"I TRIED TO DISCOVER..."
Santana giggled quietly as she crept through the door of the blonde's apartment. It was almost two weeks since she had given Quinn a key, their argument dissipating slowly over the next few days, and the blonde had returned the favour yesterday afternoon when Santana had visited the bakery.
"...A LITTLE SOMETHING TO MAKE ME SWEETER"
She slid off her shoes and jacket, peering around the partition wall to see Quinn dancing around the kitchen, music blaring from her iPod dock in the corner.
"OH BABY REFRAIN...FROM BREAKING MY HEEEART!"
She was stood at the stove, stirring what looked like curry, and Santana grinned as she watched the oblivious blonde.
"I'M SO IN LOVE WITH YOOOUU, I'LL BE FOREVER BLUUUUE"
Santana stepped round the corner, sneaking up behind the blonde "OH BABY PLEEEEEEEEEASE!" she sang in Quinn's ear, and the blonde jumped, grabbing her chest in fright as she turned to slap Santana on the arm, wide-eyed in terror "GIVE A LITTLE RESPECT..." Santana carried on, spinning the blonde round and encircling her in her arms, and Quinn giggled before joining in
"TOOOO MEEEEE!" They both sang out the last note, falling about giggling as the song ended.
"Well hey" Quinn grinned and leaned in for a kiss, wrapping her arms around Santana's neck "Remind me to take back my key, you're abusing this right." She raised an eyebrow and glared, but Santana giggled
"No. I refuse. You knew I was coming over, what did you expect?" she shrugged innocently with a giggle
"I thought you'd take longer" she blushed
"By the way, that is the most ridiculous song ever." Santana laughed
Quinn pouted as the next song started "Oh, I love this song"
Santana frowned, recognising the opening bars but not being able to place it. She could play it on piano, she knew that much, but she just couldn't name it right now. Quinn rolled her eyes as the soft music played, leaning forward pressing her body against Santana's and whispering in her ear "It's Winter Song" Winter song! That's it, of course! She smiled and nodded as Quinn began to sing "Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum..."
She started to sway a little, joining in to sing the first line "This is my winter song to you, the storm is coming soon, it rolls in from the sea." Quinn grinned, kissing her nose as she sang softly, and swaying gently with her
"My voice a beacon in the night, my words will be your light, to carry you to me" Quinn sang back to her and she smiled as they sang the chorus together, turning slowly, Quinn only pausing once to lean over her shoulder and stir the pan of chicken on the stove with a giggle. She closed her eyes and leaned in to press her forehead against the blonde's as they swayed and turned in the small space of the kitchen, before Quinn tilted her head up to trap Santana's lips between her own. Santana deepened their kiss as the song played in the background, but it could have faded into silence for all she knew, before Quinn pulled away
"This is my winter song, December never felt so wrong, coz you weren't where you belonged" Santana grinned at the change of lyrics as Quinn sang "inside my arms" she leaned in the give the brunette another soft kiss.
"Quinn?" she whispered, and the blonde raised an eyebrow before she rested her temple against Santana's "Why are we slow-dancing in your kitchen?"
"I have no idea" the blonde whispered back with a giggle "But I don't really care that much"
"Same" Santana smiled as she closed her eyes once again.
-ooOoo-
"Oh. Hey Quinn" Brittany frowned, checking shed rang the right number
"Hey, sorry, Santana's in the shower so she told me to answer. How are you?" Quinn smiled brightly as she pottered around the other girl's kitchen
"Oh right. Well I was just ringing to ask what you guys think we should do to celebrate Rachel getting that part?"
"I'm assuming we're thinking bigger than just the bar, then?" Quinn giggled, placing the phone on speaker as she began to tidy up the remnants of dinner
"Yeah, Rachel suggested it but we were thinking something more special. Jess said paintballing but Santana would probably cry or bludgeon us all to death" she said seriously
"That is very true. Wow, what's bigger than the bar but smaller than paintballing?" she asked sarcastically and Brittany laughed
"I know right? What could we possibly find to do?"
"How about laser-tag?" she suggested with a hint of excitement
"LASER-TAG!" Quinn heard a voice scream in the background
"Um...am I on speaker?" she frowned
"Yes" Brittany laughed "Sorry, Jess is now jumping around the room. I think she likes the idea."
"Well, it's non-violent and non-messy, so Santana might be able to cope. And we can play five on a team?" Quinn grinned as Santana heard her name, stepping out of the bathroom with a questioning frown. "It's Brittany and Jess. Talking about laser-tag for Rachel's celebration" Quinn explained and Santana nodded thoughtfully
"Oh. Hey guys!" she called, before padding down to the bedroom
"Hi San!"
