...It's been like 84 years I know...
Santana sighed as she finally slid her keycard into her hotel door. She was moving slowly, painfully so. Dreading even. It'd been two nights, two nights of thinking. Two nights of drinking. Two nights of denial. She knew what she had to do, but it wasn't coming to her easily.
Not this time.
Quinn's words were actually haunting her. She couldn't let them go. She was right about everything. None of this was fair. It wasn't fair for her, for Cora or for Quinn.
Santana stepped into the hotel room and glanced around as the door swung shut behind her. The room didn't look any different, it's as if it hadn't been lived in for the past two nights. Her bags were just where they left the in the closet. The clothes folded neatly in the drawers. The bed made, it seemed untouched. Cora's clothes were still in her bags under the table near the bed, but the blonde was nowhere to be found.
Santana wandered over to the bed and sat down. She didn't really have a plan for this. She was just gonna come in here and go with it but it wasn't going the way she thought it was supposed to because Cora wasn't here.
She might be internally freaking out, because Cora was supposed to be here, there was a conversation that was supposed to be happening, that couldn't happen without Cora here, and Santana was ready to just rip the bandaid off.
"Let's get coffee!" Brittany said excitedly as soon as Quinn opened her hotel door.
Quinn squinted at her, having just been woken up by the constant banging on the door. "Brittany it's 6:30 in the morning."
"Perfect time for coffee." Brittany grinned at her.
Quinn scratched at her head before fighting a yawn, "you know I had a late call-time last night."
"Bright and early Quinn, you can't sleep your life away."
Quinn took a step back, wasting her arm encouraging the taller blonde to come inside. "Gimme like 15 minutes to get ready." She told her before she walked over to the bathroom, knocking on the door, "Rachel, I gotta come in for a second," she called out.
"No need." The girl replied as the door swung open She was decked out in a hotel bathrobe, her hair wrapped up in a towel. "Bathroom's all yours." She saw Brittany making her way over to Quinn's bed to sit, "hello, Brittany." She smiled, "what are you doing here?"
"I came to drag Quinn away, force her to deal with society."
Rachel smiled, "well good luck to you because I've tried many times."
"I got this!" Brittany replied.
Quinn poked her head out from the bathroom where she was brushing her teeth, "would you like to join us for coffee Rachel?"
"Yes, join us it'll be like Mike & Ike meeting a Caramello."
"Caramello?" Rachel quirked an eyebrow glancing toward Quinn, who'd just returned from rinsing her mouth.
"No idea, she once referred to me as a Jolly Rancher that had fallen into an ashtray."
"It's just because you're a brunette and your skin is sorta caramely, like a Caramello...you're sweet and chocolatey."
Rachel nodded, "okay, I guess that makes sense."
"So are you gonna join us?" Quinn asked, going through her drawers to find herself and outfit for the day.
Rachel nodded, "yeah, I mean if you don't mind, that would be lovely."
"We'll wait." Brittany told her.
Rachel gave her a polite smile before going into the bathroom to get ready.
"You're back?" Cora asked as she stepped into the hotel room, she was carrying a cup of coffee in her hand along with a muffin. "If I had known I would've got you something."
Santana stood from the bed, "Cora-I'm sorry."
The blonde frowned as the door closed behind her, "for what?"
"Everything."
"Santana-"
Santana shook her head, "please, I need to say this." She took a few steps toward her gesturing for her to sit down. "I know that I said we needed to talk the other day-"
"Where were you?" Cora interrupted, "you've been gone for two days. where have you been?"
"I was at the studio." She said because that wasn't a lie, she had camped out in the studio for two days, mostly trying to gather her thoughts and figure out what she wanted, which was simple, she knew exactly what she wanted.
She wanted Quinn.
Only problem was she wasn't sure if Quinn wanted her anymore.
"The other night though after I went to the studio I ran into Ariana who invited me to a party at her hotel." Santana sat across from Cora in one of the chairs, as the blonde had taken up the couch. "So while I id go to the studio, I ended up at the hotel down the street at the party."
Cora had set her muffin and coffee down on the table unable to touch it. "Santana please just tell me what's going on?" She said quietly. "All I want is honesty, are you cheating on me?"
"No." Santana told her. Because she wasn't. She may have kissed Quinn, but it only happened once and she shouldn't have done it. "I'm not but...I can't be with you anymore."
