Better Forgotten
11. McKinley
Santana sat frozen in her place. Quinn stared at her for a few seconds before her head whipped around and she stared out of the window for a little while, then she turned back to Santana. It was like she was on a loop, constantly repeating the same actions.
Santana didn't have a clue what to do.
"I need to get out of here," Quinn squeaked, an irritated noise following. Santana tried to blink herself out of her daze and when she came back to earth, Quinn's hand was on the doorhandle.
"No, no," Santana found her voice. Quinn turned away from her and opened the door, undoing her seatbelt simultaneously.
It all happened so quickly—Quinn lifting herself off her seat with a quick glance at Santana before pushing herself towards the open doorway of the still moving car.
"NO," Santana roared and grabbed the girls arm at the last second and, with all her might, managed to keep a firm grip on her when she felt Quinn push herself from the car.
The car was slowing now, the driver having realised he had a lunatic in the backseat but Santana wasn't letting go of Quinn. She could feel the blonde trying to pull away from her again, her head turning in all directions as if looking for help.
Finally, the limo came to a halt in a lay-by. Quinn practically ripped her arm from Santana's hands and had her feet out of the car in a flash but Santana lurched forwards and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist. After a minute of struggling, Quinn went still. "Get off me, Santana."
The hairs on the back of Santana's neck stood up, unnerved by Quinn's sudden calm. "I can't let go of you, Quinn."
"Why not."
"Who knows what you'll do if I let you go off on your own?" Santana couldn't believe Quinn was even asking. "I'm only saving you from yourself."
"And you wouldn't need to if you hadn't brought me here," Quinn spat through gritted teeth, managing to swivel around in Santana's arms so she faced her. There was a flame in Quinn's eyes that wasn't usually there and it terrified Santana.
A sleek black car was quickly approaching from the direction they'd just come. The limo may have been in a lay-by but with the door wide open and Quinn stood outside they were covering part of the lane.
The car began to slow and passenger's seat window started rolling down. A second later a head popped out and Santana heard them say, "That's them!"
Santana's mouth fell open as, along with the head, a camera poked out of the window. Which suddenly started flashing.
"Get back in the car, OK? If you let me, I can show you why this is going to be good for you," Santana quickly attempted to reason with her. She tried to get her to sit back down, away from the prying eyes of what was obviously paparazzi. Quinn snapped, pushing Santana away from herself.
Santana's hands slipped away from Quinn and she fell, grabbing the car seat to keep herself falling out of it face first. When she looked up, Quinn was running away down the road. Santana shook her head to herself. What had she done?
She watched through the window as Quinn broke away from the road and started running through the long grass alongside it.
Santana turned back to look at the paparazzi and saw that there was not just one car—two others were following. She groaned and pulled the limo door shut. Hopefully they wouldn't follow Quinn.
"Quinn," Santana shouted. She hesitated a few seconds but no response came besides her own words echoing back to her. She squinted into the distance and turned in a full circle to see if she could at least see her.
She knew the general direction she'd run off in since she'd watched her…but this field was much larger than she'd first expected. And her heels were not made for clambering through knee-length grass. Who knew what creatures were lurking down there, too.
Given the mood she was in—and the fact that there was a dozen people with cameras outside—Santana had waited around in the car for an hour or two to let Quinn cool off…she could be anywhere by now. She could've even walked to that damn airport and hopped on a flight back to LA.
But something told Santana that in her hysteria, that thought wouldn't have occurred to Quinn. She could feel she was close, weird as that sounded.
"Quinn!" she shouted again and tripped her way a few more metres into the field. She stepped down on her right foot and it carried on sinking, almost making her completely lose her balance. She lifted her foot and groaned at the mud covering it.
"Isn't that a funny sight," Quinn's voice made her snap her head up, dropping her foot back into the mud with a squelch.
"Oh, you're ready now, Q? We might have to make a stop at the mall before we go to McKinley," Santana said testily. She knew she shouldn't treat Quinn like this—especially now—but she was irritated. Very irritated.
"I'm not going there with you, Santana," Quinn said seriously, "Take me home."
"We are home," Santana reminded her, "This is where we both grew up."
"This is not my home," Quinn snapped. "Do you have any idea how much I hate this place?"
"I know, Quinn," Santana said quietly, "I know. That's why I wanted us to come back—so, with the new me by your side—you could see this place isn't so horrible."
Quinn laughed darkly. "You think everything's about you, don't you?"
