December 2014, New York City
Santana's Apartment

"Hey S! Your phone is ringing!" Rachel called out to Santana from the kitchen.

"Just let it go, I'm busy," Santana answered back as she untangled the cord to her vacuum cleaner.

"It's Quinn!"

Santana dropped the cord and ran for the kitchen where Rachel was sitting on a stool at the island, holding out the phone.

"Cute picture," Rachel said just before Santana snatched it out her hand.

"Hello," Santana panted out. A combination of worrying about missing the call and running left her a little out of air.

"Hey," Quinn's voice came through Santana's phone smoothly.

"What's up?" Santana asked, finding her normal breathing pattern.

"I just had a couple questions about tonight."

"Umm... sure... ask away, Q."

"Well, first of all, what time is everyone showing up to this little shindig?"

'She just said shindig... how adorable is that?' "Umm... anytime between 9:30 and 10. The big event's at midnight. Don't want the kiddies getting antsy," Santana said with a breathy laugh. She was starting to get really excited for the party.

"Okay great. And my second question is umm... you don't mind if I bring someone do you, like a date?"

Santana was sure her heart stopped. Rachel's eyes went wide at the expression on Santana's face. "What did she just say?" she whispered.

Snapping out of her state of shock, Santana tried her best to be cool, "Yeah, that's fine. I don't mind. Rachel, Kurt and Berto are all bringing someone. I... uh... I have someone coming, too, so it's cool." She closed her eyes and bit down on her tongue hoping to dull the pain she was feeling in her chest.

"Oh, you have a date, too?" Santana barely heard Quinn ask.

Santana released her tongue from the vice she had created with her teeth and mustered an answer, "Yeah, she... umm... I met her at a party last week." Santana was lying so hard it hurt. She smacked her hand onto her forehead and slid it down to her chin. Looking up from the floor, she made eye contact with a very concerned Rachel.

"Oh, okay, cool. So, everyone will have someone. Great. Umm... I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you later, Q," Santana said back through a lump of tears building in her throat and pressed 'end call.'

"Why did you do that?" Rachel asked the second Santana tossed her phone onto the countertop.

"Why did I do what?" Santana said through lightly gritted teeth, attempting to delay her inevitable tears.

"Hm, I don't know, does lying to Quinn about having a date for tonight ring a bell?" Rachel asked sarcastically with a knowing glare.

Santana sighed as she pulled out a stool from underneath the island and sat down. She folded her arms on top of the island and plopped her forehead onto them, so that by the time she finished saying, "It was the first thing I thought of! I didn't know what else to say!" she sounded like she was in a tunnel.

"And how are you going to find a date in four hours on New Year's Eve? I've seen your contacts, not exactly overflowing with lady loving ladies," Rachel said. Santana heard Rachel push out her stool, walk over to the fridge and open it up as she spoke.

Looking up from the cave she'd created with her arms and the counter top, a slightly offended Santana responded, "First of all, I don't appreciate being patronized," she put her face back into its hide out and sighed, "and second: I'm not going to find a date," she looked back up and continued, "I'm just going to be the ninth wheel at my own party." She turned her head back and let it fall a little harder than the last two times, causing her nose to hit the counter this time, just enough to hurt. The perfect excuse to let those tears fall.

Santana felt Rachel's hand on her shoulder, then her arm slide down and around her waist, "Hey, S, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. This sucks." Santana turned her head and rested her cheek on her folded arms. Rachel placed a kiss on her cheek and sat down on the stool that was adjacent to Santana's. Sliding her fingers underneath Santana's, Rachel said, "You could cancel the party. You could tell everyone that you're sick. I'll call Ryan and tell him something important came up and spend the night here with you. I'm sure Kurt will still come over-"

"No," Santana interrupted, picking up her head and slapping her hands on the counter, "Shit happens, right?"

With a big smile Rachel answered, "Right!"

"And what do we do about it?"

Rachel's smile disappeared and she answered, "Ummm... this is your speech, I don't really know where you're going with this..."

