A/N: Hey y'all! Final essays for my uni semester has been turned in so here's a chapter! Please forgive me for any mistakes and please enjoy!

Quinn could do friends. She was totally fine with just being friends with Santana. That's easy. That's better than what she had originally with the other girl. Better than not talking. Though she wanted, she couldn't ask for more.

That's why she was at the mall buying Santana a few things for when the girl was done getting her cast off today. Just a care basket with lotions and nail polish and things that she may like. She didn't ask for it and it might be a little hard/awkward to give it to her while the Latina's parents weren't too keen to see Quinn, but it was worth it.

Cause that's what friends do.

Quinn picked up nail polish and examined it. She couldn't get any kind of red, it needed to be the right color and a color that Santana would approve of but doesn't have in her collection. She looked to the side and tried to picture Santana's nail polish collection. What color was she missing and what colors should she stay away from?

"Fabray!" A voice called.

She straightened up and looked towards the caller, only to roll eyes and go back to the nail polish.

The voice jogged over to her, "I've been trying to get your attention for ages."

"Don't talk to me." Quinn snapped as she glared over to them.

Puck looked a mess, his Mohawk wasn't being taken care of and his shirt was filthy, "So... has nobody been wondering where I've been? What's been happening with me?"

Quinn didn't even look over as she rolled her eyes.

"I'll have you know, I've been trying to figure out who leaked that video of us." He said with his chest puffed out.

Quinn looked over this time, offended that he would even bring that up.

"You wouldn't believe what I've been going through. First, I thought it was Lauren, so I had to interrogate her which was a lot harder than expected and she managed to lock me in a port-a-potty-"

Quinn put up her hand to stop him, "I don't care."

Puck blinked his eyes in surprise, "What do you mean you don't care? This person ruined our reps at school and fucked us with ever getting in good gratuitous with Santana ever again. Don't you want to know who's putting us through this?"

"Noah, we put ourselves through this." Quinn looked back at the nail polish and tried to focus, "Finding whoever isn't going to fix things."

Puck folded his arms and huffed. He watched Quinn for a few moments before piping up again, "You never called me back."

"Yeah, I know," Quinn said as cold as she could.

"Maybe I was calling to apologize."

"Maybe you should get your shit together." Quinn shook her head before turning to him with realization, "Shouldn't you be apologizing to Santana?"

Puck shrugged, "I don't know. Probably."

"Probably?"

Puck let out a huff before looking down to the ground and kicking the floor, "She fucking started it."

"What?"

"You know," Puck struggled for a second, "She knew that I liked you first and she still went for it. No second thought. No nothing. And what, I'm supposed to comfort her when you guys fight and stuff and I don't know. It's weird. So if dibs don't matter, dibs don't matter."

Quinn waited for more before laughing, "I don't know what to say to you right now."

"You don't have to say anything but maybe laughing isn't right."

"There are so many words to describe you. Pathetic for saying such a thing to me of all people. Delusional for thinking you'd have a chance with me. Especially sober me," Quinn's laughter started to die down as she felt less amazed at his stupidity and more angered by it, "And disgusting for treating me like an object to call dibs on and then having the nerve to tell me about it."

"Okay. Okay." Puck sniffed and put a hand through his hair, "You're right. Everyone's been telling me this."

"You've been going around trying to justify what happened?"

"Nah," Puck lowered his voice, "People have just been coming up to me and letting me have it. When I say people I mean mostly our friends. You're friends."

Quinn sighed, "They're not really my friends right now."

"Yeah well, that's why I haven't shown up to school for a while. It was just constant." Puck stuffed his hands in his pockets, "And dude, I know what I did... what we did... what I did was wrong, but it's kind of hard to prepare for an ass whooping from Santana when the whole student body is lined up and ready before she even got back."

"Maybe we deserve it."

"Who knows." Puck cleared his throat, "Has Santana been talking to you?"

Quinn smiled and looked back at the nail polish, the name reminding her why she was here, "Yeah. She wants to be friends again."

"You're getting back together?"

Her smiled dropped, "No."

"Good."

"Good?" She turned back to him, "Why good?"

He shrugged, "You were gonna break up with her anyways. Best do it early. Makes it hurt less for her."

"How has any of this made it hurt less for her?"

"I don't know."

They stood in silence for a few moments before Quinn looked around, "Could you do me a favor?"

Puck's eyebrows raised, "Hmm?"

"Could you... could you stop talking to me? I just don't want anyone to see us talking. In case it gets back to, San."

