DISCLAIMER: I don't own Glee or its characters. I don't own anything mentioned. The lyrics belong to Mr Jason Mraz. However, the character of Grey is mine.
A/N: Sorry it took so long. Review and enjoy :) Special thanks to my beta, as always. TriedtoLie, you're the bomb.
The air whipped around Grey's body as she ran, nipping at her exposed legs and face. Her heart pounded inside her chest, her muscles threatened to give out on her, but she kept running. She couldn't stop. She couldn't get caught.
She approached a clearing in the middle of the forest, and finally reached a standstill. She caught her breath, and tried to listen for a sign-anything- that someone was coming for her. She stood, relieved, and even let out a laugh.
And then-
"We know, Grace Charlotte Addison Harper Shephard Berry," said the demonic voice that did not at all match its blond haired owner.
"We know your secret, Grace," said the second voice that clearly did not belong to Rachel Berry, even though it came from her mouth. Grey stared at the figures in horror, unable to speak.
"B-b-but I had to keep it a secret!" she cried, "I had to!"
"You will pay for keeping the secret, Grace."
"Yes. You will pay." The figures lunged at her, teeth bared.
Grey's scream pierced the harsh night air.
"ARGHHHH!" Grey woke with a start. Her heart was beating hard, and she struggled to catch her breath. She screamed even louder when Rachel burst through her door, holding a heavy-looking trophy.
"WHO'S ATTACKING YOU?" a half asleep Rachel yelled, brandishing her weapon above her head.
"No-one, Rach. I had a bad dream, that's all." Rachel lowered the trophy, and rubbed an eye sleepily. She exited the room, muttering under her breath. Grey's heart began to slow down, but she couldn't shake the fear the dream had left her with. She needed to tell Rachel and Quinn about Santana. And Kurt. And her fathers. She had to tell everyone!
Don't worry, she reassured herself, Santana will be ready soon enough.
Grey walked down the hallway alone, humming to herself. The corridor was filled with people, yet no-one noticed when Grey seemingly disappeared into thin air. Grey found herself being pulled into the darkness of an empty janitors' closet, face to face with Santana.
Her girlfriend, Santana.
Santana, who was finally hers.
Santana greeted her with a kiss and Grey reciprocated.
"Mmm," Santana moaned contently. Grey chuckled and enveloped her girlfriend into a hug.
"I love it that you're my girlfriend," Santana said.
"My tummy flips whenever you use the word 'girlfriend'."
"My tummy flips whenever you smile." Grey blushed, and smiled shyly.
"Flip," Santana breathed. Grey leant forward, and so did Santana. Soon the two were kissing again, barely bothering to come up for air. Somewhere in the distance, a bell signaled the beginning of class, and Santana swore under her breath.
"We're late for Spanish," Grey said.
"We're both fluent, anyway," Santana reasoned. Grey breathed a sigh of relief, and they got back to what they were doing before the bell rudely interrupted them.
Grey and Santana walked into Spanish ten minutes later, sheepish looks on their faces. They accepted their detention slip quietly, before taking their seats. Quinn shot Grey a confused look, and rolled her eyes in annoyance when Grey only gave her a shrug in return. Quinn tore a piece of paper from her notebook and scribbled a message.
G, what happened to you guys? All quiet on the Western front?
Don't worry 'bout it. Nothing happened.
You big fat liar. Now give me the truth.
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH.
You suck.
Just give me a nozzle and call me a vacuum :)
Grace Charlotte Addison Harper. Tell me the truth. (Oh, and you're only allowed to use emoticons online.)
I know I shouldn't have told you my full name. (Oh, and BITCH, I DO WHAT I WANT. ;) :P :D :O You mad?)
Grey. Seriously, what's going on?
Quinn. Seriously. I'm telling you. It's fine.
Quinn sighed disappointedly, and left the matter alone. Grey, too, felt slightly dejected. She wanted to tell Quinn about what she'd done in the janitors' closet with Santana. Hopefully Santana would be ready to go public soon enough.
After Spanish, Grey caught up with Santana.