Santana rolled her eyes and sighed, "We look uncontrollably hot and make them wish they didn't bring a date. Come on, we have four hours and a whole closet to go through!" Santana got up and began marching straight for her bedroom. It was time to break out all of those dresses and heels that made her legs look even more amazing than they already were.

"YES! This is the Santana I remember from high school!" Rachel yelled as she followed Santana to her room.

Stopping at the door of her closet, Santana turned around in a dramatic fashion and declared, "Quinn isn't going to know what hit her."

...

Same Place
Five Hours Later

"Wow, S, you know, if you weren't a lesbian and I didn't have a girlfriend, I'd totally be hitting on you right now," Berto said as he walked into the kitchen, "I can't believe how hot you look!"

"Ummm... thanks, B," Santana responded rather warily. She'd probably be more offended if Berto wasn't her 'bro.' Clearly this was his way of complimenting her. "Speaking of your girlfriend, where is she?"

"She's in the living room talking to Kurt and his friend, Seth I think his name is? Where's your girlfriend?" Berto asked with a cunning smirk.

Santana gave Berto a death glare and responded, "I don't have a girlfriend, asshole."

"Well you better by the end of night. Seriously, if that Quinn girl doesn't confess her love for you when she sees you in that dress, she doesn't deserve you," Berto said and then walked out with two drinks in his hands.

'God, does everyone know?' Santana was really starting to wonder when she began wearing her heart right on her sleeve for the whole world to see. Once upon a time, no one knew what was going on in her mind, now it seemed like everyone knew how she felt. Well, everyone but the one person she wanted to know how she felt.

Santana's bubble of thoughts was burst by her buzzer going off. In her heels, she clicked her way over to the intercom and asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Quinn!" the little box on the wall squawked back.

The blood flowing through Santana's body was suddenly racing. She was completely overwhelmed by the hyper-awareness of everything moving in her body. Her heart was pounding against her chest, her eardrums were hammering with every sound, and her stomach was doing an entire gymnastics floor routine. She watched as her hand shook its way up to the button that would buzz Quinn and her date in. In a matter of seconds there would be a knock and two faces on the other side of the door.

Knock

Santana wrapped her fingers around the door knob and inhaled as deep as she could. She imagined she was filling her entire body with air and not just her lungs. She exhaled slowly and opened the door.

Neither girl said anything once the door was open and they were face to face. Quinn looked absolutely beautiful. Her cheeks and nose were red from being outside. She was wearing a black wool coat and coming out from underneath it was a black dress that cut just below her knee. Her make-up was light and her hair was flowy.

The best part of Quinn's appearance, though, was that she was alone. Santana was only looking at one person. She didn't even realize she was holding her breath until she finally said, "Hey."

"Hey," Quinn smiled.

"Where's you date?" Santana asked in a breathy tone. Her heart was still racing.

"Umm... he had a family emergency," Quinn answered, looking down at the floor... or maybe she was looking at Santana's legs... or both.

"He, huh?" Santana asked feeling a tiny dagger delve into her stomach.

"Yeah, it's okay, he wasn't really my type anyways," Quinn said looking up and through a smile, "Umm... could I possibly come in?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm sorry," Santana said as she backed out of the doorway to let Quinn pass. As she did so, a waft of pomegranate and powder filled the air around Santana and was lost in a world of Quinn.

"Where should I put this?" Quinn asked holding out her coat.

After she was done taking in how magnificent Quinn looked in her elegant, yet simple black dress, Santana reached out for the coat and took it saying, "I'll take it. It'll be in the spare bedroom if you need it. Umm... everyone's in the living room if you want to go in and say hi. There's alcohol in the kitchen if you want anything."

"I'm good, thanks. I'll just go into the living room with everyone," Quinn said through her smile that had yet to fade from her face. She turned around and Santana watched her hips sway lightly with her steps towards the living room.