"Hey! Yeah, I'm sure we could take on a bunch of fourteen year old boys" Brittany shrugged with a giggle, before Jess' voice bellowed down the speaker again
"JUST GET SANTANA TO FLASH THEM, THEN WE'LL AMBUSH FROM BEHIND" she cried, and Santana's head popped round the bedroom door with a frown
"As much as I like your tactics, the look on Santana's face would suggest she doesn't agree" Quinn giggled, but Santana held up a hand
"Don't put words in my mouth, Fabray. That's genius!"
"I stand corrected." She laughed
"Okay, well it's karaoke night tomorrow, right? Shall we suggest and organise it all then?"
"I'M NOT WORKING TOMORROW, I'LL GOOGLE IT!" Jess shouted excitedly, and Brittan rolled her eyes
"Sounds perfect" Quinn laughed "Okay, we'll see you tomorrow night then, bye."
"SEE YOU LATER"
Brittan giggled "Bye, guys!"
-ooOoo-
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!" Rachel bustled in to the bar, immediately striding to their booth, with a familiar blonde boy in tow "Hey, Quinn I hope you don't mind but I bumped into Sam on my way here! You don't mind if he joins, right?"
The blonde shrugged, somewhat bemused, before leaning in to her brother as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, sliding in next to her "Hey guys!" he grinned and they smiled or waved awkwardly.
"So Rachel" Brittany announced "We have the perfect idea for your celebration day!"
"Okay..." Rachel replied warily "Go on..."
"Well it was Quinn's idea but we're all agreed" Jess grinned "LASER-TAG!" she beamed and Rachel looked shocked
"Laser-tag?" she frowned
"Laser-tag" Santana nodded seriously
"Really?" Rachel sounded sceptical, and Jess scowled
"Don't you dare ruin this for me, Berry" she warned before grinning "Yeah, it's not messy or painful, we just get to go and thrash other teams. There's a few not far from here, and I found one that does teams of any size. So they'd put us in a group against other people who are there, and if there aren't enough people we can go against each other or they'll use staff members or whatever!" she grinned brightly and Rachel nodded
"Okay...laser-tag it is!" she announced with a grin, and they all toasted as Quinn grabbed the songbook from the next table, while Sam and Rachel went to the bar for another round of drinks
The blonde stared at the list of songs in wonder "They have literally every song here. Even obscure musicals and show tunes. Jersey Boys, Wicked, Avenue Q"
"My street?" Santana frowned
"No, the musical!" Quinn laughed "How did you guys find the only bar in New York that isn't just bad eighties" she held up finger quotes "'classics'? It's amazing"
"Rachel found it" Santana shrugged knowingly, and Quinn nodded
"Oh. Figures. And they're so well organised. This ones alphabetical, that book is by year and the one the other day was by genre?" she gazed at the book in her hands, wide-eyed
"Yeah Rachel persuaded the last DJ to let her arrange the song lists" Santana laughed, and Brittany snorted
"Yeah, persuaded…" she rolled her eyes, and Jess raised a questioning eyebrow as the two others returned with the drinks
"Berry banged the DJ" Santana explained, and Rachel turned bright red
"What?" she squeaked, her voice cracking, and Brittany laughed
"We were explaining to Quinn and Jess why the songbooks are so...organised"
"You mean anal" Santana corrected, glancing up at the short brunette with a wry smirk
"Santana you know that is a complete lie!" Rachel demanded, her face bright red as she took a big gulp of her drink, while Jess, Quinn and Sam gazed around with shocked expressions "I need the bathroom" she turned on her heel and headed for the door at the back of the bar, and Santana and Brittany chortled.
"It's not even true!" Santana laughed, "She knows we know that, but it winds her up so bad!"
"You're mean" Quinn chastised, but her giggling and grin gave her away
-ooOoo-
A few hours later, and Rachel, Santana and Jess had all sung, along with Sam and Quinn who dueted for Mumm-Ra's She's Got You High. The current song finished and a familiar face stepped up onto the podium as Queen's Seven Seas of Rhye began to play
"Hey look!" Jess shouted over the music, pointing at the stage "Mohawk guy's back!"
