Hopefully this chapter will answer some of your questions. And seriously guys, the lovely reviews make me so happy. I love Quinntana fans so much, you all rock. Enjoy.
Quinn's POV
"How'd you sleep?" Santana asked me as she looked over at me from she spot she was laying on in the bed. She was so cute, this is the happiest I've felt in a long time, waking up next to her was a blessing.
"Shhh, let me just live in this moment before I have to wake up." I whispered as I pulled the covers over our heads. "What time is it?" I asked her.
"5:53, I know it's early, I'm sorry for waking you." She said as she pulled me closer to her body and kissed my nose. Her strong arms wrapped around me made me feel so warm and cozy; I thought that maybe I never really did want to get up. "I have to shower soon." She said.
"No you don't." I muttered, feeling myself drifting back into a deep sleep. Santana pressed a kiss to my lips and slid out from under the covers before I heard her walk off. I heard the shower come on a moment later. I decided that I did want to get up, so that I could make something for Santana to eat before she went to work.
I was no Iron Chef so an omelet would just have to do. Luckily by the time I was done cooking Santana came walking out of her bedroom, all dressed and drying her hair still. She looked, in layman's terms, hot, and I was not shy about checking her out. "Like what you see?" She joked as she eyed the omelet. "Aw you shouldn't have."
I put the omelet on a plate for her and handed her a fork. "Eat up, so when you grow up you can be strong." Santana laughed and took the plate and fork and started eating.
"When are you gonna start working today?" I felt like dying. She said working. Not painting, not doing my hobby, she said working. It seemed trivial and stupid, but for someone to validate my passion meant the world to me. I wanted to kiss her, I wanted to tell her that I loved her, I wanted this forever. "Because if you want to be alone while you work then I could come by after work and take Beth to the movies or something." She looked over at me and smiled. "What? Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have omelet on my chin?"
"Nope, you're just perfect and it makes me feel sentimental." I told her. "And no, why don't you come home right after and I'll cook-." Santana laughed as she finished her omelet. "What?"
"You're not a domesticated woman. You don't stay home and cook and clean, that's not how I want this to work." Santana's smile faded and I knew she was serious. "And that's not you."
"You'd tell me if something was wrong, right?" I asked. It was something I'd been holding on to since the night I'd found out she was in the army. It was something I needed to know for my own sanity.
"Nothing is wrong." She promised. "Why? What vibe am I giving off?"
"No vibes, I just…wanna make sure you're okay about this. I mean you are a cop, charity is like in your job description. Along with helping the helpless and being handy with handcuffs." She smiled, I knew she was picking apart everything that I was saying, and I was hoping that she would. I didn't know how to get into this conversation without just blurting out something stupid.
"Is this about the bed situation?" She questioned and all I could do was nod. "Okay I'm going to be honest, is that alright?"
"Yeah it's sort of what I was hoping for." I told her truthfully.
"I like you too much to force things with you, and yeah I want to go further, I'd have to be an idiot not to, but if us sleeping in the same bed makes you feel uncomfortable then I'm moving to the couch." I grabbed onto her hand before she could get too headstrong or impulsive about anything she'd just said. "Quinn I'm serious-."
"You're being the best girlfriend on the planet, but that's not what I want. What I want is for you not to be afraid of touching me too much or going too far, because I moved in with you. We're in that place where you don't have to walk on eggshells around me; I'm comfortable if you are." The smile that graced her lips made it impossible for me not to kiss her. She pecked me on the lips twice and then a third time as she was standing up. She grabbed her gun and holster before she headed towards the door.
"I love you." She said before leaving the apartment. The door closed and I stood there in silence. She popped her head back in a second later. "No, I didn't mean…I meant like platonic…I mean I did mean it but…I should say it better…and I should go." She closed the door again, and still I stood there in silence.
…
So she loves me? What am I supposed to say to that? How do I react? I love her too, obviously, but am I supposed to wait for her to say it again before I respond. She didn't look ready to say it, it felt like a Freudian slip, but I know she meant it.
That was all that counted.
Right now, I just decided that since Beth was gone I should actually get to work. The tarp was already under me to protect the floor from paint, and the canvas was in front of me ready for me to paint, and I turned on some music so I could just relax.
That was a part of my problem before, I was too serious about art. I was afraid that I'd end up homeless with a child and they'd take Beth away, or worse give her to Puck. If I just relaxed and worked it would come naturally. The strokes didn't have to be even, or perfect, they just had to find themselves onto the canvas.