Santana entered the extra bedroom and tossed Quinn's coat on the bed as she leaned back into the wall next to the door. She stayed there for a few minutes trying to regain control of her body. It took many deep breaths to do so, but she eventually succeeded.

After a stop in the bathroom to make sure that her hair and make-up were still intact, Santana made her way to the living room. Quinn was the first person she spotted and the only person she heard. She was explaining to everyone why she was so late, saying that she didn't think about how difficult it was going to be to use the subway tonight. She met Quinn's eyes while she was talking about a man on the subway that was clearly very upset about the night's festivities and she felt her heart skip.

Somehow, someway, she had to tell Quinn how she felt about her. It had to be tonight. She didn't have a plan but she knew it needed to happen. Being scared was no longer an option.

...

Same Place
One Hour and Twenty Minutes Later

Ten minutes until midnight and Santana had barely gotten the opportunity to say two words to Quinn. Somehow, both Kurt and Berto's girlfriend managed to keep her busy for the entire time she'd been there. Every once in a while Santana would look away from the conversation she was in to glance over at Quinn and she'd be listening very intently to something that was being said to her. During a heated debate about video games between Seth and Berto, Santana escaped to the kitchen and poured herself a huge glass of Diet Coke. She sat at the island and stared at the counter top for a while and when she looked up at the microwave to see that the time was now 11:56, she heard her favorite sound.

"I was wondering where you went."

All of the nerves that Santana had gotten rid of nearly an hour and half ago, reappeared the instant Quinn entered the kitchen. She tried her best to keep them under control and said, "Yeah, I just wanted a little quiet for a second. The Great Video Game Debate was getting to be a little much."

Quinn laughed as she sat down a stool away from Santana and said, "Well, it's over and everyone's all paired off, waiting for the ball to drop."

Santana looked back at the microwave: 11:58. "We should probably go back in there."

"We have a couple minutes," Quinn said through that smile Santana couldn't get enough of.

Santana simply smiled back and took a sip of her drink.

"So, your date canceled, too?" Quinn asked, filling the silence.

Santana was totally caught off guard. By now she had completely forgotten that she'd lied to Quinn about having a date for the night. As quickly as she could, she made a up a story that she hoped she wouldn't have to use, "Yeah... umm... she called a few hours ago and said she was stuck in Jersey." 'Wait, what?'

"Well, not that I'm glad that you were stood up or anything, but I was kind of happy to see that you didn't have a date tonight. I was worried I'd be a ninth wheel or something," Quinn said through a soft breathy laugh, leaning her cheek into her hand.

"I was pretty happy when you were by yourself at the door, too," Santana said dipping her eyes down towards the counter top and then taking a sip from her Diet Coke. She flicked them back up and found Quinn's eye's instantly.

There was another silence between them. This time, they filled it with eye contact. Santana couldn't peel her eyes away from the hazel pair staring back at her. At least she couldn't until Rachel broke through their bubble, "THIRTY SECONDS!"

Standing up Santana said again, "We should go in there."

"Yeah, I guess we should," Quinn said as her eyes followed Santana's every move.

"You guys are gonna miss it!" Berto called out.

Santana began to walk towards the living room, passing Quinn on the way. Her hand accidentally brushed against Quinn's arm as she was passing and she felt that one little touch rush through her entire body.

Santana was halted in her tracks. She looked back and down at her wrist to see Quinn's fingers circled around it. She looked up and was instantly met with Quinn's gaze.

"Ten!"

'This is it. It's perfect.'

"Eight! Seven!"

Santana's heart was throbbing so hard she could feel the blood pumping in her toes.

"Five! Four!"

'Kiss her!'

"Two! One!"

A/N: I feel like you all hate me right this second. I do wish that you wouldn't hate me, though. But, I'm going to tell you that I'm not sorry for the cliffhanger! Besides, it's not like I'm going to make you wait weeks for the next update. Go on, let me know how much you hate me... or how much you don't. I'm hoping more for the latter.

A/N 2: Happy Day After Glee Day!