"Yeah, Mohawk guy!" They chorused and toasted as he started to sing, but Sam frowned at the stage
"Hey, I know that guy! That's Puck!" He gestured to the stage, and looked at Quinn expectantly, but she frowned back with a stunned expression
"No way. Mohawk Guy is not Puck." She shook her head disbelievingly but he nodded
"Yeah it is! That's Puck!" he pointed insistently
"Excuse us..." Santana interjected, "But...who's Puck?" she shrugged.
Sam glanced around at the other intrigued faces before explaining "Puck is my best friend. We went to school together, and grew up together and stuff, but then lost contact in college, and didn't see each other again until a few years ago" he shrugged
"Puck didn't have a mohawk!" Quinn argued and Sam shook his head
"You realise people can change their hairstyles, right?" he replied sarcastically, and Quinn elbowed him with a pout "Besides, you had a perm when you knew him." The blonde blushed as Santana smirked.
The song ended and Mohawk Guy made his way to the bar, but Sam stood up and called him over. The guy turned around, frowning before spotting Sam and he grinned, making his way over after accepting his beer from the barman
"Hey Sammy boy! How's things? And more importantly, who are these ladies?" he clinked his beer against Sam's before leaning his hand on the booth behind Rachel, smiling round the table, and Sam rolled his eyes
"You know Quinn-" he shrugged, and Puck's mouth dropped open
"No way, Quinnie! Oh my God, it's been so long! Come here!" he pulled the blonde into a hug, and she giggled when he lifted her off the floor. Santana scowled. He placed her back on the floor and turned to Santana as the blonde slid back into the booth "And who's this?" he grinned, and Santana grimaced
"This is Santana, my, my…this is Santana" Quinn's voice wavered and a blush crept up the back of her neck, but she kept her gaze cool as she stared at Puck pointedly, who frowned slightly
"Oh…okay…so hi" he waved politely and turned to the other three girls, his cocky grin back on his face, and Sam continued
"Brittany and her girlfriend Jess-" he gestured, and Puck shook their hands before glancing at Sam with a raised eyebrow
"Dude, I know you're taken and all, but what's with all the lesbos?" he muttered and they all rolled heir eyes as Sam shook his head before finishing the introductions
"And this is Rachel" she beamed up at Puck and he grinned back, before perching on the end of the booth next to her as Sam sat back down beside his sister.
"So why Puck?" she smiled "Like a Midsummer Night's Dream?"
"No, like Noah Puckerman" he gestured to himself and she nodded, a little disappointed
"I see. Well it's very nice to meet you, Noah" she grinned, and he winked.
"So how did you two get back in contact?" Santana asked as Quinn's hand slipped into her own under the table
"Um..." Puck frowned, and Sam smirked
"Puck's an underwear model now" he snorted, and the mohawked boy pouted
"Yeah I am" he winked at Rachel again as he rested his arm along the back of the booth behind her, and she shifted in her seat
"And he was one of the models for a shoot I was doing, and I didn't know he was going to be there until he appeared in a pair of Calvin Klein's. Which was...interesting" Sam frowned at the memory and Santana snorted
"That is the gayest reunion story I've ever heard" she laughed, and the blonde boy blushed as Puck gave a regretful nod.
They all talk and sang and laughed, and Puck turned to Quinn when Sam was up on the stage "So...Quinn."
"Yes...Puck?" she laughed and he took a deep breath
"What do you think of Cruella?" he smirked, and she frowned, before her jaw dropped in realisation
"Oh, you mean Maleficent?" she grinned, and he nodded approvingly
"Maleficent, I like it. I went with Cruella, but I like it" He gazed thoughtfully before continuing "So what do you think of her?"
"What do you think of her?" she answered cautiously and he laughed
"Total bitch. I hate her."
"Oh thank God. So do I. She's just...mean." they grinned in disbelief
"Horrible. She's hot, but she has like...barely any personality. And what personality she does have is just..."
"Horrible" Quinn nodded, and they giggled, "Sam could do so much better"
"Oh hell yeah! My boy's a catch" he nodded proudly and Santana chipped in
"We're back to the gay!" she interrupted, and they laughed before shushing each other as Sam returned to the table, smiling innocently. Santana rolled her eyes.
A few hours later Santana and Quinn left the bar. Though it was still fairly early in the night, Santana had to be at school early the next day and didn't want to be too tired in the morning, so they said their goodbyes. Sam walked them to the door pulling Quinn into a tight hug when they reached it, and kissing the top of her head before turning to the brunette, "Santana, nice to see you again" he grinned and pulled her into a hug too, and Santana stood shocked for a moment before hugging back with a small smile.
