Story: I'm Not Your Rebound
Characters: Lea/Beth; Demi/Tristan; Quinn/Rachel (Established Faberry); past Achele
Rating: Ranges from PG-M. Sometimes in the same sentence!
Disclaimers: Don't own Glee, the Characters, the actors playing the characters, the Star Waggoner trailers, Don't own the SATs, any colleges in the east. This is purely non profit here.
A/N: A shout out is in order for Aly Berry, thanks for the Spanish Beta/authoring the damn Santana dialogue! Mucho gracias! (Hey, its good stuff that she wrote, trust me. I laughed my ass off).
Secondly, I want to say, thank you to the people who have been reviewing - I appreciate it. I am struck by the number of responses that are grateful for a speedy update. Then I thought about it. It is hard, after all, when you get invested in a story, and months go by without an update. It's hard! I respect that not everyone can be creative on demand and that for most people here, if not all, this is NOT your day job, but it does make me sad when you want to know what happens with a story, and the updates take longer than Glee's hiatus' schedule! So, I'm glad that there are a few folks who seem to be interested in this, because I DO like these characters.
And as I promised, today all would be revealed.
Chapter: Santana Giveth, Santana Taketh Away...
So, as it typically happens when any amount of Tequilia is involved, there are usually a few regrets, more than likely a hangover, and hopefully, you remain in the country of origin from whence you came...
But there are no guarantees.
Beth woke up, head splitting in two, groaning. She was having a very hard time orienting herself to where the fuck she was, because it was all yellow and fuzzy...
Oh, wait.
That's because someone's hair was in her face. The hair, attached to the head, attached to the body, of which the body was currently laying on top of her.
At least they weren't naked.
She moved the hair out of her eyes, and attempted to focus. It appears that Demi slept upside down in her recliner by the bedside, and was happily snoring away, in a pair of Beth's scrubs.
"What the fuck?" She groaned.
That, apparently was the battle cry of the blonde Lorax, currently nested on her chest. With a start, it sat up.
"Holy fuck, where am I?"
"Dianna?"
"Beth?" The blonde Lorax inquired, back.
Realizing what was actually going on, a half naked ex-girlfriend of Rachel's was laying on her, the young physician awakened...stat. "Dianna!"
"Beth!" Dianna moved to cover herself up with the sheets. "I...um. I don't remember a whole lot, after the salami..."
"Jesus, that shit of Santana's is like a mind eraser!"
"You don't think she actually put something in it, do you?"
Beth grimaced. "I wouldn't put it past her."
A loud groan came from the depths of the bowels of the recliner. "Oh. .God. Would you two shut the fuck up? It's like rivets in my head when you talk!" Demi groaned.
"There's a joke in there somewhere, but I'm to hung over to execute it." Beth lamented.
She stood up, wobbled, was steadied by Dianna, whose arms felt awfully familiar to her, and headed to the kitchen to bring back provisions. She brought in water, crackers, vitamins, zofaran anti nausea medicine, and an 3 IV sets.
"What the fuck is THAT?" Demi said, pointing to the first aid kit.
"Shut up and take this. Your head will stop spinning. You too, Princess Di." Beth said, while multi-tasking Purell-ing her hands and gloving up, heading towards Demi, first.
"Oh, no fucking way! I pass out at the sight of blood...especially my own!"
"Fine. Wallow in your misery. We have our call time in forty minutes, Lovato."
She groaned.
"Beth," Dianna said softly. Beth turned in the direction of her lilting voice. With a gentle smile, she said, "I'll go first, so Demi can see it's okay." Sticking her left arm out, she said, "Bring it on, Dr. Beth. I'm ready. Come do me, now."
"That's what you said last night, too!" Sniggered Demi, before wincing with pain from her hangover.
Beth was in full on Doctor mode. She was very different. No humor, whatsoever. She explained everything to Dianna before she did it, and amazingly, it didn't even hurt. It's almost like she wasn't the person they knew.
"Wow, you're...you're really good at that." Dianna marveled, looking at the small IV hub in her arm, that Beth was hooking up to a liter of normal saline.
"ALSO, what you said last night." Demi chortled. "Arrrgh! My fucking head! Okay, Corcoran, fine. Do your doctor shit!"
