Thanks Mrs. Crane," the Latina called out to her as the teenagers went down the stairs. Santana shrugged on her Cheerios jacket and slipped on her shoes, Eliza doing the same and grabbing her keys before they went out to Eliza's car.

"Well," Eliza huffed out as they slammed the doors shut, "We certainly dodged a bullet, there." The two girls burst out laughing, even though that situation could have had potentially disastrous (and awkward) consequences.

"Ay, dios mio," Santana groaned, putting her head in her hands and shaking it. "I thought I was gonna have a fuckin' heart attack." Eliza laughed and murmured her agreement, putting the car into drive and sliding out of her driveway. "I think we're gonna have to be way more careful in the future about where we gets it ons."

Eliza glanced over at Santana and smiled, secretly pleased that Santana wasn't totally spooked by Eliza's mother almost discovering them. "Agreed." After a moment, she added, "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that… At least she didn't walk in on us or anything, because unfortunately, that has happened before and I don't want to repeat that experience."

"Seriously?" Santana said incredulously, her eyes locked on the side of Eliza's face.

Eliza sighed and nodded her head in embarrassment. "Yep. Luckily I was already out, because although my parents were totally cool with me being bi, I don't think my poor mother could have handled that kind of shock." The brunette laughed, just imagining how her mother would have reacted to seeing her with a girl, esepcially if she didn't already know about her daughter's sexuality.

Santana's jaw practically dropped. "Damn," she mused, her back falling back against the carseat. "That's totally mortifying. My mom has walked in on me making out with a guy, but I couldn't imagine if I was with a girl…" The Latina trailed off and shook her head, and Eliza was reminded of Santana's current place in the closet. They hadn't talked about Santana's sexuality or her relationship with her parents. In fact, they hadn't talked all that much about anything deep, but Eliza got the impression that Santana was terrified to come out which she totally understood.

"It wasn't that bad," Eliza continued, shrugging. "I mean, we were almost fully clothed and it was just heavy petting so my mom didn't see anything too traumatic for her. It was embarrassing for a while, and my parents gave me 'the talk'," Eliza did air quotes with one hand, "and instilled an open door rule from then on, but they were overall a lot cooler with it than I thought they would be. I guess the main reason why they weren't super pissed was because they knew I couldn't have gotten pregnant."

Santana hummed in response, and when Eliza glanced over, she saw that Santana was staring out the window. Eliza decided that she'd better change the conversation to a more light-hearted topic. After a pause, she grumbled, "Honestly, I'm just pissed that I'm all worked up now." Eliza waited until Santana was looking at her again to continued nonchalantly, "And you have to go home to help your abuela cook so I guess I'm just gonna have to go lock myself in my room for a bit. Not the same, though." Eliza released a long, dramaticized sigh. "Oh, well… Guess you're gonna have to make it up to me sometime."

She glanced back over at Santana and almost shuddered at the dark, lustful look in the cheerleader's eyes. Santana slowly reached over a hand and placed it on Eliza's thigh, dangerously close to where Eliza needed her touch the most. Santana leaned close to Eliza's ear and breathed, "Don't worry, I will." Eliza's whole body tightened with a spike of arousal. "Don't drive past my house," Santana reminded, removing her hand from the girl's thigh to point at her house coming up.

"'Course not," Eliza mumbled, pulling into the cheerleader's driveway and trying to clear her mind. The brunette put the car in park and looked over at Santana, barely keeping herself from jumping the Cheerio right in front of the girl's house. Eliza's eyes dropped to Santana's lips then bounced back upward, trying to determine if it would be too domestic if she leaned in for a quick goodbye kiss. Quickly deciding against it, Eliza settled on just smiling and teasing, "Better go in and help your abuela."

Santana rolled her eyes and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Right," she agreed, climbing out of the car and grabbing her backpack. "I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe I'll find a way to give you what you missed out on." A devious smirk on her lips, the Latina winked before slamming the car door shut and making her way into her house.

Eliza sighed and pressed her forehead into the steering wheel- this girl was going to be the death of her. After a few seconds she sat back up and made her way back to her own home, wondering what her mother would have to say about Santana. She had the sinking suspicion that her mom was going to say something.

When she got back home, Eliza slid off her shoes and jacket and padded into the kitchen, deciding to just face the music now instead of later. Sure enough, her mother turned from where she was looking through the mail and quirked an eyebrow. "So," the woman began in a voice that was innocent enough, "I've never heard you mention a Santana before."

Eliza kept herself from rolling her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "We just became friends recently," she replied a bit defensively. "We met at glee."

Mrs. Crane nodded her head slowly. "Friends?" she pressed gently, and Eliza couldn't help but groan.

"Mom," Eliza said embarrassedly, turning to the fridge to hide the pink tinge to her cheeks. "Santana and I are just friends, okay? Please drop it." Eliza wasn't sure if that was a complete lie or not- they were friends, but did friends with benefits count as something different?

Eliza's mother threw up her hands dismissively. "Alright, alright," she chuckled, "I won't nag you about it." The older woman paused before saying gently, "But, the open door policy still applies, okay?"

Eliza sighed and nodded, figuring that what her mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Eliza liked to talk to her mom about almost everything, but sex was one topic she preferred not to broach. Her mom knew about Holly, if only because Eliza had been such a heartbroken mess after that, but she didn't know all the details. Eliza supposed she just didn't want to disappoint her parents with the knowledge that she tended to fall hard and fast and jump into physical relationships. It wasn't like Eliza slept around- not that that was bad as long as she was being safe- but her sexual experiences were one subject she preferred her parents didn't know about.