She blushed as they walked away, and Quinn slipped her hand into Santana's, nudging her with her elbow "He likes you" she grinned, and Santana's blush deepened
"Do you think?"
"He hugged you. He doesn't hug anyone." She nodded with a grin, and Santana nodded back with a frown, her expression a mixture of shock and awe, with just a hint of worry.
-ooOoo-
Santana leaned over to kiss the sleeping blonde on the forehead, making sure not to wake her, before sliding out of bed. She gave a small smile as she watched Quinn roll over and spread her limbs out across the bed, and then left to shower. She dressed quickly and had her breakfast before moving back into the bedroom, where she adjusted the time on the alarm and stuck a post it to the headboard before leaning over to kiss the blonde again as she pulled her coat on, leaving the apartment.
As she was riding the subway, she felt her phone vibrate, and pulled it out excitedly, assuming it to be Quinn. She frowned when she saw the name of a different blonde flashing on the screen, and answered curiously "Hello?"
"Hey, I have awesome news!" Brittany whispered excitedly, and she could hear Jess giggling in the background"
"What? Why are you whispering?" Ugh. Too early for this shit.
"Because we don't want to wake Rachel" came the blonde's whispered reply. Creepy.
"Okay...why?"
"Well put it this way, we left the bar a little while after you guys last night, and Sam, Puck and Rachel stayed there..."
"Oh God..." Santana grimaced as she heard the phone being wrestled from the blonde
"And we heard some definitely-suspicious noises when she got home!" Jess said suggestively before passing the phone back
"Oh God..."
"Yeah that's pretty accurate" Brittany snorted and Santana smirked "We can't decide who it might be, though."
Santana frowned "Sam seems more her type, but he does have a girlfriend. And Rachel doesn't like that kind of stuff, she doesn't meddle with relationships." Santana reasoned.
"But Puck is not her type. Unless she picked up a guy? Or ran into an old bar-man friend?" Brittany giggled and Santana nodded thoughtfully
"That's definitely a-"
"WE HAVE TO GO!" Brittany whispered furiously, and Santana heard a door opening in the background before the phone cut off. She frowned and clicked into the messaging menu, sending an impatient text to Brittany, who replied quickly
Need to see u both tonight. I need details, bitch!
I know. We hid so dunno who it was yet. Jess is out tonight, just us 3 at ours? Xx
Wow, like old times before life got fun. Let's quiz the hobbit ;D I can't wait xx
-ooOoo-
"Okay, Hobbit. Spill your beans." Santana settled herself on the sofa, and the two girls stared expectantly at the shorter girl next to her
"What are you talking about?" she raised an eyebrow innocently and Brittany snorted
"'Oh God...oh GOD...OH GOD!'" Brittany imitated, and Santana grimaced, "We're not stupid or deaf, Rach." She rolled her eyes and Rachel stared, wide eyed and blushing furiously
"Um...I..."
"So who was it?" Santana asked impatiently with a wicked grin, and Rachel rolled her eyes
"It was nobody" she shifted awkwardly and Brittany retched
"Oh God, EW! That's even worse!" she clutched her chest as she stared, horrified, at Rachel
"No it's not, she's lying!" Santana crossed her arms and glared suspiciously at the brunette "Which means she didn't just pick up a random hottie, or she'd be bragging about it. Was it your old barman friend?" she nodded knowingly but Rachel grimaced
"Good God, no!"
"Ha! So it was a guy then!" Brittany pointed at her with an excited grin "Tell. Now."
"Was it Sam? Coz his girlfriend's apparently a total bitch, and Quinn would you forever" she nodded seriously
"Oh crap!" Rachel sighed, defeated and cursing her mistake, before taking a deep breath "You were right, Santana. It was not a stranger, nor was it my 'barman friend'"
"So..." Brittany grinned "Which one?"
"But it also...wasn't...Sam." she blushed, and looking own at her fidgeting hands as Santana and Brittany gasped in delight
"No fucking way! Hobbit and the 'Puckasaurus'" Santana giggled with an approving nod "I can see the appeal" Brittany frowned at her disbelievingly, and Santana held her hands up innocently "What? Just because I'm a lesbian? The dudes an underwear model, he must have a body like Hercules!"