In ten minutes, she had all three of them hooked up, and they sat there watching the Today show together. Periodically, Dianna would sneak a peek at Beth, who was busy checking the IV poles and mumbling to herself.
"I can't believe you started your own IV...on yourself, Beth." She said, in wonderment.
Demi rolled her eyes. "Fuck, you're not going to be in love with HER, now, are you?" Di just swatted Demi with a rolled up magazine in response. They were mostly quiet until Di's IV pump was the first to beep. "You're done, Di. Let me pull that out of you." They exchanged a furtive glance at each other, both recalling their g!p conversation from the night prior, and both looked away.
"Just...don't get me pregnant." Dianna whispered, teasing. Beth blushed.
"Still hearing that shit!" Demi informed them.
Rubbing the blonde's arm, in what could almost be considered affectionate, Beth asked her, "feeling better?"
"Much. That's fucking incredible!"
"It's the detox recipe from the medical/surgical ICU. Cool, huh? Intern year, you put in 10,000 of these into people on Friday and Saturday if you were working the third shift."
"And you transported them across state lines, as though you knew. You're such a maverick! Hey, how come they didn't stop you at the airport?"
"They same reason they didn't stop Lady Di, transporting $2,500 worth of undeclared Tequilia from Mexico, that is probably a government experiment that fell into the wrong hands...Santana's."
"Hey, Leave my Sanny alone." Demi pouted.
"Your Sanny?" The two blondes said, in unison.
"Well, yeah. Like, my big sister, or something... I think she adopted me. So, yeah. My Sanny. Or something." Demi said, shrugging.
"I wouldn't call it an adoption, Demi. I would call it a hostile takeover." Beth said, matter of factly.
Dianna giggled.
"She means well." Demi said, defensively.
"Yes, she always does." Beth sighed. "You forget, Demi, I've known her a lot longer than you. Remember, she deployed Dianna here, to hunt and destroy."
Dianna looked uncomfortable, and changed the subject, obviously. "So...Demi? Do I need to be worried about pictures on TMZ?"
Beth shook her head. "You are so fucking worried all the time about TMZ. TMZ this, TMZ that...TMZ caught me, changing a tampon, blah blah blah...fuck TMZ!"
Demi said, "Yeah...there might be. TMZ might have something."
They both turned on her. "YOU?"
"I fucking resent that! It is not fun trying to wrangle the two of your drunk asses from point A to point B making out and shit all over the place! But I did it, like a good doobie. And I get NO credit! So, NO, not moi. I'm one of the good guys, remember? No, I would look to all the other of thousands of people who have, you know, phones."
Dianna groaned. "Should we...dare we, you know, pursue the internet?"
"Do you really want to?"
"The enemy known is the better than the enemy not known."
"Shit, that's deep." Demi nodded.
Beth sighed. "Is it going to be bad?"
"Well, let me put it to you like this..." Demi held up her smartphone.
Beth and Di swiped through together, and their mouths dropping further and further to the floor with each successive swipe. The pictures told the tale. Each picture, kissing, arms around each other, laughing, posing, kissing Pablo on each cheek; they looked like they were having fun...while they might not have looked like a couple, they definitely looked familiar. Intimate. In fact...They were all over each other.
"Um..." Beth mumbled.
Dianna sighed, and closed her eyes. "These could be really...hurtful." Tears were starting to well in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Beth. I'm sorry for participating in this." She sounded completely sincere.
Beth's head snapped to Dianna. "Th-Thank you," she stammered. She gave a wan smile, and then moved to put her arms around the Glee blonde, hugging her, tightly. "I love the fact, Dianna, that your first thought was about someone else, and not about yourself."
"I know you love her, and I..I still love her, Beth. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. She's hard to get over." They broke apart. "I can honestly say, I stuck to the parameters dictated to me by Madame Lea. I did...I'm almost positive. However, its one thing to agree to certain boundaries, it's another thing to have your face smashed in it, you know?"
"Like a pile of poop." Demi nodded.
"Not helping, D." Beth said.
"I'm just saying..."
"Do...do you regret it, Beth? Last night?"