Xxx

Eliza managed to evade Kurt and Mercedes' questions for another couple of days. She knew that they were generally well-meaning, but she really didn't care to repeat her conversation with Rachel and just end up feeling bad about herself again. Santana hadn't mentioned anything about being interrogated, which Eliza didn't find all that surprising- Kurt and Mercedes seemed to be terrified of the Cheerio, which amused Eliza greatly. Santana was adorable when she was sweet, but when she was mean… Well, unfortunately that was Eliza's greatest weakness.

It seemed the brunette's luck was about to run out, because after glee club she was ambushed near her locker. Feeling a strong sense of deja vu, Eliza rolled her eyes and turned slowly to face Kurt and Mercedes. "How can I help you?" she sighed, arching her brows as if daring them to say what they wanted to say.

"We were just wondering how you and Santana were going," Kurt began casually, offering her an innocent smile. "You seem to be getting pretty close."

Eliza shrugged her shoulders and began to work on the lock on her locker. "I guess," she agreed, knowing her non-committal answer was going to irritate the two divas. She didn't care if they got irritated, because her relationship with Santana- or lack thereof- was none of their business. Rachel's concern she understood, because Rachel was her closest friend, but these two? The only interest they had shown in Eliza was interest in her love life. Still, they were her teammates, and Eliza would humor them to a point.

"When are you y'guys gonna make it official?" Mercedes asked, and Eliza had to glance over at the bluntness. "I mean, it's pretty obvious that you're together." She shrugged her shoulders as if to say it wasn't a big deal.

Eliza scoffed, feeling a prick of irritation. "We're never going to make it 'official' because we aren't dating," she said shortly, swinging her locker door open. She glanced back over at the two to see them exchange exasperated looks that just made Eliza more annoyed.

"Sweetie," Kurt began in that infuriatingly condescending tone of his, "You are literally wearing Santana's cheerleading sweatshirt." He gestured to Eliza's chest, and her gaze followed his, blushing involuntarily when she found that he was right. She was wearing a old gray sweatshirt of Santana's, the WMHS logo on the front and red lettering on the sleeves that clearly read 'Lopez'. Eliza had just unthinkingly thrown it on that morning, not realizing that it was Santana's. The Cheerio must have forgotten it the last time she went over Eliza's.

"Well," she began slowly, "She must have left it at my house the other day... I didn't even realize I was wearing it." Regaining her bearings, Eliza continued defensively, "It doesn't mean we're dating, okay?"

Kurt and Mercedes sighed in response. "Girl, you need to figure out what you're doin' with Satan. She seems all sweet on you now, but you didn't see her when Britts first started dating Artie."

"That was not pretty," Kurt agreed, grimacing as he remembered. "We just want you to tread carefully. She's like a ticking time bomb, and if you don't handle this carefully, she will explode and take out all of glee club in the process."

Eliza visibly bristled at the two glee clubber's comments. "You know what," she began, wheeling around to face Kurt and Mercedes full-on. "All you two do is tell me how awful Santana is and talk about her behind her back. I know she hasn't been very nice to you in the past but, have either of you even attempted to be nice to her?" she demanded. An incredulous laugh escaped her throat and she shook her head, "Of course not. Everyone in glee club loves to brag about how accepting and inclusive they are, but really, you all are just as judgemental and nosy as the rest of the people in this school. I'm not gonna let you keep talking crap about Santana, so just leave her alone. Leave us alone, because it's none of your business."

The brunette slammed her locker door and shouldered her way past them down the hallway. Eliza didn't usually have much of a temper, but she could only be pushed so far before she snapped. Even if Santana wasn't her girlfriend, she wasn't going to let people talk about her like that. Eliza knew where Santana's next class was so she headed in that direction, wanting to see the cheerleader to calm herself down.

Luckily Santana was leaning against the wall outside her classroom, just like Eliza had expected. When the Cheerio spotted Eliza walking down the hall towards her, her eyes brightened, but Santana's grin quickly turned to a frown when she noticed Eliza's expression. "Woah, that is a serious Snixx death glare," Santana mused, arching her eyebrows. "What the hell happened to you?"

Eliza sighed, already feeling the anger begin to sap out of her just by being in Santana's presence. "I just had to defend your honor, that's what just happened," she teased lightly, a smile tugging at corners of her lips. At Santana's look of confusion, Eliza explained, "Kurt and Mercedes were interrogating me about you and I which turned into a whole 'insult-Santana' session."

Santana scowled, a dark expression coming over her face. "Of course, I wouldn't expect anything else from Wheezy and Queen Gay," Santana grumbled, eyes narrowing. "God, they can never mind their own fucking business."

Eliza noticed the girl's fists clenching and, as a matter of habit, reached out to seize one of Santana's hands. "Yeah," she agreed, "But I think, in their own messed up way, they were trying to protect glee club. I wouldn't worry about it, okay? I kind of threatened them." Eliza grinned in a cheesy way, trying to make the cheerleader smile back.

"I don't need you to protect me," Santana said, a hint of irritation in her voice as she glanced away. After a moment, though, the Cheerio sighed and tilted her head at Eliza. "I'm sorry, thank you for not letting those wannabe divas talk shit about me." Eliza smiled and nodded. "I guess that makes you my knight in shining armor, then," Santana eventually joked, rolling her eyes.

Eliza shrugged her shoulders in a show of false modesty. "Of course," she agreed, nodding her head and doing a dramatic bow. "I am forever at your service."

The bell rang and a mischievous grin curled Santana's lips. "I'll remember that," the Latina assured Eliza with a suggestive wink. Their hands slid apart and Santana entered her classroom, shooting her one last smile. Eliza stood there for a few moments with a stupid grin on her face before walking down the hallway to her own class.