"Spezz," Grey said, as she casually touched Santana's butt. Santana jumped a foot into the air, and Grey laughed loudly.
"What's up, Little B?" Grey smiled at Santana.
"Well, we've been secretly dating for two weeks now, and well, I want to take you on a date." Santana beamed. "Dinner at my place. Tonight." Santana's smile faltered.
"B-but what about Rachel? Your dads?"
"Rachel's at Kurt's for a sleepover doing god knows what, my dads are having a romantic night away from home, and they think that you're sleeping over. Which you can do if you want…"
"You mean you want to-"
"Well, no. I'm not ready for that. Not yet, at least. But you're more than welcome to spend the night." Santana gave Grey a small hug, with a discreet kiss on the cheek.
"Dinner sounds amazing." Grey smiled widely, and walked away.
"Come at 7," she called out, and made her way to her next class. Santana smiled, and she, too, went to class.
Santana was curled up in a ball on her bedroom floor, hugging her knees to her chest.
What the hell am I going to wear? She thought.
"Honey, have you-" Marie Lopez stopped in her tracks. "Santana. What are you doing?" she asked, slightly alarmed.
"U-uh… I just… I don't know…"
"San? Something bothering you?" Marie asked her daughter.
"I don't know what to wear," Santana whispered.
"You may want to go with something along the lines of clothing," Marie suggested, trying to stifle a laugh. Santana's head shot up and she glared at her mother.
"Ma, I'm kind of having a major crisis here." Marie looked at her skeptically.
"Over clothes?"
"Grey," Santana admitted. Marie sat down on her daughter's bed and waited for her to continue.
"She's, well, perfect, and I'm… Me." Santana looked at her mother who gestured for her to continue. "And, I guess…. I'm scared."
"Scared of what?"
"That I like her too much. That I'm not good enough for her."
"Oh, San," Marie sighed, "in your eyes she's perfect because we choose to overlook the flaws of those we love. Did you ever stop to think that maybe she sees you as perfect, too?" Santana pondered her mother's words.
"I think I like her more than she likes me."
"Impossible."
"Why?"
"Because you're so LOVABLE!" Marie shrieked, pinching Santana's cheeks and killing the serious mood. Santana laughed and her mother got up to leave.
"Honey, maybe go with jeans and a nice top for your first date." Santana smiled. Of course her mother knew it was their first date.
"Ma, pinch my cheeks again and I'll-"
"Dear, you can't go Lima Heights Adjacent on me. I'm the one who taught you that."
Grey's hands stopped shaking as soon as she saw Santana on her doorstep. Santana's skinny-jeans accentuated the shape of her legs, and her My Chemical Romance t-shirt hugged her body perfectly. Grey laughed loudly, and Santana looked at her outfit in alarm.
"What? What is it?" she panicked.
"We're matching," Grey smiled, and gestured to her own MCR shirt. Santana laughed with her, and entered the house. Seconds later, rain fell from the heavens and lightning illuminated the sky.
"Well there goes our backyard picnic," Grey sighed.
"Let's just do it in the living room." Grey raised an eyebrow, and Santana whacked her arm. "get your mind out of the damn gutter." Grey inched closer to Santana, and the two shared a quick, perfect kiss.
"Not the living room," Grey said, "somewhere better." She led Santana up the stairs.
"Your bedroom? God, Grey, how horny are you?" Grey rolled her eyes and opened the door. Santana gasped in spite of herself. Grey's bedroom was lined with lit candles. A red picnic blanket lay in the middle of the room, with a basket placed on top. Santana looked at Grey incredulously.
"But-how-what-backyard-rain-what-"
"Weather guy forecasted rain and thank Jesus I trusted him." Grey took Santana by the hand, and they sat on the blanket. Grey opened the basket and pulled out their dinner: take-out Chinese.
"All of your favourites are here, courtesy of Mr Wang's." Santana kissed Grey and murmured a thank you.
They sat having dinner, laughing and talking and kissing to the playlist Grey had put together.
"Grey, are these the songs you sang to me?"