Beth exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Yes, and no. But...I can honestly say, we have it worked out, between us, Dianna. You're like, my les-bro, now."
"Oh, thank God. I couldn't stand it if you resented me...or distanced yourself from me, because of this stupid drunken..."
"Hey! No regrets. Okay?"
"Okay." Dianna nodded.
They hugged for a moment. Demi was looking at them with a cocked head.
"What?" Beth said, pulling away from Lady Di.
"If I squint," Demi said, "you guys look like sisters. Twin sisters."
Dianna smiled. "I don't think sisters do this." She said, holding up the picture with her kissing Beth, tongue in her mouth.
Demi shrugged. "Some places, they might."
They threw pillows at the laughing singer.
Beth jolted up, suddenly business-like. "Okay, let's take showers, get ready, eat...and then we'll look at the damage and call Lea." Beth put her hand out.
Dianna looked confused until Demi put her hand on top of Beth's. She followed suit, still confused, until Demi whispered, "She made us do this every fucking night before "Shell." You just can't take the cheerleader out of the surgeon, sometimes. Just pretend you enjoy this."
"Ready? Break!" Beth said, ignoring the commentary.
"You...are just such a dork, Beth" Dianna said, fondly.
"You've said that before." Beth grinned, heading for the first shower.
XOXOXOXOX
They hit search.
Nothing.
"What?" Demi said, in disbelief.
They were all hunkered around the computer screen, and Beth kept typing. There were a few blogs that mentioned them being seen out, and looking "chummy," and of course, pictures of the three of them out and about, but nothing that was anything more than PG-rated, at most. They looked like they were at a sorority mixer. There were no pictures, none, of the two of them making out. Or hugging. Or holding hands.
Not one inappropriate picture. Anywhere.
"I don't get it. There were a dozen people, at the bar for sure, that took pictures..." Demi said.
"Outside of the bar?" Dianna asked.
"A few, but those are the pictures of the three of us, we took a cab home...which, btw, we need to go get my car."
"Shit, let's go!" Dianna said, grabbing her keys off the counter. "Then, we have to seriously get to work."
Beth was silent, thinking, the entire time. This didn't make sense. At all. The "problem solver" part of her that made her a great surgeon liked things simple. See problem, fix problem. This, however, made no sense whatsoever.
And that made her uncomfortable.
XOXOXOXOXO
Beth was silent for the entire drive to the bar to retrieve Demi's car.
It was bothering her, the lack of plausible explanations for the lack of gossip; Demi and Diana, however, continued to make small talk in the front of the car.
"Hey, Doctor." Dianna said, gently, turning to look at Beth. "Quit your brooding back there. I'll give you a penny for your thoughts?" Dianna smiled.
"Ehhh. They're not worth a penny, just yet. When they appreciate in value I'll let you know." She continued to sit in the back, continuing to brood, the scientist's mind of hers trying to make sense of this bizarre turn of events. She silently stared out the window.
"She's fun, when she gets like this." Demi said sarcastically, shaking a finger at Beth. "But then, she'll burst out of her thinking stupor, and declare the cure for cancer or some shit. So I feel bad resenting it."
Dianna smiled, politely. Truthfully, she herself was lost in thought. She felt herself staring out the window, with some unexpected remembrance from the night before, all triggered from the photo display on Demi's phone they had just perused. It was coming back to her now, in vivid detail...of what she had Beth had shared, last night.
Not unexpectedly, she was having a hard time shaking it off.
Dianna smiled, touching her fingers to her lips, where Beth had kissed her. If Demi noticed how strangely quiet Dianna was being, suddenly, she didn't let on. Instead, she turned on the radio and started signing along.
Dianna remembered, now...
It had started in the bathroom, as many drunken encounters will; however, this particular bathroom was remarkably clean, fortunately. Granted, it was likely because it was never used, as there were no female patrons at the O.K. Cantina. Hardly ever.
In this moment, however, bathroom hygiene was not on anyone's mind. Not on Dianna's, while Beth had her pressed up against the wall, looking down at her, hungrily, like she was a juicy prime rib; and not on Beth's, while she saw Dianna's nipples harden, already, underneath her tight sweater. Beth's arms flanked Di on either side, with hands on the wall; she had effectively caged her in.
