AN: Alright y'all. I know I suck. A lot. I'm never tabling this story because it's my baby, but apparently trying to keep up with school, medical shit, and writing a story doesn't really work too well. Sorry for the wait, I hope this makes up for a little bit. I have the rest of the story planned out, which is a bonus, and I have six weeks before the semester starts back yup! Enjoy. Read. Review. Message me. Follow Tumblr bechloe-takeyouraim. And go check out idratherbeinthesun here on FF because she's awesome and her Quinntana story rocks.
It had been two months since Santana let the 'g' word slip at homecoming. And, so far, they had actually been acting like they were in a relationship. Save for, of course, the dates in public, the holding hands, and the knowledge of their closest friends. Dani had been 'out' to her friends for years. The only people that she had hidden her sexuality from was her family. This is why her hand would naturally, accidentally, slip to Santana's knee, thigh, or hand when no one was looking. Like now, when they were all gathered in the choir room, the back row as usual since her and Santana actually put a secret label on things. She was used to Santana shaking her off, a silent reminder to keep her hands and eyes to herself, but that day something changed. Quinn and Brittany weren't even near, Quinn singing some forced-hetero song with Sam and Brittany engaging a confused Finn in some obscure conversation that few people could pretend to follow. Dani's hand moved to Santana's thigh, intending to give it a squeeze before Santana shook it off, a stoic purse to her lips as she stared straight forward, not even giving Dani an apologetic glance.
Dani's hand pulled back, settling into her lap as she stared straight forward as well, trying to focus on the faked chemistry from the two blondes instead of the fact that her girlfriend seemed to act like she was somewhat toxic if anyone aside from her parents could see them. She exhaled a long sigh and clapped softly for Quinn and Sam before Puck stood up, nodding at Dani.
The only noise came from the feedback of the two of them plugging in their guitar, Santana's eyes trained upon Dani's figure – as always. Dani and Puckerman started in on Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson, obviously putting on a show (and a bit of an education) for the rest of the class. (Come on. Not every duet needed to be some romantic bullshit that only those still naïve enough to believe in true love believe.)
Although, once Dani and Puck finished, Puck returned to his spot in the back corner, but Dani moved to the empty chair next to Kurt, ignoring the confused glance coming from her girlfriend in the back row. She kept the same look on her face for the rest of class – bored and "anywhere but here"- until they were excused.
She rose from her seat with Kurt, discussing tentative plans for the weekend to come. Damn Thursdays, always such a fucking let down. Dani left the choir room, making her way to her locker to grab the rest of her things, when Santana appeared next to her. The Latina's hand curled around Dani's bicep. "Yo, D. You gonna wait?" Santana asked casually. "You're kinda my ride."
"Oh. Right. Slipped my mind," Dani shrugged before sending an apologetic look to Kurt. It was no secret how Kurt felt about their friendship. In Kurt's eyes, Santana was a homophobic, soulless, bitch of a woman who had no business in Dani's life. And in that moment, Dani was almost forced to agree.
Santana tugged the girl in the direction away from Dani's best friend after she made a promise to text the boy. They climbed into Dani's car – the guitar taking up the entire back seat, as always. Santana's hand moved to Dani's, just as Dani's had less than an hour ago, and Dani shook it off. Dani pulled into Santana's driveway and stared straight forward, refusing to make a move to even kiss Santana's cheek. "You coming in?" Santana asked nervously.
"Nah, San. My… my parents are expecting me home…" she mumbled.
"But you always come over after school. Your parents are totally cool with it," Santana countered, turning more in her seat to study Dani's facial reaction.
"Yeah, well, they expect me home tonight," Dani said rather coolly, refusing to actually look at Santana.
"Okay. Why don't you tell me what I did so we can fight about it and you can come in, so I don't have to deal with the 'why isn't Dani here' questions from my parents," Santana bit out, her jaw setting.
Dani sighed, staying quiet for a few moments before finally opening her mouth. "You know, San, I get the whole in the closet thing. I really do. For God's sake, my parents think I don't date boys because my –quote- devotion to God means more – unquote-" she muttered. "But… in Glee? Jesus Christ, San, everyone in glee club is at least a little bit gay," she groaned. Santana opened her mouth, but Dani cut her off. "Yes, even Puckerman. I promise, he's so into Sam," she muttered. She sighed and gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. "I don't want to get into some screaming match with you about something I know you're not ready for, so I think I should go home," she said flatly. Santana stared at her a little more before letting out a hurt huff. "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll drive myself," she snapped before leaving. The slam of the car door seemed to echo through Dani's soul before she pulled out of the driveway and on the path to her house.
Santana arrived at school later than usual. Dani was a stickler for punctuality. In her mind, if she was going to go to college, her asshole parents would have nothing to do with it. By lunch, Santana and Dani hadn't spoken since the night before. Santana had tried to text Dani, explaining that she was trying and it simply wasn't as easy for her as it was for Dani to come out. To not give a shit what others thought of her. But after over twelve hours of no communication, Santana was pacing in the choir room.