He looked a bit hurt but gave a nod, "No, I get it. I will step away."

"We've just been making little strides. Like she smiled at me the other day." Quinn closed her eyes and cringed, "God, that sounds pitiful doesn't it?"

"Nah, dude. I wish she was smiling at me. I didn't even realize that I missed that until you just said it." He chuckled.

"Have you tried," Quinn turned back to the nail polish, "Like tried to talk to her?"

"No way. She's gonna kill me." Puck whispered, "Kind of scared. Not gonna lie."

"What I've learned is that when you've done something wrong you gotta just get hit with those consequences." Quinn advised, "Headfirst."

"What if it's a literal hit?"

"Then don't flinch cause that makes it hurt worse."

That made Puck laugh and Quinn smiled. Her eyes turned to find a face peering over at them from a makeup stand. She didn't recognize the person but from their young face and the way that they raised an eyebrow at her before walking off, Quinn was pretty sure that the person was from their school.

"Speaking of consequences..." Quinn mumbled to herself. Then her eyes landed on the perfect nail polish color for Santana. She picked it up and turned back to Puck with a pointed finger, "Okay, listen to me and listen hard."

He nodded.

"Do not, I repeat, do not talk to me at all until after you fix things with Santana. Don't call me. Don't see me at the mall and come up to me. Nothing. Do you understand?"

"What if she kills me and we never get to talk again?" Puck joked. When Quinn didn't respond to it he frowned.

"I wouldn't mind never ever talking to you again as long as Santana felt like she could trust me again. She means more to me than you ever will."

"I get it. I get it."

"Do you, Noah?"

"I said I get it."

"Good." Quinn rolled the nail polish between her hands, "Then I guess this is goodbye. Until we both fix things with her."

"She's not going to forgive me." Puck put his hands on his hips and looked down.

Quinn began to back away, "Maybe, I don't know, apologies first and then come to that conclusion."

"She's going to whoop my ass, Quinn."

"Then let her." She didn't give a chance for him to respond as she headed for the check out line. She had a few more things to pick up before Santana got home and talking Puck wasn't ever on the agenda.

XXX

After dropping Santana off at her house, her dad said that she could invite a friend over to celebrate her hand being freed from her cast. Once he left Brittany did come over, but so did Tina. And Kurt. And Mercedes. And Rachel.

Santana didn't invite them over but they appeared in her house after she left the room for five minutes. And now they were trying to sing Mariah Carey.

It wasn't like she didn't enjoy them but only in manageable and planned doses. This wasn't planned, and the way Tina accidentally spilled her soda on the carpet meant that it wasn't manageable.

Santana sat next to Brittany on the floor and watched Tina as she tried to clean up her mess, "Why did you invite these people over to my house?"

"I think they're funny." Brittany shrugged and then giggled at Rachel trying to help Tina in a panic and with more napkins.

"They may be funny but they are not fun." The doorbell rang and Santana gave a sigh as she scooted herself off the floor, "Who else did you invite?"

Brittany took a moment to ponder, "Maybe Artie."

"Please say you're joking." Santana groaned as she walked over to the front foyer. She sighed and readied herself for the boy on the other side of the door. She didn't know how much longer she would be able to play a nice hostess.

She opened the door and jumped, "You're not Artie."

Quinn smiled and looked around, "No I guess not."

Santana didn't expect to see a lot of people tonight but especially not Quinn, who was standing at the door with a woven basket full of random things.

Santana opened her mouth to ask about the basket and her arrival but stopped once she noticed how normal Quinn looked. She was still wearing all black and her hair was still pink and under an ugly beanie, but the makeup was almost completely gone and her outfit looked ten thousand times more died down than usual. And her face was glowing. Literally glowing and it was dark outside. She looked great. Beautiful.

Too beautiful. Santana had to tighten her grip on the doorframe to steady herself.

"You're having a party?" Quinn asked, a small smile on her lips.

It took a few moments for Santana to understand her but when she did she shook her head, "What? No."

A crash boomed behind her and a loud apology followed.

Santana sighed, "Yeah I guess I kind of am."

"Well, I won't bother you for long." Quinn reached the basket towards Santana, "This is everything you'll need to heal your arm properly now that the cast is off."

"Oh yeah?" Santana gently took the basket and leaned it against her right arm to look through it. She looked up at Quinn and smiled, "Why'd you get me this?"

"No reason. We're friends so I thought... I don't know." Quinn cleared her throat, "We're friends and I owe you and stuff."