Normally, with Di's prolicivilties and past sexual preferences, she never would have gone for being constrained like that.
Normally.
At least they had the luxury of the small cramped room to themselves, and Dianna had locked the door to make sure this would continue. Bursting into laughter, Dianna said, "I have fully embraced my character on the show! All her memorable moments are in the bathroom, as well." Dianna looked at the surgeon, and she licked her lips, in anticipation. Beth returned the drunken gaze of the woman she was corralling, and said, "So, you think this is going to be a memorable moment, do you?"
"I would hope so, having had the experience of 300 women behind you... I would hope it's memorable!"
"Damn, woman, we done talked about this, now! It WAS NOT 300 women!" She grimaced a bit. "Second off, Blondie, I have to ask you something."
"Ask now or forever hold your peace." She said, simply. However it's casual nature of her voice did nothing to accurately portray what lies underneath. Diana smiled her mysterious smile, that belied so many thoughts that were running underneath the surface that were running loose. Things she wanted to do in this tiny window of opportunity...
"Okay, Lady Di. Why did you choose this for your bet victory spoils? I mean, you knew you were going to win, you could have had anything..."
"Beth, if I tell you, I think you're going to think I'm crazy."
"I already think you're crazy, so you might as well tell me." Beth chortled.
Diana pressed closer, into Beth. Their lips were getting dangerously proximal to one another's. "Do you ever sometimes know, just know, something about a person within the first few moments of meeting them?" Diana inquired.
"Absolutely! First impressions are critical , especially in medicine. I think its called 'diagnostic intuition' or some shit."
"Well, I had one of those moments, with you, Beth." back Diana said softly. I felt like, well... like I felt that I was meeting somebody very important to me. Someone that would become very important in my life." Dianna was blushing, furiously. "It sounds crazy, because I absolutely wanted to hate you! I wanted to hate you with every fiber of my body!"
Beth nuzzled her neck, just slightly, until she could hear her sigh. "..and you couldn't?"
"No, I couldn't." She put her arms around Beth's neck, pulling her closer.
"Dianna..." She went to cut her off, wanting so badly to kiss those elegant lips, to suck them, to lick her...but she was cut off at the pass.
"Beth, let me finish! When I met you, I felt like I met my other half. I know what we're going to be to each other, you know."
Beth shut her eyes, and refocused. "I know, Di." She said with a sigh. "I felt it, too. I feel it, still."
Dianna's hands were moving, now. Touching Beth...everywhere. "But, before we become that, to each other...I just wanted to know. I wanted to know what it felt like, to kiss you. To French your mouth. To taste you. To hold you. I had to know. "
Beth nodded. "Because, later, it would be...weird."
"Very weird." Dianna said, softly, as she tilted her chin up, exhaling slowly.
Beth looked down at Dianna. "You're so beautiful, Dianna. So impossibly...beautiful."
"Thank you. But I have to ask...Is it narcissistic that this is like looking in a mirror?"
Beth smiled. She said nothing in response, merely leaned down, and placed her lips on the eager ones awaiting hers. Pressing her lips, softly at first, it was...
Weird.
Weird, but amazing. They pulled apart.
"Does this seem...strange?" Beth asked.
"Yes! It totally does! Why is that, damn it?"
"I don't know, I guess because we're kinda like...sisters, I guess." Dianna reasoned.
"Fuck that." Beth said. "Not tonight, we aren't." She pressed her body against Dianna's; she could feel everything. She could feel Beth's errect nipples straining against her shirt, pressing into her; she could feel the tone of her muscles; mostly, she could feel her lips, kissing her with an inch of her life. The were everywhere. They were on her throat, her ear, neck, mouth...then she felt her tongue demanding entrance to hers, which she granted.
A zing! of electricity shot straight between Di's legs as Beth penetrated her mouth, and she met her in kind. They wrestled for dominance, until Beth's concentration was broken by Dianna's hands that had slid to the top of her shirt, over her breasts, and were squeezing.
"Harder." Beth gasped.
Dianna, completely aroused, adjusted their positions in order to slide her leg between Beth's, and press her thigh against her center.
