Chapter 25
Santana's POV

It had been almost two days since mine and Quinn's 'little argument', and she was still stubbornly ignoring me. I had tried apologising repeatedly, cooking dinner, doing Quinn's half of the chores, I'd even serenaded her while she was in the shower (sure, that sounds lame, but hey, cut me some slack, I was desperate), and still nothing changed. I knew I'd messed up pretty darn bad because even lots, and I mean lots, of bacon hadn't helped whatsoever. She'd given me one word answers to questions occasionally and I'd think that it was progress, but then she'd completely tune me out again and I lost hope.
But my grand surprise was finally almost ready. I'd planned to have it done I'm two days, but that time frame was too tight, so I settled for three days; that way I could still sort everything that I needed. Now all I had to do was hold out and not burst from excitement until tomorrow, which would be the most difficult part; keeping my mouth shut wasn't exactly a strong suit of mine.
I was on the way home from getting groceries for tonight's dinner and I could feel the familiar guilt and sadness settle in my stomach as I drew nearer our building. I used to look forward to coming home when Quinn actually spoke to me, but now her silence just reminded me of all the disgusting insults we had thrown at each other. I sighed and pulled into a parking spot.
Tonight we needed to talk, otherwise tomorrow's plans wouldn't work; Quinn needed to cooperate. I opened the door and got out, walking to the trunk and stooping to retrieve the shopping bags. Squinting in the bright sunlight and slowly putting the bags back down; I slipped on my aviators and looked around, breathing in deeply and smiling. New York was just breath-taking. Despite having lived there for over a year, sometimes I still had to do a double take and give myself a mental slap saying 'you're actually here, in New York, and you didn't have to threaten anybody to do it'. I looked up at all of the huge skyscrapers against a brilliant blue sky, I observed all of the loud cars rushing past, I smiled at the infamous yellow taxi's, and I embraced all of the individuals that lived here. I was one of them; a proud lover of New York.
I shook my head, reminding myself that now wasn't the time to be an awestruck tourist: I should've been over that phase by now. I scooped up the bags again and nudged the trunk door shut before locking my car and making my way towards the building. As I walked, some creep on the sidewalk wolf whistled and without looking round, (I didn't need to; he was obviously whistling at me) I stuck my middle finger up and continued on my way, wrinkling my nose in disgust at the vulgarity of some men. Quinn had been right at the wedding; practically all guys were pigs with a few rare exceptions.
I began the long trek up to our floor and started to consider what I'd say to Quinn later on. What if she didn't want to talk? It'd be typical of her to run away from facing our issues, but we really needed to have a chat about things. No way was I letting her go; I was too in love, and I was sure that she felt the same, even if she wouldn't admit it to me or even herself. She had started to rebuild her virtually impenetrable walls, and all the progress that we had made was shattered. That was what made me feel worst. Not the anger or insults, although they were still horrible, but the destroying of our trust and respect for each other. Blinking away tears that threatened to fall, I opened our apartment door and entered, surveying the area for Quinn. I dumped the bags on the kitchen counter and stood still for a moment, listening for any indications to Quinn's whereabouts. As soon as I fell silent and stopped moving, I heard music playing in our bedroom and I smiled. She must be doing some school work; Beyoncé was her 'art jam' as she called it. Quietly, I walked to the bedroom door and pressed my ear against the cold wood, closing my eyes. I could hear her soft voice singing along and I allowed myself to get lost in the silkiness and delicateness of her tone. She may not be able to belt out songs like Mercedes and Rachel, but she could still make anyone listening get goose bumps, and her voice was still absolutely gorgeous and mesmerising.
"Everywhere I'm looking now, I'm surrounded by your embrace," she sang softly.
"Baby I can see your halo," I joined her for the chorus, grinning. I knew she'd heard me but continued to sing anyway, even though she was supposed to be angry. That was the beauty of music; it pushed all of your worries aside and let you concentrate on a moment, your emotions, the lyrics, and the undeniable connection you got when singing a duet.
When the song finished, I slowly opened the door and poked my head around it, smiling when Quinn actually turned and looked at me sheepishly.