"You think giving me a basket is going to erase you making out with Suckerman?" Santana kept a serious face for a moment before letting out a laugh.

Quinn laughed too, but in a more nervous tone, "So we're good to make jokes about that now?"

Santana shrugged, "I guess."

"Cool. Okay." Quinn started to walk backward, "I should probably let you get back to your party."

"Do you want to come in?" Santana asked before really thinking.

Quinn paused, "You don't want me at your party."

"Why would I ask you to join if I don't want you there?" Santana opened the door wider, "Plus it's not a party."

Quinn bit her lip and scrunched up her eyebrows as she walked back towards the door, "Well, who is here?"

"Some glee kids."

"Oh, I don't know. They hate me."

Santana gave her a look, "You can't deal with an hour of them?"

Quinn folded her arms, "I... If it'll make you happy. I'll do it."

"Good." Santana turned to let Quinn in fully into the house before shutting the door behind them. She watched as Quinn took in a deep breath, wrung her hands together for a few moments before standing up straight and nodding for Santana to lead her to the commotion.

Santana couldn't help but smile as she led Quinn to the family room.

Everyone seemed occupied as they entered the room, sitting in a circle and playing truth or dare or something. Tina was busy getting teased as Santana cleared her throat for attention and set the basket down by the couch, "Make room for two more."

They all looked over and Rachel let out an audible gasp.

Quinn folded her hands behind her back and gave a polite smile, "Hi. Everyone."

A few moments passed by and Santana had to clear her throat again, this time in a more obnoxious way, to get everyone moving again.

"Come sit by me, Quinn." Kurt moved over slightly and pat the carpet next to him.

Quinn nodded and took her time over, not giving much attention to the stares she received from the others.

Santana sat next to Brittany, who immediately pulled her close and whispered, "So are we not mad at Quinn anymore?"

"I don't know. Not really, I guess." Santana whispered back.

"So everything is back to normal?" Brittany's eyes shined with hope.

"Um..." Santana wanted to tell her that she wanted it to be normal but she was good with them just being friends. She wanted to say that she almost forgave Quinn but still, every now and then when she remembered the video or Puck she wanted to lose her shit on everything and everyone in the room. But everyone was looking at her, so she shrugged, "Not really... A little?"

"Good enough for me." Mercedes commented loudly. She smiled at Quinn, "Missed you, girl."

Quinn gave a slight smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Sure."

"Truth or dare, Quinn?" Rachel sighed as she scooted closer to Santana's other side.

"Oh, I'm not playing truth or dare." Quinn put up her hands in surrender, "It never goes very well for me."

"You sat in the circle so you have to play." Rachel demanded.

"Don't take it personally," Tina spoke up, "She's literally said the same thing to all of us. Either we sit in the corner or have to play her dumb game."

"It's not a dumb game. It's a game that many high schoolers play, right?" Rachel looked over to Santana for confirmation.

It took a few moments before Santana laughed, "Oh my god, that's so sad. Berry, do you seriously not know!?"

Rachel closed her eyes in frustration as Santana laughed before looking back at Quinn, "Truth or dare, please."

Santana's laughter died down as she looked over to Quinn. If she knew anything about the girl she would probably pick truth first. It was easier and she would get a chance to see what kind of dares everyone was into tonight. It would be all about strategy so that Quinn would win the game, even though there usually wasn't a winner. Santana usually appreciated the strategist that Quinn was. The way she would play something dumb like truth or dare like a chess game. It was strange but fun to see how it played out in the end.

It was also super conniving and should have been a red flag from the beginning.

Quinn folded her arms, "Dare."

"I knew it-" Santana paused, "Wait, dare?"

Quinn shrugged a shoulder, "I'm not answering Rachel's questions about the incident."

"Hey, I wasn't going to ask you about that..." Rachel pouted.

"Right. Look, I'm not answering any questions about it, got it?" Quinn took the time to look into everyone's eyes, skipping Santana's as she looked back to Rachel, "Dare."

Rachel pouted even more as she gave it a think, "I dare you to... break something in Santana's house."

"Excuse me?" Santana shifted to stare down Rachel, "Break something in who's house?"

Rachel stuttered for a moment before regaining her confidence, "It's not like she'll do it. I just want her to do the punishment."

"No, I'll do it." Quinn stood up.

"Fabray..." Santana warned.

"Don't worry. I'll be right back." Quinn shifted away from the circle and walked out of the room.

Barely a moment passed before Tina whispered harshly, "Are you guys getting back together?"