"Uhhnnn..." Beth gasped, eyes rolling to the back of her head.
Dianna, on fire, was gripping the back of Beth's head by her hair, using her leverage, pulled her face harder, against her own. Di's lips were hungry, aching; she pressed hard against Beth's mouth, wanting to taste her, to kiss her...
Just wanting her.
"You feel amazing, Beth." Dianna panted.
"You feel so...familiar. God damn, I want you. So much."
"So fucking much." Dianna concurred, as she pressed her mouth to Beth's neck, sucking the skin beneath.
Beth ran her hands down trying to feel every bit of the gorgeous blond, just to the waistline. She had promised Lea, "no hands below the waistline." She never expected that to be an issue. Really. Yet here she was, wishing she could grab Dianna's perfect little ass and grip it, firmly, to press the lithe blonde against her center, harder.
Still, she did the best she could...she grabbed the edges of Dianna's jeans, and pulled her as hard as she could, smashing them together. Diannna was rocking against Beth's thigh. Beth was kissing her, hard. She flicked her probing mouth against Di's bottom lip, as they both panted into each other. She then nipped her bottom lip, and watched Dianna's hazel eyes go black.
Beth's hands were trailing down the younger woman's body, down,down...until they rested on top of those 32B's...she began stroking Dianna, hard, over the top of her cashmere sweater.
"Fuck!" Dianna groaned.
She ground down, with her leg. She was now riding Beth, and furthermore, she didn't care who walked in on them. Beth's motion met her rocking in perfectly synced choreography; its as though they knew each other, as the same person.
And Beth knew, right now, Dianna would want her to pinch her nipples. Hard.
"Oh, fuck! Fuck! Fuck me..." She said, incoherently. Dianna was startled, as she felt her center tightening in that familiar coil, and her heat rising. She couldn't believe it! She was close, so painfully close to orgasm.
"C'mon," whispered Beth. "Do it. Come for me, Di. Come ON me." She pressed her body into the trembling blonde, harder still. Dianna made a final gasp, moaning; she collapsed into Beth's arms, as Beth's timer went off.
The spent blonde, face buried in Beth's neck, made a muffled giggle. She hugged Beth, as she said, "tell me you did NOT actually set a timer."
"Of course I did!" Beth hugged her back.
As they pulled away, Dianna was smiling. "Beth, I...I'm going to say...I," she buried her head again. Muffled she continued, "That's the first time I ever came, without ...being in control of the situation."
"How do you feel about that?" Beth asked, gently.
Dianna lifted her head, to assess Beth's expression, to ensure she wasn't getting all "doctor-y" on her. Satisified with the truly sincere and concerned look on her face, she said honestly, "I don't know. It's ... it's a start, I guess."
Beth cupped her face with both of her hands and smiled broadly. "Listen, Di, it's okay if a dom/sub relationship is what turns you on. That's okay. What's not okay is if you or your partner isn't okay with it. But I'm sensing, maybe a little, that's not what you're truly comfortable with..."
"I know. I think...you might be right."
"But if its just about needing to feel in control of the situation, to feel safe..."
Dianna winced at the words. Beth gripped her face, smiling, willing the blonde to look at her. When she did, Beth smiled, and kissed her gently on the lips. Just a peck.
"Di, that's an issue of trust, not control. You need trust."
Dianna sighed. "I know." She nodded, saying very matter of factly, "I guess... I must trust you."
"Nuts, huh?"
"No," she replied, leading her forehead in to connect with Beth's. "Not nuts."
No clothes came off. They did not have sex, technically. However, in that moment, Dianna was convinced that this might be the most intimate she would ever be with another person.
"Beth, thank you."
"My pleasure. Really!" She chuckled.
Just then, barreling through the door, came their other friend. "Aw, shit! Did I miss it?"
"How did you get through that door? I locked it!" Dianna said.
Demi grinned, micheviously. "That little thing?" She held up a bent hairpin. "I told you, being friends with Sanny has its benefits!"
Beth shook her head.
Demi lined up her iPhone. "Hey, do you think you could re-create it? I promised Lea a picture!"
The two blondes looked at each other and smiled. Leaning in, Dianna whispered, "maybe not ...everything."