Santana hesitated. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't just hate Ohio because of high school. Sure, it's a huge part of the reason…but you've read my book. You know about my parents," Quinn was all but shouting again now, "You made my school-life hell and they made my home-life hell. There's nothing for me here. I've made a new life for myself."
"And some life that is," Santana said calmly, "Sitting around your apartment…plotting revenge plans on your high school bully."
Quinn was silenced by that.
Santana took the opportunity to carry on, "Exactly, Q. You're not much better off and you won't be until you let this go. You said you have but I can tell that's not true. Let me do this for you, please."
"Why did you tell the paparazzi?" Quinn asked. Santana took her avoidance of the subject as consent.
"I didn't—I don't know how they knew we'd be here," Santana frowned, "But we won't be seeing them again, I dealt with them."
"OK…"
"OK?" Santana asked hopefully. Quinn's eyes were on the ground. "OK, you'll come to McKinley with me?"
Quinn rolled her eyes, finally looking at her properly. Santana smiled encouragingly. "Fine."
It was an eerie sensation—pulling up in the McKinley parking lot in the back of a limousine with Quinn beside her and almost no other cars in sight. Santana checked the time on her phone in confusion: it was a Wednesday, where was everyone? But, obviously, their little complication had wasted quite a bit of time and now it was 17:30.
The driver cut the engine and Santana looked across at Quinn whose leg was bouncing up and down, her lower lip between her teeth. She reached over and took one of Quinn's hands, smoothing her thumb across it, "Come on, Quinn. Everything will be OK."
Quinn's gaze met hers and her knee stopped bobbing for a few seconds. Santana hurriedly got out of the car and offered Quinn her hand to help her out. When she shut the door and they began their way towards the entrance, Quinn didn't let go.
Santana felt it all rushing back to her—as if, when she looked down, she'd see her neatly pressed Cheerios uniform swishing as she walked. And she knew Quinn was feeling the same, not just by the sudden pallor of her cheeks. She squeezed her hand reassuringly. "You're with me now, everything will be alright."
She thought that if she told her that enough times, perhaps she'd start believing it.
Santana pushed open the door and lead the two of them through it, into the main corridor. When she tried to carry on walking, she felt resistance from Quinn. She looked back and saw she was frozen in place.
"Quinn," Santana whispered in the complete silence of the deserted hallway. Quinn's eyes flashed to hers but then back to the corridor opening out behind her. "Look at me."
Quinn sighed and this time when she looked at her, her gaze didn't wander.
"This place is behind you, now. You're better without it and we've all moved on. There's nothing to be afraid of," Santana felt her palms starting to sweat, feeling all the responsibility of keeping Quinn sane landing on her shoulders. She'd never been the comforting friend or a shoulder to cry on, "I'm right beside you."
Quinn took a deep breath and nodded, "Let's go find Mr Schue."
"All right," Santana smiled and linked her arm through Quinn's, going back to leading her down the corridor. When they passed into a bisecting corridor Santana felt Quinn stiffen but she allowed herself to be towed forwards, so Santana continued until they reached the choir room.
She looked at Quinn with her hand on the doorknob, assessing her sanity. When Quinn gave her a weak smile she twisted the handle and opened the door, walking in herself with Quinn close behind.
All eyes in the room turned on the two girls and Quinn's grip on Santana tightened. There was a moment of silence before Mr Schuester opened his arms to them for a hug, "Santana, Quinn…I hadn't been expecting you two!"
"Hey, Mr Schue," Santana hugged him quickly before he moved onto Quinn, Santana not letting go of the blonde for even a second. Santana took the distraction to look around herself at the other people in the choir room with them, all staring at her.
"Santana!" a blonde who'd been in the year below them hurried towards Santana: Kitty Wilde. A little bitch that she'd been forced to pretend she was friends with—of course, she was going to be nice to her now Santana had made a name for herself. Kitty gave her a tight hug and stepped back, glancing at Quinn, "You and Orca came together? I wouldn't have recognised her if not for Mr Schuester…"
"Back off, Kitty," Santana said through clenched teeth. She'd forgotten Kitty was part of the Quinn bullying. She wondered if Quinn had heard that. "Don't call her that. Yes, me and Quinn came together."
Kitty nodded, a calculating expression overcoming her face. Quinn was suddenly against her side again and looking at Kitty very nervously, "Hi, Kitty."
"Hey, Quinn," she said with a small smile. "Looking good."
Santana stared at Kitty. She'd called her Orca a second ago—was she truly being nice or…?
Quinn's cheeks flushed pink, "Really?"
"Yeah!" Kitty linked her arm through the one that Santana wasn't occupying, "We could pass as sisters."