"No." Santana watched the door that Quinn left out of, praying silently that she isn't going to actually break anything. At least nothing expensive.

"Then why is she here?"

Santana turned back to the group, "Were any of you people ever actually friends with Quinn?"

"Of course we were, but-" Mercedes started.

"And did she cheat on you? No? Then why the hell are you choosing me over her. I can barely stand any of you. Except for Britt."

Mercedes looked down at her hands.

"Why are you defending her?" Rachel asked.

"Just cause we aren't dating doesn't mean we aren't friends. We were friends before all of this and we still are. And unlike you freaks, I have a good heart full of forgiveness." Santana put her hand over her heart dramatically, "I even have forgiveness for stupid girls who for the love of humanity can't stay faithful even though it's the fucking easiest thing to do in a relationship but what the fuck ever. I'm a fucking saint. Learn from me. Grow."

Kurt let out a chuckle, "All right, Satan."

Quinn finally returned, plopping down in the circle with a bowl and a tea towel.

"Not my mom's good bowl," Santana whined.

"I'm not going to break a bowl, Santana." Quinn reached into the bowl and brought out an egg. She showed it to everyone before winking at Rachel and breaking it in her hand above the bowl. She let the egg ooze from her hand into the bowl for a few moments before wiping her hand with the towel, "There. Broke something."

Rachel huffed, "You know that's not what I meant."

"No, I don't know. You obviously weren't clear enough." Quinn smirked. She turned to Brittany, "Truth or dare, Britt-Britt."

Brittany couldn't stop herself from blushing at the nickname, "Truth."

"Tell me..." Quinn gave a dramatic pause, "What does that octopus on your hair clip represent?"

Brittany's eyes widened as she reached for the clip, "You're the only person who's noticed it!"

Quinn put her chin on her fist, "Well, tell me about it."

Brittany smiled and took in a deep breath.

XXX

Truth or dare was a lame game to play with glee kids, especially when they were all sober and giggly. But Santana found herself enjoying it; the company, the jokes, and the people.

Like usual Quinn was able to sweep the room off its feet and everyone seemed responsive to her. Even Santana caught herself completely charmed by a comment that Quinn made. She didn't try to fight it either, the Fabray charm was strong.

However, by 10 pm she was trying to think of how to kick everyone out so that she could finally get a good night sleep. No parents in the house. No annoying brother. Just her bed and the weekend. Plus she didn't have to worry about that much tonight. She and Quinn were on talking terms again, that made her feel almost zen.

Then she heard the doorbell ring.

Santana sighed, knowing this time it had to be Artie. She complained to Brittany about the boy being so late before making her way to the door.

She opened it ready to tell him to leave but was lost when she saw one of the Skanks standing in front of her door. It was the mean one. What was her name again? Max? Sarah? Who cares.

"What are you doing here?" Santana asked, hand on her hip.

The girl folded her arms, "I was just across the street at Quinn's house and her mom said that she was over here."

"Why the hell are you going to Quinn's house so fucking late?"

"What is it to you?"

Santana squinted her eyes. She did not like this girl. And it wasn't because she was spending a lot of time with Quinn and was casual enough to not only talk to Quinn's mom but also not get yelled at for knocking on the Fabray door in the middle of the night. It wasn't because the girl and Quinn were obviously close and it wasn't because that made Santana feel insanely jealous. Like how could this even happen, it's only been three weeks and Quinn's already made a new best friend?

The reason she didn't like this girl was because she was talking to Santana like she knew her. And she didn't. She should be afraid of her, like everyone else at school. Not knocking on her door in the middle of the night. Not talking to her at all in any capacity.

And especially not hanging out with her girlfriend!

Ex-girlfriend. Ex.

"Is Quinn here or not?" The girl asked impatiently.

Santana folded her arms as well, "No. She's not here. Guess you should go home."

The girl let out a bitter laugh, "That adorable."

Santana squared her jaw at the sound of the girl's laugh before giving a tight smile, "What's adorable?"

The girl shrugged before letting out another laugh, "You dump her and yet you're still possessive over her. Adorable. Creepy but adorable."

Santana shook her head in disbelief, "Why are you even talking right now?"

"I wouldn't be talking if you'd go get Quinn like a good hostess would."

"Who the fuck do you think you are talking to me like that?" Santana stepped towards the girl, "Do you know who I am?"

"Do you know who I am?" The girl asked back.

"I actually have no idea who you are."

The girl smiled largely, "I'm The Mack."

"The what?"

"Mack."