"You can't?"
"I should've never been with you in the first place." At that Cora scoffed, "I hate myself for this." Santana continued, "but I've never been over Quinn and I shouldn't have tried to force myself to move on with someone new."
"Oh, that's rich." Cora snapped, "we've been together for two years and now you wanna tell me we never should've gotten together?"
"It's not fair, I know."
"It's more than unfair Santana! No. We're not breaking up, okay, you claim you should've never gotten with me, but we've been happy until she came back into your life. We were happy. You're gonna finish this movie, and your album and then we'll go home."
"No." Santana replied, "I screwed up okay. I know that, but I also know that I don't love you the way you want me too. I'm still in love with Quinn, and I'm sorry it took me until now to admit it."
"You're sorry!" Cora scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me right now Santana! You're being pathetic."
"Maybe I am." Santana replied quickly, "but it doesn't change the fact that this conversation that's happening right now is me breaking up with you."
"I said no!"
"That's not how a break-up works Cora." Santana snapped back.
The blonde was tearing up a little and Santana did feel bad, she felt awful because it was just dawning on her at this moment that she had basically been leading Cora on for the better part of two years. Santana felt like an asshole.
Truth is Cora was never meant to be more than a one-night stand.
But Theo had suggested Santana get a girlfriend for publicity, and Cora had said she had a nice enough time to hookup again, so Santana had actually followed up on the offer. The two had started hanging out a little more frequently and even though they had never officially stated they were dating any time the rumors had come up Santana never denied it until eventually everyone had been calling Cora her girlfriend. They'd attend premieres together, concerts, any kind of party and soon enough Santana was never really spotted without the blonde on her arm.
Cora was a safety net for her.
She didn't want to be alone, she hated to be lonely, and Cora reminded her of what she really wanted.
Quinn.
Except Cora was a lot easier to deal with. She didn't have mood swings like Quinn did, and her attitude wasn't quite as bad as Quinn's (until recently anyway). It was easier being with Cora because she felt less guilty. But even as she pretended to be happy with Cora as she claimed to be, her heart had never truly let go of another blonde.
"Please, stop trying to fight me on this." Santana said softly. "I'm sorry I've let it get this far, but you see how screwed up everything is right now. You know that I have feelings for Quinn without even having to say it. You're not happy right now, you're pretending that there's nothing going on when you know there is."
Cora dabbed at her eyes, a small stray tear sliding down her cheek, "I thought there was nothing going on?"
Santana frowned, "there's not...I-I mean we kissed," at that Cora's eyes shot up, "but only once, and I'm so sorry that happened. I'm sorry I kept that from you, but it truly made me realize that I've never been over Quinn. I just pretended to be. It's not fair for you, or for Quinn."
"So that's it?" Cora asked. "Two years and this is how it ends? You're leaving me for another girl."
"No." Santana shook her head, "I'm not leaving you for Quinn. I'm just ending this. I need to work on me. I've messed up, and I need to fix whatever's going on with myself before I even try to be with her."
Cora scoffed again, "right."
"Seriously." Santana replied softly, "I'm not just gonna jump into anything with her..." She stood up and stepped over to the blonde, holding out a hand for her to grasp and when she did after a bit of hesitation Santana pulled the blonde up to her feet, "you're an amazing girl-you haven't really shown it the past few days-but you are and soon enough you're gonna find someone who actually deserves you. And I hope you do. I wish nothing but the best for you. And I am so sorry, for everything."
"You owe me." Cora said quietly.
Santana's brow furrowed but she still said, "what exactly do you want?"
Cora crossed her arms over her chest and glared, "you're paying for my trip back to New York, and helping me get an apartment."
"Cora-"
"I think you're forgetting the kind of power I have in this business." Cora interrupted. "You know where I work."
Santana scoffed, "you're not being fair."
"And you think the way you're running away is being fair?"
"You're threatening to ruin my career!"
"I'm not going away as easily as you expect me to. I have connections Santana and I'm not afraid to use them...shall I call Theo?"
"Stop." Santana said quickly as Cora moved to pull out her phone. "I'll pay for your trip back to New York...just stay at our place until the movie's over then I'll help you find somewhere else."
Cora smirked, "I don't think I need help finding a place...I'll keep in touch." She said bitterly before she moved toward the door.