I heard the door open and I smiled. "Hey babe, you're home kinda…" I trailed off when I saw Sugar coming in. "Oh sorry, hi."
"Hey, it's my fault I forgot that you were here, sorry." Sugar said as she looked over my shoulder at my artwork so far. "Impressive, who knew Santana would end up with Picasso." I grinned and went to the kitchen to wash off my hands so I could grab Sugar something to drink.
"So do you normally just come over here in the middle of the day?" I asked.
"Occasionally." She said with a shrug. "I mean…oh you're asking because you want to make sure there's nothing going on between Santana and I."
"I never said-."
"It's in the back of every woman's mind, trust me." Sugar said taking the glass of water that I handed to her. I sat down on the couch next to her. "Well I'm happy you're here actually."
"Me? Why?" I asked.
"I sort of need you to convince Santana to do something for me." I didn't like this, it made me slightly uncomfortable. I didn't exactly know the limits of their friendship, to be frank I didn't actually ask, so if there was something hidden in their past I wanted Santana to bring it up, not Sugar.
"What is it?"
"I'm flying to Ohio in about a week, to visit my parents, and I want Santana to come, but I know she'll freak out about it if I ask. I know, it's not fair for me to ask you, and I know that it's weird, but I really need this and I think she does too." Sugar said keeping her eyes on the coffee table in front of us. "She's stubborn."
"Trust me I know."
"And she's avoiding it-."
"Avoiding what? I'm confused, I feel like you both know so much about each other but I know nothing." I didn't mean to come off as frustrated but I did. "It's just I want…I need Santana to give her everything to me, because I can feel myself giving my everything to her."
"Then come with her, bring your daughter too, if Santana actually faces what happened then she'll feel more inclined to open up." Sugar said. "She's just complicated you know, everyone has secrets, and everyone has a past."
…
Santana's POV
I knocked on the front door of the 8th apartment that Buddy and I had gone to, still no answers, still no one willing to talk. "This is a bust, when do we call the Marshals?" I asked him.
"When we're dead, I'm not giving this case to anyone else." Buddy said as we walked back down the hallway. "You know how things are, after a shooting people close their blinds and hope we don't come knocking. But it happened in that alleyway at 11 pm, if no one saw anything then I'll fucking quit this job." We got onto the elevator and pressed the bottom floor button.
"The kid was 14, what the hell kind of world do we live in?" I questioned as we reached the bottom floor.
"The funeral's tomorrow, I'm thinking maybe our perp is sympathetic and might make a guest appearance." Buddy said. "But I mean you don't have to go."
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"Because I think you've been to enough funerals in your lifetime." I didn't know how to respond to that so I didn't. As we were leaving the building, I noticed a doorman standing out front. I didn't recognize him, which meant we didn't speak to him on the way in.
"Did we talk to that guy?" I questioned as we reached the exit. Buddy shook his head no and I took that as my cue to approach the guy. "Hey, man let's talk for a second."
"I have a job to do, I can't talk for long." The man said as he continued to look out towards the street.
"Saturday night did you hear anything weird, see a kid leave at around 10?" Buddy asked.
"I saw Jonathan leave at around 10:50, he looked like he was looking for trouble. You know how it is, kids at that age, fucking around with the wrong guys." I nodded making a mental note of everything he said.
"Yeah I get it, so I guess you heard the gunshot then?" I asked.
"Yeah like 10 minutes later, but I was inside by then, I didn't want to run out there the shooter could've still been around." I nodded and glanced over at Buddy.
"How long have you been working here?" I asked him.
"5 years." He said with a smile.
"Have a good day Mr…" I waited for him to fill in the blank.
"Marcus, Marcus Green." Buddy and I both gave him nods before heading across the street.
"He's lying." I told Buddy as I put my hand on my gun. "We're going to walk back like we forgot something and then arrest him, okay?" Buddy didn't question it he just followed my lead. "Hey sorry Marcus, I left my notepad inside." I waited for Marcus to open the door before I slammed my weight into him and pushed him onto the ground. We had him cuffed and standing in what seemed to be an instant. "Marcus Green you're under arrest for murder."
"Wait, how'd you even know it was him?" Buddy asked curiously.