"Yeah. Plus ones I had in planning stages." Santana leant over, and kissed her girlfriend passionately. The leftover Chinese were soon forgotten, and the two girls sat, mouths attached, letting their senses take each other in.
"Grey, I stopped by to get that boo- OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Quinn screamed as she walked through Grey's bedroom door. The two girls broke apart in horror and stared at a still screaming Quinn.
"WHAT. NO. WHAT. WHY. THIS IS. WHEN DID THIS. NO. NO. NO. HOW. WHY."
"Quinn, calm down," Grey soothed. It didn't work, and Santana took matters into her own hands.
"QUINN SHUT THE FUCK UP AFORE I ENDS YOU." Grey sniggered at Santana's 'Lima Heights' voice. Quinn stopped screaming.
"W-why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"That was my idea," Santana admitted, "I kind of wanted this to be ours before we made it everyone else's."
"Grey. How could you keep this from me?"
"Quinn, I wanted to tell you, I swear to God I did, but-"
"Grey, you're my best friend. And this isn't the first time you've kept something from me. The languages? Your friggin' near genius IQ?" Grey sighed.
"Quinn, I was gonna tell you-"
"Save it, Grey." Quinn turned and left the room in a huff. Grey ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
"Babe, you okay?" Santana asked.
"No, Santana. No, I'm not. Because I can't tell anyone about our relationship. I can't tell the people I care most about that I'm going out with this amazing person. Because you won't let me.
"I spent months singing to you and showing you how I feel, and all you do is make us a secret. And you know how that makes me feel? I feel like shit. I feel like a giant turd because you don't want to be seen with me. Do you know how it feels? Knowing you're not good enough for your perfect girlfriend? It feels like you're a giant turd. So no, I'm not okay. I'm a turd." Santana reached out to hold Grey's hand, but Grey shrugged away.
"Maybe you should just… Go." Santana wiped away the tears that were cascading down her cheeks, and followed Grey's instructions.
She made it to her car before completely breaking down.
"Can't you do ANYTHING right?" she yelled to herself angrily. It was only on her drive home that her idea came to her. She pulled over to the side of the road, and whipped out her cell phone.
"Puckerman," she said into it, "I need you help."
The next day, when nobody questioned her about Santana, Grey assumed that Quinn hadn't shared their secret with the Glee club. Grey approached her before lunch.
"Quinn, I'm so sorry about everything." Quinn eyed Grey, distrustfully. "Really, Quinn-tastic, you have no idea how sorry I am. I wanted to tell you about Santana, I really did, but she-"
"Grey, I understand about the whole San thing, but I just don't get why you didn't tell me that you spoke all those languages or that you're a freaking genius."
"It's because I don't want to be defined by my intelligence. At my old school, the kids hated me because I was smart. Rylan was my only friend, and I just… For so long, I've lived in shadows. My smarts, my namesakes, other kids in the orphanage… For once I just wanted people to know me for me, and not things attributed to me." Quinn smiled at Grey.
"You know, with that rant, you sound a lot like Rachel." Grey sighed.
"I know. She's rubbing off on me."
Grey sat in Glee Club with Quinn and Rachel, chatting. Santana stumbled through the door, pulling Puck by the arm. Grey tensed. What were they doing together?
"Mr Schue, is it okay if I sing something?" Santana asked, and when she had permission, Puck picked up a guitar. Grey's eyes went wide. Santana winked at her. The familiar melody started and the whole Glee Club realized what was about to happen.
Well you've done done me and you bet I felt it
I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted
I fell right through the cracks
and now I'm trying to get back
Before the cool done run out
I'll be giving it my bestest
Nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention
I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some
I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I'm yours
Well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love
Listen to the music of the moment people dance and sing, we're just one big family
It's our God-forsaken right to be loved loved loved loved loved
So I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm sure
There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours
Santana finished the song to the loudest cheering Grey had ever heard. She stood slowly, and sauntered over to her girlfriend. Santana leant over, and the two kissed, blocking out the excited cheers of their friends.
The duo sat down, still holding hands, and Grey leant over to whisper in Santana's ear.
"Thank you." Santana grinned, and kissed her girlfriend again.