"I… I like girls."
"I'm gay."
"I love girls."
"I am a lesbian."
"I like…. I like Dani."
"I love Dani."
"I really love Dani."
She was practicing, trying to find a way to say it out loud. At least to the glee club. Because, as Dani said, they're all at least a little gay. What she didn't notice was that Nick, the same asshole who felt entitled enough to ask her to homecoming, had somehow managed to stumble across the choir room. He stuck his head in, intending upon asking Santana out yet again, when he heard round four of her mantra. He pulled out his phone and opened the "record" app.
Santana was positive that the entire glee club was aware of the tension between her and Dani, as Dani found herself in the front row again, stationed next to Kurt with her head on his shoulder. Quinn and Brittany sat next to Santana and kept looking at her as though she was close to self-destructing. She was shaking. Actually shaking. Sheet music rested in her bag that she planned to give to Brad with some sort of sarcastic comment, as if she needed to prove to all the others that she was, actually, still Santana Freakin' Lopez. It was just the glee club. The glee club. The ones who don't bat an eyelash at the fact that Kurt still prefers to be in all the girls' groups or that Dani gets into unspoken competitions with Puckerman over who can make more dirty jokes or find more euphemisms for a vagina. A "no-cellphones" rule was actually put into place because those two would continue their competition well after Schuester threatened detention if they didn't shut up.
Santana jumped a couple inches off of her chair when Schue clapped his hands together. "Alright. I think that concludes it all for this week, unless anyone has something?" Rachel's hand flew into the air. "Anyone? No. Alright! Have a good weekend!" he said quickly.
"Actually…" Santana and Rachel said at the same time. Santana shut up though, since no one actually heard her. "I'd like to talk about the set list. We should be picking a set list that shows off our… best assets…"
"So, what you're trying to say is that we shouldn't include rock in our set because you kind of sound like something similar to a four year old trying to sing KISS, whereas Dani actually kicks ass on that?" Quinn asked without looking up from her nails.
Rachel huffed and looked around, hoping for support, but even Finn's head was bowed. She sat down and faced forward, causing Quinn to snicker to herself.
"And before she storms out… I…I have something I'd like to…" Santana was pulling out her sheet music when the PA system gave some feedback through the bad speakers that were planted into the walls of every classroom.
"I… I like girls."
"I'm gay."
"I love girls."
"I am a lesbian."
"I like…. I like Dani."
"I love Dani."
"I really love Dani."
"No…" Santana whispered to herself, her eyes going wide.
"A song… I need a song. A song makes it easier, right? Fuck, what kind of song…?" Dani's eyes started to go wide as it all clicked. That was Santana's voice over the PA system that broadcasted to the entire fucking school.
Santana ran out of the room before anyone could stop her, and Dani was right after her. "San!" she called as she left the choir room.
"What just happened?" Finn asked, looking around the room in complete shock. Kurt was finally starting to put it all together and Rachel continued to pout, but Quinn sprung from her chair, pulling Brittany with her. "Come on," she said firmly, leaving the choir room but heading towards the main office in a fast run, Brittany following immediately after her.
The rest of the club sat there, still trying to figure out what on Earth just went down with the girls when there was another echo over the speaker, someone taking the device away from the microphone to speak. "You heard it for yourselves, guys, Sant- ow, what the fu-" before the sound was cut off again.
"So that's where Quinn went…" Puckerman observed.
Dani caught up to Santana once she hit the bathroom. Most of the freshman girls littering the mirrors ran out the second the say the angry cheerio, a self-defense mechanism most figured out before the end of the first week of school. "San…" Dani soothed again, an airy tone to her voice as she tried to catch her breath.
Santana shook her head, facing the wall. "I don't want to hear it, D. Please just… just leave it alone," she mumbled.
Dani ignored Santana and just shook her head as she walked up to her. She placed her hand on her back and, when Santana didn't recoil at the touch, wrapped her arms around her from behind. She kissed her shoulder softly. "It's okay, babe. I'm right here. It's okay," she cooed to her until Santana turned around. The taller girl melted in Dani's arms in a ball of tears and sobs, make up running and her tears staining Dani's neck.
After convinced that this wouldn't be just a few minutes before Santana had collected herself enough to at least get out of the bathroom that smelled like a mix of cigarettes, weed, and bodily odors she didn't want to name, Dani started to lower them, sliding down against the wall with Santana in her arms until the sat tangled together on the floor. Santana continued to cry into her, but her body began to relax, the sobs becoming silent as the tears spilled down her cheeks. "For the record, babe, I love you too."
Santana looked up at her to respond, the slightest hint of a smile beginning to tug at her lips when the bathroom door opened with Quinn and Brittany rushing in. They both stopped at the sight in front of them and Brittany smirked lightly, turning to Quinn. "Just say it, B," she muttered as she went to crouch in front of Santana, her hand moving to the girl's thigh.
"I told you so!"