"He was an Adonis." Rachel nodded seriously and Brittany giggled
"So, are you going to go out with him again and stuff?" she grinned excitedly, if a little confused, but Rachel's face twisted thoughtfully, her mouth hanging open as she attempted to form a sentence from her jumbled thoughts
"I...it's just that...I mean he's...well he's kind of...honestly, I don't know." She sighed "Like, he got my number last night...before we uh, you know, I mean-"
"Berry we're not twelve-year-olds, you fucked him." Santana interrupted, and Rachel rolled her eyes
"Yes. Well, he already had my number, and he text me this morning..." she grabbed her phone from the side and found the message before passing it to Santana, who frowned as she read it
Hey hot jew. I don't usually do this with girls, but you're hot n jewish n my mom would like you. Do you wanna get dinner this week? Thurs at 7?
"Wow. What a charmer" Santana tutted, handing the phone over to Brittany on the armchair
"That's got to be a line!" she shook her head, disbelieving "I mean, the 'I don't usually do this' bit, not the 'my mom would like you' coz that's probably true, you're pretty endearing to parents."
"Well yeah, but he doesn't exactly seem like the type to ask girls out, does he?" Rachel replied sceptically, shrugging off the compliment
"Yeah, everything about him screams nail-and-bail" Santana said, her voice dripping with disdain a she crossed her ankles on the coffee table
"No kisses" Brittany remarked as she re-read the text "Doesn't sound too eager"
"Honestly, I highly doubt either he or the text has hidden depths, so stop reading into it" Santana waved her hands in the air as she spoke, and Rachel nodded
"You're probably right. He was hot, but he's not exactly the Mariana Trench" Rachel smirked, and Brittany frowned
"Deepest part of the ocean" Santana added, and the blonde nodded with a quiet 'oh'
"So one question remains" Brittany shrugged "Are you gonna go?" she grinned, and Santana turned to Rachel expectantly
"I...maybe, I mean..." Rachel frowned and Santana sighed impatiently "Santana stop sighing, I don't know!"
"Oh my God, Berry, just go. Let's face it, you haven't had any man-meat in God knows how long" Rachel grimaced "so just go. Worst comes to the worst, you'll sit in silence through a free meal and still lick whipped cream off his abs later!" The two girls stared at her, somewhat stunned. Brittany looked a little disgusted while Rachel looked mildly intrigued. "Point proven." Santana gave a satisfied smirk as she held her hand out for the phone again
"Rachel, don't go if you're not really interested if it's just going to confuse your feelings. No offence but you've never really done the whole using-someone-for-sex thing, have you?" Brittany asked, raising an eyebrow as she passed the phone back
"No..." Rachel tilted her head in acknowledgement of Brittany's point
"But it's not like one post-hook up date makes you betrothed to him either; and unless he's a psycho, he'll know that. So if you wanna have some fun with him then why not?" Santana shrugged innocently and Rachel nodded
"I don't know. Although I still haven't replied and he'll probably think I'm blowing him off now anyway" she bit her lip guiltily, and Santana's eyes darted upwards involuntarily as she sighed
"Rachel, he's not a girl. It's been twelve hours not twelve minutes; he probably hasn't even thought about it"
"Yeah, that's a comforting point, San" Brittany rolled her eyes, voice dripping with sarcasm
"No, he'll definitely have been thinking about it" Rachel nodded confidently with a smirk, and Brittany grimaced
"I know the feeling" she muttered with a shudder, while Santana looked impressed.
"Hey guys!" Jess breezed through the doors as they sat thoughtfully, and they all greeted her "What's going on? You look like someone died. Oh God, did someone die? Shit, I've proper put my foot in my mouth haven't I?"
"Baby, calm down!" Brittany laughed "We're thinking. I'll fill in details later but basically-"
"I slept with Puck, he asked me out, I don't know whether to go. Santana show her the text"
Santana handed the phone over with a smirk, and Jess frowned as she read it
"So come on. Four heads are better than one, what do you think I should do?" Rachel said conclusively and Santana shrugged while Brittany puffed air into her cheeks before blowing it out in a long stream
"I think the decision has been taken out of your hands" Jess grinned. She passed the phone back with a smirk, and Rachel glared at her with wide eyes before looking at the screen and reading the reply aloud
That sounds delightful, thank you, Noah. I will see you at the aforementioned time and date, thank you :)
"I do not talk like that!" she reached back to slap Jess' arm
"You talk exactly like that!" Brittany chortled, and the three girls laughed at Rachel's expense, who pouted
"You're a scheming little rat bastard, Jess Welford."
"So...Berry's got a date!" Santana announced, grinning wickedly and clapped her hands together sarcastically, and Rachel glared again. She swallowed
"Yes, thanks to Jess...it would appear I do."