"Um…thanks," Quinn said quietly and let Kitty drag her and Santana over to where the others were standing.
"Hey guys, if you can't tell: this is Quinn," Kitty said when they broke into the circle, "She's transformed."
Stunned faces greeted them until Sam Evans spoke up, "Quinn? Man, you got hot!"
"Quinn," Santana came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around, away from her conversation with Kitty, Sam, Tina and Mike. "Want to go look around a bit?"
Quinn looked torn for a second before nodding and quickly excusing herself. She took Santana's hand again as they left the room.
"Enjoying yourself?" Santana asked sweetly. Quinn gave her an annoyed look but nodded all the same. "See, I told you it'd be good for you."
They passed the same point in the corridor they did earlier and Quinn went stiff again. Santana paused.
"What's wrong with this corridor? You went weird here last time, too."
Quinn let go of her hand and walked over to the row of lockers, pointing at one of them, "This was my locker. And this was where I had the majority of my daily attacks."
"Come here," Santana said, opening her arms. Quinn bit her lip but stepped into her grasp all the same, allowing Santana to hug her.
After a few seconds, Santana pulled away with a smile…but that fell from her face when she saw Quinn.
"Oh, Q! Why are you crying?" she asked, gripping onto the girls shoulders. Quinn shook her head and let out a pitiful laugh.
"It's just…" she searched for the words. She shook her head again and pulled Santana back for another hug, "It's perfect."
Santana tightened her arms around Quinn and felt her do the same. For the first time in weeks, Santana finally felt Quinn liked her and a weight seemed to lift off her shoulders. She felt her heartbeat accelerate for some reason and her hands were clamming up…
"I think I'm in love with you," Santana whispered. In horror, she shut her mouth immediately. How could she be so stupid as to say that at a moment like this? She waited for Quinn to respond with a racing heart but all she got in reply were a few more happy sniffles.
Santana breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Quinn hadn't heard.
"OK, I better start making tracks," Sam said, standing up. He opened his arms and Santana watched as Quinn happily stepped into them. "But you've got my number, Quinn. Don't be a stranger."
"I won't," Quinn promised, her voice muffled against his shoulder. Santana smiled fondly at the two of them. She'd never expected Quinn and Sam to hit it off…they'd never been friends when they were in glee together. But then, Sam's blind optimism was something Quinn could definitely do with being exposed to.
"We should probably go, too," Santana stood up when Quinn backed away from Sam, "We've got a few more stops on the agenda."
"Oh, no," Mr Schue appeared, overhearing their conversation, "Everyone's leaving! Come on, guys. One last group hug."
Everyone laughed but obliged, wrapping their arms around each other like a family. Santana looked across the circle at Quinn who was beaming with all the affection. She wouldn't be able to put into words without sounding like a creep how happy seeing Quinn's joy made her.
When everyone pulled away people began departing in numerous directions to the different areas of the parking lot, others remaining with Mr Schuester a bit longer. Quinn took hold of Santana's hand again and swung their joint hands between them as they walked to the main entrance.
"This is the best day of my life, Santana," Quinn confessed as they came to the doors, "How lame is that?"
"It's not lame," Santana assured her, pushing open the doors to lead the pair of them out when Quinn stopped moving. Santana looked at her with a bemused expression, "What?"
Suddenly a pair of lips came down on Santana's. For a moment she was stunned, staring at Quinn's face but then her eyes fluttered shut and she allowed herself to get lost in the kiss.
Her hands, which were limp at her sides lifted, one cupping Quinn's face and the other on her lower back. She hoped that Quinn couldn't feel how sweaty they suddenly were, or that she couldn't feel—not feel, hear—how quickly her heart was racing.
Had Quinn heard her tell her she loved her earlier? Was that where this had come from? Santana no longer cared. Whatever had persuaded Quinn to do this, she was glad for it. This was the best day of her life.
Flashes went off behind her closed eyelids and she couldn't help but smile to herself. She'd heard that when you kiss the one you're supposed to see fireworks. She didn't care anymore that Quinn might feel her sweaty hands or pounding heartbeat because it was Quinn who was deepening the kiss.
The fireworks intensified and Santana frowned—what the hell? She was about to open an eye when suddenly a voice asked, "So the rumours are true. How long have the two of you been dating?"
"Will you be attending the movie premiere together?"
"What about Brittany, Santana?"
Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed. I feel like I'm finally giving you guys a decent upload! This one definitely had some substance to it heh..
ErosEternaGlee: yeah it was very much a filler chapter
Guest: ah, well as you can see all went well in the end!