Thank you all so much for sticking with this story and reviewing. It's really made this a great for me.
And for the person who said they just wanted Santana to not be struggling, that actually kind of sparked an idea for another story that I wrote just a small teaser chapter for. I liked the idea of Santana not struggling because her parents were completely accepting of her. It's a Brittana story and I'm not sure what I'll do with it.
This story (and Pezberry in general) holds a special place in my heart though, so I don't want to ignore it for a different one. I think it's helping me get a part of me out that has been suppressed for a while, so it feels amazing when I get those emails saying I got a review/favorite/alert for it.
To the story!
Santana was looking at the side of Rachel's face, when the diva suddenly turned towards her, grinning. "Such a wonderful movie. Did you like it? You loved it, right?" The Latina was shocked to see that credits were rolling down the screen. She hadn't even realized that the movie was over.
"Um, yeah. It was great. Flying monkeys.. Awesome." She gave the diva an unsure smile.
"What was your favorite part?"
"Well… Any part with the monkeys I guess. And her shoes… they were really pretty." Rachel seemed amused by her answer.
"Can you believe that ending though?"
"I'm having trouble believing it."
"I cried the first time I saw it." Santana looked a little confused, but nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it was tough to watch."
"How could Dorothy die?" The Latina's eyebrows furrowed even more, but she kept up her act.
"That was like watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie or something," Santana said seriously. "Except by now we know to expect a shock ending from him," she added, looking off to the side in thought. Then she noticed that the diva was barely containing her laughter. "Your messing with me, aren't you?"
"How could you think that Dorothy died?" Rachel was having trouble speaking through her intense giggling. "It's a children's movie."
"Well Bambi's mom died," Santana said in defense.
"That was a cartoon deer though, not a person."
"Didn't make it any less sad!"
"Aw, did you cry in Bambi?"
"I was like six years old. Let's just go." The Latina stood and started packing up the picnic basket. The diva watched adoringly as she tried to hide the red now coloring her cheeks.
"You done making fun of me now?" The Latina was holding her hand out to help Rachel up.
"You could have watched the movie. Then it wouldn't have been so easy."
"It was boring. And I had distractions." The last sentence was said in a quiet mumble, but the diva heard.
"I may have had some distractions of my own." Then Rachel was pulling Santana across the grassy landscape.
All Rachel knew was that she needed to get to Santana's car. It was time to do what she had talked about earlier. Her heart soared at the thought of Santana being distracted by her for two hours. The Latina truly had no idea what had happened in that movie, all because of Rachel. Rachel, the girl who couldn't get Finn's attention away from his video games for ten minutes. And Jesse got more distracted by his own reflection in a mirror than by her.
"What's the hurry Superstar? You're gonna rip my shoulder out of it's socket." Rachel rolled her eyes and kept the same pace, still pulling Santana along behind her.
"I don't think I have anywhere near the muscle strength for that Santana."
The parking lot was packed. Rachel weaved through the crowd of people and cars, as Santana tried to keep up without bumping into too many people in the process. When they got to the black SUV, Santana reached for the passenger side door handle, to open it for the other girl.
"Now are you going to tell me what the rush was all ab-" She didn't get a chance to finish the sentence though, because Rachel had pushed her against the door. "What are-" She was interrupted again, this time by the diva's lips. Santana dropped the woven basket as her eyes fluttered shut, ignoring the sound of its contents spilling onto the pavement. She blindly reached out for Rachel's hips, and when she found them, she pulled the smaller girl into her as far as she could.
The diva's heart was pounding like it never had before. She was finally feeling the butterflies that all those romantic comedies had talked about. She moaned at the sensation of Santana's fingertips digging into her hips, her own hands darting up to thread through the Latina's silky hair. Santana swiped her tongue across the diva's bottom lip to deepen the kiss and Rachel opened her mouth to allow it. After a few moments, the diva pulled back to catch her breath.
"That was amazing."
"Yeah…" For once, Rachel was out of words. That could be blamed on the lips that were now laying light kisses along her jaw line.
"Hot." An unfamiliar voice interrupted their moment. The girls separated to see a boy that couldn't have been older than thirteen staring at them with wide eyes. The diva felt herself being gently pushed back as Santana picked up a half full container of hummus out of the spilled mess on the ground.
"Get out of here you little perv." She threw the plastic container at him and it hit his shoes, splattering the bottom of his jeans. The boy bolted in the opposite direction before Santana could throw anything else. "Enjoy it freak. That's the most interaction from a girl you're ever gonna get," the Latina yelled at his retreating form. When Santana turned around, she was laughing. "We should probably leave before he gets his parents."
"Probably." Rachel nodded in agreement.
"Nothing like a teenage boy to kill the mood." Santana looked away when she realized what she said. "I mean… Whatever. It's totally true." The Latina hadn't necessarily admitted to anything, but it was a start. The words seemed to make Rachel smile, at least. "Ready to go, Superstar?" The diva nodded, and this time she allowed Santana to open her door.
Santana smiled as Rachel hummed along happily to the music playing in her car. Even now, she was perfectly in tune with the notes coming from the speakers. The Latina just tapped her fingers to the beat on the steering wheel. She was on cloud nine.