"Check." Beth said, as she put her mouth back on Dianna's.
"Fucking creepy! You two look like sisters making out!" Demi said, as she happily snapped away.
XOXOXOXOXOXOX
Demi's car was still there, intact, with all hub caps present.
"We really should go in and see if Pablo is here, and offer to buy him some damn lunch."Beth said, firmly.
"Dr. B... I love me some Pablo just as much as the rest of you, but our call time is like in 20 minutes!" Demi said.
"I understand. But my Spidey Senses are tingling...I think we need to go in, and say hi. Trust me."
"Oh, okay, Beth." Dianna grinned, putting her arm around the taller blonde. "Let's see El Pablo."
Dianna kept her arm draped around her, smiling, as hey entered their past scene of the crime. They were going to ask for Pablo, but they saw him, immediately, at the bar. He was speaking very animatedly to some woman, who's back was towards them. She looked official.
"Shit, she looks like INS," Demi whispered. "Maybe now is not so hot.." Demi's voice trailed off, as the sleek woman in the business suit turned around. It was then that hey saw who it was, and they all made a collective gasp.
"Santana Lopez!" They said, in unison.
she narrowed her eyes, immediately focusing on Dianna's arm around Beth. Marching over to them, she slapped Dianna's hand off of Beth.
"Get your fucking hands off of her!"
Dianna was furious. Looking Santana directly in the eye, she said, "excuse me? Who do you think you are? And might I remind you, it appears I'm here, because you put me here."
Wrong thing to say to Santana Lopez.
She grabbed Di by the lapels of her shirt, and slammed her against the wall behind. Her face blood red, She spit out the following without taking a breath:
"¡Maldita estúpida puta rompehogares! Sé que fui yo la que te trajo a esto, pero también como así de fácil te traje, te saco, ¡y ya! No tienes ni la menor puta idea del daño que le has causado... a todos ¡por la puta! Me cercioraré, como que me llamo Santana Lopez, que te haré conocer a nuestro creador, perra."
Beth knew a little Spanish, not enough to follow the barrage. Demi, however, did, and she was wincing. Beth took a breath, said a "Hail Mary" and wedged between her Godmother and her...friend.
"Auntie San, please! Don't. "
"Don't? Don't what? Don't sit here, and watch this bottle blonde poison the one person, destroy the one relationship, in your life, that has made you human again? Fuck no, I'm not standing for that!" She made to lunge at Dianna and she flinched.
Fortunately, the rabid trajectory of Attorney Lopez was diverted by Beth and Pablo.
"Sannibel! Stop." He said, firmly.
"She's the devil."
"She is NOT the devil. I watched them all night. They had 15 minutes, more or less, of inappropriateness, and Beth was on the phone with her girlfriend, all night. It sounded to me like Lea gave her blessing. I have told you this, a hundred times, cousin."
"Cousin?" All three girls said, in almost comic timing.
"Sannibel is indeed my cousin. I recognized you," he said, pointing at Beth, "from the pictures she shows me and emails. She adores you."
Dianna was rubbing her neck, now that she was out of the choke hold by the insane Latino.
"His man-love does my taxes." Santana said, still pissed. "But I certain ally didn't expect to get a call from him at 10 pm East Coast time about my godchild making a spectacle out of herself with her tounge down some biyatch's throat! In sight of God and everybody, no less. With cameras, stupido!" This time, she wacked Beth across the back of the head.
"Ow!" Beth protested.
"Hey...Lea told us to take pictures, Sanny," Demi interjected. "She was thoroughly appraised of the events of the evening."
"Okay, fine, great. You're all a bunch of polyamourous freaks. However, do you think America wants to see that shit? NO!" She huffed. "Jesus, Beth, do you know what we had to do, to get all the pictures erased?"
"You didn't get all of them!" Demi said proudly, holding up her phone.
"Shit!" Santana said. "I can't unsee that shit! Gimme that." She took Demi's phone. "I love you kid, but...sorry." She dropped it into the bucket of soapy water currently being used to mop the floor.
" .Fuck!" Demi screeched.
"Don't bother, señorita. Its got solvent in it. Best to let Sannibel just buy you a new one." Pablo said, patting her.