"That barista was totally flirting with you!" Brittany giggled as she and Quinn took a seat in the back of the coffee joint.
"She was just being friendly."
Brittany's brow quirked, "have you seriously been out of the game so long that you don't know what flirting looks like?"
Quinn rolled her eyes, glancing back over toward the counter where Rachel was waiting for their order. "She wasn't flirting."
"Please." Brittany chuckled. "She's literally staring at you right now."
Quinn's eyes danced to the barista who was in fact watching their table pretty closely. Quinn blushed looking away before she turned to her friend, "no way."
Brittany shook her head, "what do you mean no way? You're hot there's no denying that. It's not like it's surprising someone would actually find you attractive."
Rachel joined them soon placing Brittany's cup in front of her before setting her own cup on the table, "and one iced green-tea frappe with Courtney's number on it for Quinn!" She said cheerily sliding the cup over to the shorter blonde.
Quinn gasped, sitting forward and looking over the number and the words that surrounded it 'call me!' before glancing up at the counter seeing the barista 'Courtney' send her a small wave along with a dashing smile before she continued on with her work. "Oh, my God!"
"I told you." Brittany took a drink of her coffee before eyeing Rachel.
"You gotta call her." Rachel encouraged.
"What?"
"What?"
"Are you insane? I can't call her, I'm still love with Santana."
"Maybe so, but going on a date with another hot chick won't hurt you." Brittany shrugged, "it's just a date Quinn."
"And Santana's being an idiot anyway, you need to show her you're not waiting around."
"Rachel's right. You're too much of a catch and Santana needs to see that she's lost you...even if she technically hasn't yet."
Rachel nodded along, "who knows, maybe Courtney will be the one person to actually get you over her."
Quinn shot her a look.
"What? It's possible."
"Not likely." Quinn said, "it's not like I've been pining over her for three years. I tried dating other people; Tyler, Sterling, Izzie, Nina, Matt, Madeline."
"Yeah and they never seemed to last more than three months."
"Because I'm not over Santana." Quinn told her, "I don't like leading people on. If I'm not feeling it in three months I'm most likely not gonna feel it at all."
"Except Alex. She lasted a good five months." Rachel shrugged.
"Yeah...but she reminded me so much of Santana, I was just using her." Quinn admitted.
"This will be different." Brittany said, "it's worth a try. Santana's being stupid anyway."
"Speak of the devil." Rachel muttered bitterly taking a sip of her coffee, her eyes over near the door.
Quinn and Brittany glanced over toward the door where Santana had just stepped into. Her eyes danced around the area before they settled on the table with the three of them. "Brittany?" She questioned stepping over to the group, "I didn't know you had flown in already?"
Brittany shrugged, "I arrived last night."
"And you didn't tell me?" Santana looked hurt.
Brittany stood up to greet her friend, "I really just wanted to see Quinn first." She explained, "make amends."
Santana's eyes fell to the other blonde, who was trying to hide the number on her cup with her hands. "I understand." She replied.
"Would you like to join us?" Quinn asked quietly.
Santana shook her head, "um...no that's okay. I was just stopping in to get something to eat before heading over to the studio. You filming today?"
"Later." Quinn nodded, "I've got the night-shoot with Ariana tonight."
"Right." Santana nodded, "well, I'm filming in a few hours, so I guess I might see you later."
"Yeah."
Santana's eyes roamed over the three faces before her before she shrugged, "okay...well, I'll see you guys later I guess."
"Bye Sanny." Brittany waved her off.
Santana's eyes fell to Quinn once again before turned toward the counter to get her own order.
"Was that awkward for anyone else?" Rachel joked.
"She seemed weird." Quinn agreed.
"She's like a Hot Tamale."
Rachel frowned glancing over to Brittany. "Another candy reference."
"It's the perfect candy for her. A rebel Mike and Ike, she used to fit in with us," She motioned between herself and Quinn, "The Unholy Trinity, before she went her own way. She's spicy and hot...but you can only handle so many of them before you're burning."
Quinn frowned, her eyes shooting over to Santana where she was paying Courtney for her order before stepping aside to wait for it, but the brown eyed girl never glanced back toward their table.
"It's okay." Brittany said, reaching over to pat Quinn's arm. "Everything is gonna be okay."
It's not the best update, I know. But I tried really hard to get it updated for those of you who still wanna read it.
...let me know how it is...