"Like... mac and cheese? Were your parents high when they named you that?"

The girl's smile started to fade, "What? No."

"And why do you refer to yourself as The Mac? Do you write that on test papers? Do teachers call you that during roll call? Your parents actually call you that? They're just like oh hi, the Mack. You doing alright, the Mack? Go up to your room, The Mack. You're a mistake, The Mack. Fucking ridiculous."

The girl staggered back a little before putting up her finger, "Just hold on."

She pulled out her phone and typed a quick message before stuffing it back into her leather jacket pocket, "You're taking way too long so I went ahead and texted Quinn to come meet me outside."

"Were your feelings getting hurt over me making fun of your wack ass nickname?"

"It's not wack and a lot of people actually enjoy it just fine."

"Like who? Not your parents. Probably not your priest. Who?"

"Quinn likes it."

"Quinn likes what?" The girl in question popped up next to Santana in the doorway, a happy look on her face.

"Nothing, can we just leave?" The Mack girl asked impatiently before turning away.

"Sure," Quinn turned to Santana and leaned against the door frame, "Thanks for letting me join. I actually had a really great time."

Santana nodded, "Well they probably shouldn't have stopped talking to you completely."

"They took your side."

"So what?"

"You should be happy that they care that much about you." Quinn wrung her hands in front of her, "It's not just their fault. I mean, I stopped talking to them too. I was ashamed."

Santana sighed, "Doesn't matter anymore. Everything is just about right in the world again."

"Yeah, sure..." Quinn put the palm of her hand on her forehead under her pink bangs and puffed out some air, "Look I have to ask you something. But you can say no if you want, cool?"

Santana bit the inside of her cheek as she tried not to smile at Quinn's nervous energy. She mirrored Quinn by leaned on the other side of the doorway as she nodded, "Cool."

"Okay, well..." Quinn slid her hand to the side of her face, "Since we are friends again I was wondering if maybe we can try to hang out again? Like maybe get a coffee or something?"

Santana gave a nonchalant shrug, "I do like coffee."

"And I'll pay."

"I do like free." Santana joked. She watched as Quinn bit her lip to hold in a little laugh.

"Great. Cool. I'm also super behind with America's Next Top Model. Does the show even come on anymore? I mean, it hasn't been that long but it feels like it's been forever and I..." Quinn rambled for a bit and Santana smiled as she listened.

She had listened to Quinn's voice a lot these past couple of days. Usually from voice messages that she had replayed over and over, but hearing her talk up close was so much better.

Did Quinn always have that little slur to the way she talked? And when she wasn't paying close attention to what she was saying, Quinn would slip a little bit of an accent into her speech. It wasn't a New Yorker or anything, but like a little tiny bit of Southern. She must have gotten it from her dad, he had a weird Southern accent that popped up when he was annoyed.

And the way she mouthed words was interesting as well; most specifically the little smile she would give herself when she said something she meant when she accidentally found herself rambling. She did this little smile a lot; when she said something particularly nasty to someone or when she said an innuendo of sort. And the way that she-

When did she stop talking?

Santana looked up to Quinn's eyes, realizing that the girl had stopped talking a while ago and that the Latina had been staring at her lips for a noticeable amount of time.

Santana felt petrified. Never in her life had she been less subtle about what she was thinking about and Quinn definitely saw.

Luckily the other girl didn't say anything, just smiled, looked down to Santana's lips and then back to her eyes.

"Hey hey hey!" Mack girl snapped her fingers between them, "Can we go?"

Quinn looked surprised but her eyes shined brightly. She gave a nervous laugh before moving to the porch, "I'll see you around, San."

Santana nodded her head and watched them as they moved to leave. Then she remembered what time it was and who she was leaving with, "Quinn, you should go home!"

Quinn paused and turned around, she already at the side of the street, "What?"

"You should go home. Soon." Santana looked at mac and cheese girl and then back to Quinn, feeling the need to make this as casual as possible, "Because we're getting coffee tomorrow morning. At 9."

Quinn smirked, "In the morning?"

"Yep."

"You're going to wake up before 9 on a Saturday for coffee with me?"

"Did I stutter, Fabray?" Santana nodded her head at the Mack girl, "So don't stay out late with the delinquent because I'm just giving you just one shot to hang out with me."

Quinn nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Quinn gave her a wave before pushing Mack to walk down the sidewalk with her.

Santana stood there for a few moments, watching Quinn and that girl walk further away. She could totally do just friends with Quinn. Easy peasy.