Dianna spoke tentatively, careful not to induce another chocking. "I don't get it...it seems like you pushed us together, uh, Ms. Lopez. I mean, what was with the bottle of Barrique de Ponciano Porfidio Tequila? "
Beth, nervously, was thinking about how to change the subject, before they went into all those details. Details that she had fabricated. "I don't think we really want to know about the depths of Santana's psychotic reasonings, do we? Let's just...forget about this." Beth said, quickly.
There is no "forgetting" with Santana Lopez. "What the fuck are you talking about, Porfidio Tequilia, fake blondie?"
"The bottle that you gave Beth and Di!" Demi said.
"What?" Santana said, genuinely confused, turning to face her little disciple.
"Yeah, isn't that why you're here?" Dianna asked, timidly, afraid of being chocked again. "I mean, to make sure we made good on the bet, and all?"
Beth's mind finally clicked on what was bothering her the entire time.
"OAK!"
"What?"
"Oak! OAK, Goddamnit! Auntie San is allergic to Oak!" She smiled, having figured it out. Pablo nodded his head, in comprehension, the only one who got the connection. "Good catch, little one!" He said to Beth.
"But if not her, then who?" Beth said, to Pablo. It was as though they were speaking a secret language. He shrugged.
"I don't know, could be anyone. Got any enemies? Any jilted lovers?"
Dianna and Demi snorted at exactly the same time.
"Hello, East Coast!" Demi said, slapping Beth on the back.
"Excuse the fucking hell to me, but what the fuck? Who gives a shit if I'm allergic to Oak, or if I like an extra milk with my lunch? I mean, what the fuck does that have to do with the bleach in the blonde? No offense." She said, looking at Dianna.
"Oh, none taken. Really." She said, sarcastically. Beth patted Di on the back. "There you go!"
"Hello, still waiting." Santana demanded.
Pablo explained. "Sannibel...that is a very high quality tequila. It is Gold Agave, meaning, it is aged and aged and aged. "
"So? Everyone knows I don't like tequila!" Santana said, impatiently.
"Apparently, not everyone." Beth finished. "Someone made the logical conclusion you must drink it, because...well, you know why. What they didn't know is you would likely have an anaphylaxis attack if you had that bottle. It was stored for YEARS in Oak Barrels!"
"Woah. This is like CSI." Dianna marveled.
"Are you sure, Sanny?" Demi said, screwing up her face. "I mean, you were really mad at Beth for that whole prank, and wanted to bring down the house of Fabray, when I talked to you..." She turned to Beth. "Which I was totally against, 100%, even though I was pissed at you , so much!"
"I believe you." Beth said, simply.
"Actually," Santana said, turning almost a light shade of red, "Rachel found me not too long after my rant, and talked me off the ledge. She was still in New York for her show."
"Wow, she must be a snake-charmer, this Rachel!" Pablo said, in wonderment. "How did she do it?" He was remembering Santana's visits, in their teenage years, where inevitably something would get burned down by her in a fit of rage.
"I'd...I'd rather not say."
"SANTANA!" All the girls protested.
Grudgingly, she gave in. "She handcuffed me to her couch...literally handcuffed me, and forced me to watch "Funny Girl" until I calmed down. Then, she reminded me of all the stupid shit I did to Quinn in high school, too. It...worked. I calmed down. Sort of."
Beth shook her head, always perpetually amazed by her step-mother. "But, God, San...it looked just like your handwriting! It had to be someone that knows you well!"
Santana snorted. "No one knows me well." To which four sets of rolling eyes mocked her.
"For reals, Sanny, if not you, then who?" Demi said, thinking.
"I don't see why your making this so hard on yourself. All of the bottles of that limited edition tequila are registered. Just figure out who bought the bottle!"
"Excellent, Pablo! The tequila is the answer!" Santana grinned. She went off with Pablo to make some official calls, with Demi following behind, in her full on love-sick puppy mode.
Dianna and Beth stayed behind. Dianna leaned forward, and whispered to Beth,
"Sometimes, tequila IS the answer."
They gave each other a fist bump, and grinned.
TBC- Who Sent The Bottle?