First off, she had gotten to make out with Rachel. How Frankenteen had ever let that go for Quinn, she couldn't understand. She was friends with the blonde, but imagined that kissing Quinn was like making out with an ice sculpture. Secondly, two people had caught them in action and hadn't been disgusted. And why should they be disgusted? If anything, people should be jealous. Her and Rachel were hot together.
"You didn't hurt Tina did you?" Rachel's question snapped her into present time.
"Nothing that will cause permanent damage," she answered casually.
"Santana!"
"Rachel!"
"Please tell me you're joking."
"What? She needs to learn to mind her own business. Nobody messes with Santana Lopez." Rachel looked outraged and Santana figured she shouldn't push her luck. "Relax. We just talked."
"About?" Rachel pressed for more information.
"Just about what she saw. It wasn't a big deal. She's actually not so bad."
"Most people aren't." Santana rolled her eyes.
"Says the girl who gets slushied once a week."
"That's just high school. In the real world people don't get rewarded for that kind of behavior. They'll grow up. They'll learn. And if some don't, that's no skin off my back. I'll be singing on Broadway while they work the drive-through at Taco Bell." Rachel laughed, but the other girl looked upset. "What?"
"You do realize you're talking about me right? I'm one of those people. I'm a bitch, Rachel. People at school hate me."
"Only because you refuse to show them the real you. What are you so afraid of?"
"Maybe that is the real me. Have you considered that?"
"No. I haven't." Santana opened her mouth angrily, but the diva didn't give her a chance to say anything. "You never did tell me why glee was your favorite part of the day." She was taken aback by the topic change, but was happy to go along with it.
"I don't know. It's fun I guess."
"Which part? The singing or the dancing?"
"Both. We're all doing the same thing, so if we look stupid, no one cares. It's fun to be able to just goof around and not worry for an hour." Rachel looked pleased at that answer.
"So you like it because you can be yourself without being judged? The Latina narrowed her eyes.
"Ok Dr. Phil, I see where you're going with this. You couldn't just change the subject. What's your fucking deal with getting me to talk about my feelings?" Santana had raised her voice towards the end.
"I'm sorry." Rachel looked frightened by the Latina's outburst. "We can talk about something else. What's your favorite movie?" She asked, her tone hopeful.
"I don't feel like talking anymore," was Santana's cold response.
It was a warm night, but the atmosphere in the car was icy. The last five minutes of the ride back to Lima was spent in silence. Why did this always happen? Every time the diva made a little bit of progress with the Latina, something would ruin it. Or she would say something that upset the other girl. When they pulled up in front of Rachel's house, Santana kept the car running. Rachel looked at her with sad, doe eyes, but she stared straight ahead.
"I'm sorry Santana." When the diva didn't get an answer, she reached for the door handle. "Goodnight." The Latina sighed quietly and turned off the car.
"Zombieland." Rachel looked at Santana like she had two heads. "My favorite movie. It's got everything. Zombies, jokes, Bill Murray, Emma Stone." She wiggled her eyebrows up and down at the Emma Stone part, earning a small giggle.
"Never seen it. It sounds kind of terrible though."
"It's really not. Maybe we could watch it sometime?" Santana asked, nervously picking at the stitching on her seat. "I'm sorry Rach. You were right. I just have trouble talking about things that actually matter. I do love glee. It's the one place I don't need to be a bitch."
"You don't need to be a bitch with me."
"I know." She sighed. "I always end up being one anyway." Rachel reached across the center console to grab the Latina's hand and held it between both of her own.
"No you don't. We had a small lull in our conversation, that's all. I get into bigger arguments with my fathers when they drink the last of the soy milk." Santana laughed. "Tonight was amazing. I had a great time."
"Yeah, it was great wasn't it? I'm focusing on the one bad detail. Why do I always do that? I should be more focused on getting some more of those sweet lady kisses from you." Rachel's smile got impossibly bigger.
"I think I could be persuaded to give some to you." Santana grinned and leaned her body over the middle, resting her elbows on the console.
"Oh, yeah?" She pulled Rachel's hand to her mouth, kissing her lightly on the palm. "How?"
"You're doing a good job of figuring it out on your own." The diva's tone was slightly more high pitched than normal.
"Should I tell you how great you are?" She kissed the girl's inner wrist. "Or how amazing you're voice is, even when you're not trying?" She kissed a spot halfway up the diva's forearm. "How your eyes are so warm that they could melt a glacier." One last kiss on the inner crook of Rachel's elbow, then she was looking intensely into the girl's wide brown eyes. "Or that you're beautiful?"
"All those things sound good." Rachel sounded out of breath as she stared back into Santana's eye.
"Great! I think I'll save those for the second date though."
"Way to kill the moment." But Rachel looked amused. "I'd be upset if you hadn't just insinuated that this was a date and that you'd like a second one."
"Did I say that?" Santana asked innocently, before leaning forward and kissing Rachel on the lips. She didn't try to deepen it. She just wondered on the fact that what was probably the softest kiss of her life, made her feel more alive than any of the others before.
