Santana paused at the door to the gym, hesitating before pushing her way in. Was she really ready for this? She had debated long and hard over how to approach Charlie this time and the gym seemed like the best place. She knew now and while it didn't make her feel any less horrible, it did give her insight into Charlie's protective streak. She sighed and pushed the door open, curling her lip up at the smell of sweat and body odor.

It didn't take her long to navigate the area to where Charlie was sparring with another alpha. She was surprised to see Harper watching the fight intently, ready to supply Charlie with water whenever she needed it. "Santana!" Harper squealed, despite her excitement staying exactly where her mom told her to, not noticing that she had squirted a fair amount of water directly at her mother.

Charlie winced, signaling her opponent and spitting out her mouth guard. "Harper. For the last time, you can't hold the bottle if you're going to squirt me."

"Santana's here!" Harper pointed in the approaching figure's direction, sheepishly putting down Charlie's lucky water bottle.

Charlie glanced over where her daughter pointed, ready to tell her that she was just imagining things when she caught sight of Santana. "Take five?" She asked hopefully. She hadn't even broken a sweat so she felt a little bad cutting their workout short.

Dave shrugged, cracking his neck. Charlie might think she was sparring but she definitely hadn't been holding back. He could use a break.

Santana waited while Charlie's sparring buddy left the ring before waving awkwardly. "Hey."

Charlie leans against the ropes, slipping a bit but catching herself as she studies Santana. There's a small part of her that wonders if Santana is real. "Hey," she finally responds, trying to keep the surprise out of her voice. She hadn't expected to see Santana for a long time. "Um, what are you doing here?"

Santana shifts a bit and holds up a bag, "I brought breakfast, I didn't think that Harper would be here—shouldn't she be at school?" Santana turned to look at Charlie's daughter who had a huge grin on her face. She had come to the gym, because she hadn't wanted to run into Harper. Charlie was already overprotective and now that she understood why, she didn't want to overstep when it came to Charlie's daughter.

"It's professional development day," Harper explains to Santana as if that explained everything. "Mom's going to take me to a natural history museum so we can look at dinosaurs." Harper looks around quickly, "Do you want to come with us?"

"Harper." Charlie says and eyes Santana, "I'm sure Santana has to go save lives or something important."

Santana frowned. She wanted to say fuck it, but she knew how important Harper's safety was to Charlie. "I actually have the day off." She flashed a reassuring smile at Charlie, "But maybe your mom and I can talk and we'll see?"

Harper frowned that Santana didn't just disagree with her mom, but that at least wasn't a no. Maybe that could even be a good sign. "See mom, I told you she'd come back."

Puck wandered over to join the group. It didn't take a genius to work out that Santana and Charlie needed to talk. "Hey Harper, want to help me whip some of these guys into shape?"

"Can I?" Harper actually looked excited at the prospect which made Charlie pull a face in disgust.

"Fine, but stay where I can see you." Charlie informed her daughter. Puck was alright, she trusted him. Not enough to babysit, despite his many offers. It wasn't because she was worried that Puck would hurt Harper, no she was worried about the things he would 'innocently' pass on to Harper. She flicks her eyes to Puck for a moment and narrows them, only letting up when he flashes her a smile. It was as good as she was going to get and she turns her attention back to Santana, "Come on let's just go talk near the locker rooms."

Santana nods, smiling encouragingly at Harper as she makes her way to the locker room.

Charlie frowns. Santana wasn't supposed to show up like this. She had actually expected that she'd never see Santana again. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk." Santana admits, shifting uncomfortably. She's never felt this awkward before, but this is a conversation that needs to happen.

Charlie's eyes narrow. "Look, I get it. We don't have to have some heart to heart for you to admit that it's too much—"

"No!" Santana interjects, "I mean, it was. I had no idea—it was too much. But Charlie, I can't just—I can't forget that you're my mate or pretend that doesn't mean anything. It does."

Charlie sighs, "It doesn't matter Santana. You don't get it, we can't mate. You don't think I've tried. You don't think that I want to mate with someone? I can't and I can't keep getting my hopes up. I'm damaged, I will always be damaged. I'm not angry with you, I'm not hurt, it is what it is. You're free to find some other alpha to mate with. I know it's not what you want but you should have someone you can depend on. Someone that can make you happy."

Santana frowned slightly, but exhaled slowly. She would need to be patient, she understood, she at the very least had gotten a peek inside Charlie's mind and maybe later they could try again, and keep trying until they finally bonded. Until that time, "For as long as you've known me Charlie, when have I ever left when you wanted me to?"

Charlie sighed, "I know this may be some sort of joke to you, but this is my life Santana. I already told Harper that you might not be coming around anymore and she's already been disappointed once—"

"I'm not leaving you Charlie. We can try again, and we can keep trying till we get it. We're supposed to be together and I want to be bonded to you. I was serious about my plans to be a family with you. Why do you think I got you that mattress?"

"Because you like bossing me around and telling me how to live my life?" Charlie raises a brow when Santana snorts. She wasn't joking.

"Which is why we're perfect for each other," Santana says smiling widely.

"Santana."

"Charlie. I mean it. I think we're perfect for each other, even if we were bonded for just a few seconds—I felt that. I felt that we were. So please. I want to try. I get your hesitation with Harper, hell I would be hesitant too, but I promise I'm not going anywhere."

Charlie ran a hand through her damp hair and sighed biting her lip for a moment, she didn't want Santana to leave and she was the first person who had come back and wanted to stay. She closes her eyes for a moment and exhales slowly. "What do you know about dinosaurs? They have a dinosaur exhibit at the natural history museum and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of Harper. All I know about dinosaurs is what Jurassic Park taught us."

"Don't bring back dinosaurs, and if you're that stupid don't open a theme park that's open to the public?" Santana asked and then paused. "And if you do all those things, don't do genetic modification to make it more lethal."

"Well that. And that they are pretty smart for you know reptiles." Charlie scratches her cheek. "Do you want to maybe come with us? I mean I'll buy you a ticket and everything, I think we have to buy tickets. I'm not sure how this works but this is where Harper wants to go. I thought she'd want to do something fun like play laser tag or you know go to an amusement park, but nope she wants to learn about dinosaurs."

It wasn't what she had planned to do today. She had thought that she would talk to Charlie and make things right but this was new. "I'd like that Charlie."

Charlie nods, "Good, good. Well I need to just finish my workout then we can go to the museum together. Um, you can sit with Harper and make sure she doesn't squirt me, or get any water on the floor. I don't want to slip."