"Hey," I said, sliding into the room and closing the door behind me. She paused for a moment before sighing and allowing herself a small smile.
"Hi," she murmured, turning back to the desk she was sat at in order to set aside her sketching pencils.
"Sorry for intruding on your little jam sesh," I chuckled, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. She smiled again and looked at me properly for the first time in what seemed like forever.
"You made it better, I was ruining that song but thankfully you saved it," she said, a twinkle in her eye. I laughed and patted the bed next to me. She hesitated for a moment, her body tensing up and her brow furrowing as if she was having some sort of internal war. After a strained pause, her body relaxed and she stood up, coming to join me.
"I think we should have a chat, Quinn," I murmured, wanting nothing more than to put my arm around her and finally get the contact that I'd been craving for the past couple of days. But instead, I sat still, lacing my fingers together nervously.
"Me too," she sighed. For a tense moment, neither of us spoke, until Quinn sneezed.
"Bless you," I chuckled, finding her little sneeze adorable.
"Thank you," she sniffled, looking down at the floor. I waited for a moment before clearing my throat and starting to speak.
"Look, Quinn, I understand what I said was absolutely vile, and I take back every word I said in that argument. I think you're probably the bravest person I've ever met," I paused, allowing her to absorb everything I was saying. "I know that you probably can't ever properly forgive me and I completely respect that; I don't deserve your kindness. But I do really want us to at least make a start at moving past this. Unless you don't want to move past," I added nervously, hoping that she did want to move on. She sighed and took my hand.
"I'm not going to pretend that your words didn't hurt San, because that would be one heck of a lie. But I am willing to start moving past this. Like you said, I won't ever be able to properly forgive you, but I can try. On one condition,"
"Anything," I squeezed her hand, grateful that she had been the one to make first contact.
"Can you promise me something?"
"Of course,"
She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, composing herself.
"Santana, promise me that you're not cheating on me, and promise me that you never will, that you'll always be faithful," she whispered, looking into my eyes imploringly. My heart broke all over again at the fact she no longer trusted me and that she even considered for a moment that I was being unfaithful. Sure, I could see how she had jumped to that conclusion, but I had just hoped that she wouldn't.
"Quinn I promise you, I swear on my life that I'm not cheating on you and I never will. I love you more than anything and I would never ever do anything like that to you. It'd be like throwing away a diamond for a pebble," I smiled softly at her, meaning every word I said.
She blushed before saying, "how do you know it'd be a pebble? Why not trade a diamond for another diamond?"
"Because anyone compared to you is a pebble," I whispered, mustering up some courage from within and leaning forward, gently connecting our lips. Sparks flew at the contact and familiar electricity flooded through me. Her hand on the back of my neck deepened the kiss and I wrapped my arms around her waist. After a blissful, much anticipated moment, our lips parted and we rested our foreheads together, breathing heavily.
"You're not off the hook missy, but that was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me," she grinned.
"You know me, always the charmer; comparing people to rocks," I teased. She laughed and slapped my arm lightly. "So, are we okay for now?" I asked hesitantly.
"Sure. And uhh, I'm sorry for, you know, slapping you and shouting at you," she mumbled.
"It's fine, I had it coming," I shrugged.
She smirked and shrugged too, "you were being an ass,"
"Watch it," I grinned. "I missed you Quinn. Please don't ever ignore me like that again?"
"I'll try not to, but I can't promise anything," she smirked and cuddled into my side. I laughed and shook my head at her cheekiness.
"Good enough for me,"
She smiled before sitting up quickly. "I just realised I haven't eaten since breakfast; I got too caught up in my work to eat. Did you get anything for dinner? It's like, 5pm and I can feel myself withering away," she joked, leaning her head on my shoulder.
"Yep, you hungry for my Lopez special fajitas?"
"Always,"

A/N That took me way longer to write than I thought it would! Sorry I haven't posted for ages, but I hope this chapter was okay :) Reviews are always welcome and I love reading them. Thank you for all your reviews and follows and favourites!