"His uniform, it says Monte Park Apartments, but this place is called Mount Park, and the time that he said Jonathan left was off. Plus, Marcus here said he'd been working here for 5 years, except it's only been open for 3." I shrugged like it was no big deal. "Any rookie would've caught it." I joked giving him a wink. "And…" I bent down, pulled the gun out of an ankle holster, and showed it to Buddy. "And this is a .38 caliber special, the same gun used to kill Jonathan." Buddy's mouth hung open as I took the fugitive away.
…
I walked into my apartment expecting Quinn to either be busy working or watching TV, what I didn't expect was for her and Sugar to be sitting on my couch laughing away ignoring the fact that I even came home. "This is beyond weird, like some strange alternate reality." I said as I walked over and slumped down in between them. "Hi." I said kissing Quinn's cheek before I gave Sugar a smile.
"You look like shit." Leave it to Sugar to bring all the honesty she had and dump it right there on the table.
"She looks sexy." Quinn corrected. "So Sugar and I were talking…" Quinn started and from that moment on, I knew I was in trouble.
"Why do I feel like I'm going to need a drink?" I asked. "I mean I just caught a murderer, can we talk about that instead?" Both Sugar and Quinn grabbed my hands simultaneously and looked at me. I felt like I needed to leave, to get some fresh air. If Quinn and Sugar talked, and they then wanted to talk to me, I think I knew what this was about.
And I couldn't handle it now. I stood up and opened the refrigerator, and for some reason my mind went back to the war.
Flashback:
"You scared? They said we're supposed to be scared." I looked up and smiled at the clean cut and clean shaven guy standing in front of me. We were on a bus that was taking us straight from training camp to an airport and from there overseas.
"A little." I moved my bag so he could slide into the seat next to me.
"So what are you getting away from?" He asked, I laughed because no one asked things like that, especially not to me. They figured because I was a girl, I didn't want to be in the war for the same reasons as them. "Family? Friends?"
"A little of both, you?"
"I read this book once, it's called A Rumor of War and it was deep, I'm telling you deep as shit, but I came away feeling like if I didn't strap my boots and get out in the war then anything I wrote would be useless. I'm not trying to be a hero, just a writer." I could tell it was something personal, something he'd probably never tell the other guys.
"Can I be honest?" I asked him.
"Yeah."
"That's the dumbest fucking shit I've ever heard." He smiled and held out his hand.
"My name's Skylar." His grin was crooked and goofy, and his buzz cut made him look like a boy who was lost and found his way into a uniform. He wasn't hardened or stupid like most of the guys around us. He wasn't cold, or dethatched or excited, he was just Skylar.
"I'm Santana."
"Do you have siblings?" He asked.
"None…you?"
"Yeah I have one."
End Flashback.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I had no idea how I ended up in my bedroom, or why Quinn had followed me. Sugar was probably sitting out on the couch, worried and confused as to why I always just distanced myself from her when it looked like things would get hard. "You could've told me."
"And say what? That I met Sugar my first time on leave and we became best friends. Should I have told you that I promised her I would keep her brother safe? Or maybe I should've added that even now after these years I can barely look at her because all I can think of was how I watched her brother die and I couldn't do a thing about it?" It was stupid of me to attack Quinn, but I didn't know what else to do. How was I supposed to deal with this? How could I when I put it off for so damn long.
"You didn't have to hide that, not from me." She said. "Sugar wants us to go to Ohio to see her parents, they're having a vigil for Skylar, and they've been asking to see you for years. Even if you're afraid or ashamed or scared of what happened, that doesn't mean you can't help this people." Her hand felt cold against my cheek, and I sat down on my bed running my hands through my hair because I was far from ready to face this. "Do it for Sklyar, do it for Sugar, hell do it for me, I don't care as long as you go and visit them."
"I met them once you know…on before our second tour, we joked about how they'd adopt me into their family once we came back for good because Sky and I were so close." I shut my eyes and shook my head. "I'll go." I promised Quinn. "I have to, they're family too." Quinn wrapped her arms around me like she would never let me go. I could hear Sugar get up and leave the apartment, her intuition was strong and she must have known that we would need some time. I lifted my covers and got under them with Quinn, I didn't care that I still had my shoes on, I didn't care that she was the one wrapping her arms around me and comforting me because I was supposed to be the strong one. I held onto her hands and kissed them until I felt like I was falling asleep.
"I love you." Quinn said into my ear, she didn't know if I heard, but the way her heart was beating, she hoped that I did.
Next chapter even more will be revealed about Quinn and…Brittany. Also there's the possibility of another flashback, but I won't say for who. Review por favor.