Chapter 36 - The Dinner Guest
"Soooo what are we having for dinner." Quinn asked Brittany.
"Uhhh- don't know actually." Brittany shrugged.
"Great." Quinn laughed. "Maybe we should have planned this for another day. Give you guys some time to prepare. It was kind of last minute afterall."
"No. No. It's fine. As soon as Santana gets done in the shower I'm sure she'll start dinner. It'll be great." Brittany assured.
"So you keep saying." Quinn looked around the apartment. "This is a really nice place Britt."
"I know right."
"I'm impressed. I never would have thought a bar DJ would have such a nice apartment." Quinn shrugged. "So when's that cast coming off?" She asked changing the subject.
"Tuesday. I can't wait."
"I bet. It's gonna-"
"Did I hear you ragging on my apartment Quinn?" Santana interrupted as she walked into the kitchen.
"Uh- no." Quinn mumbled stunned.
"Ok so maybe not so much my apartment but my income and my taste. Am I correct?" Santana asked Quinn.
"Well no. I mean maybe. I guess a little." Quinn bowed her head to stare down at her feet in embarrassment. "How much of that did you hear exactly?" She wondered.
Brittany watched and listened as Quinn and Santana continued. Curious as to how this little 'conversation' would play out.
"Hmm. Let me think- from the part where you were impressed that a could manage to have sure a nice apartment. What do you take me for? Just cause I don't have a conventional job or conventional habits doesn't mean I don't have nice things."
"I'm sorry I didn't really mean it like that." Quinn tried to explain. "What I was trying to say to Brittany is that it is very nice indeed. I was impressed." She looked to Brittany for reassurance. "My initial judgment of you may been harsh and completely wrong and unfair." She looked between Santana and Brittany. "Brittany seemed to understand what I was saying." She defended.
"Calm down Quinn." Santana said as she slapped the woman on the shoulder as she walked past her towards the stove. "I was just giving you a hard time." She chuckled.
"What?" Quinn's eyes widened. Brittany laughed at Quinn's reaction and Santana's wicked sense of humor. "I- you- Britt." She stuttered.
"She really had you going there Quinn. I was waiting for you to blow a gasket. Freak out. Start yelling. Defending yourself." She said through her laugh. "Good one Santana. I've never seen Quinn so flustered."
"Thanks babe." Santana looked around the kitchen. "Now for dinner."
"What?" Quinn quipped. "That's it. You're just gonna move on to the next thing?"
"Yep. You wanna eat, don't you?" Santana replied.
"Well yeah but-"
"You gotta loosen up Quinn. Have a little fun." Brittany told her friend.
"Well-" Quinn sighed. "I guess you're right. You got anything to drink?"
Santana let out a chuckle as she shook her head. She moved around the kitchen getting all of the necessary items and ingredients to make dinner.
Meanwhile Brittany went over to one of the drawers and pulled out a corkscrew. Next she pulled out a bottle of red wine and uncorked it. She got three glasses down from the cabinet and poured a glass for herself, Santana, and Quinn.
"So how's the grub Quinn?" Santana asked from across the table.
The blonde swallowed her mouthful before speaking. "It's delicious Santana. I didn't know you were such a good cook."
"There's lots that you don't know about me. Though I'm sure that will change over the course of the next few months. But I don't want to talk about me. I want to know all about you Quinn. What makes you tick?" She smiled at the blonde.
Quinn looked at Santana with a puzzled expression before looking over to Brittany. Brittany nodded at Quinn and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I- uh- don't know where to start." Quinn said wearily. Focusing her attention back to Santana. "This sort of feels like an interrogation."
Santana nodded. "It sort of is." She smirked at Quinn.
"Santana." Brittany scolded.
"Ok fine." Santana groaned. "I'll play nice. But I'm still asking all the questions." She looked over to Brittany as she said it. Brittany shrugged her shoulders letting Santana know that was fine. It wasn't like Brittany had to get to know Quinn. She already knew Quinn so she would just let Santana do all of the talking.
"I think I will start out with-" Santana thought for a second. She had it all thought out in her mind and she just needed somewhere to start. "-how long have you known Brittany?"
"Well lets see. I met Brittany back in high school when I was sixteen. So however many years that is." Quinn said honestly.
"Then how'd you end up in New York together. I know how Brittany got to where she is today but what about you?"
"Um- after high school I didn't really know what I wanted to do so- my parents told me that I had to go to college for something. I had really good grades so I could pretty much do to any college that I wanted. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that I had no clue what I wanted to major in. Anyway when I found out that Brittany here-" Quinn nodded her head in Brittany's direction. "-was going to New York to study dance I thought it would be really cool to do the same. Study and live in New York City I mean, not the dancing part. I applied to NYU and got accepted." She shrugged. "So that's how I ended up in New York. I fell in love with the city and yeah."
"Hmm. Wow. So what about your major? You're an accountant aren't you?" Santana asked.
"Yes. I didn't like the idea at first. But then I took a few accounting classes and I sort of fell in love with it."
"With accounting?" Santana gasped.
"With numbers. The thing about numbers is that they are always consistent. They never change. They are always the same and I like that."
"I guess you have a point." Santana agreed. "But I could never work with numbers all day." Santana looked down at her food before taking another bite. Quinn did the same with the break in conversation.
After a few silent moments Santana began again. "What kinds of things do you do for fun? Hobbies?"
"I like to read. Does that count?"
"It does." Santana nodded her head. "What else?"
"Uh- I'm kind of artsy." Quinn admitted.
Santana looked at her puzzled and then turned to look at Brittany. Brittany shrugged. "It's true. Painting, photography that sort of thing right Quinn?"
"Right. I like to take pictures but I like to draw and paint pictures more."
"Well aren't you talented." Santana teased.
"I don't know if talented is the right word. I just do things that I like." There was a pause. "What about you Santana? What do you do for fun?"
"Hey I thought I said this wasn't about me." She pointed her fork at Quinn.
"Why don't you just answer the question Santana." Brittany chimed in.
"Yeah just answer the question." Quinn added with a smirk.
"Fine." Santana grumbled. "I don't know. I'm kinda boring. I don't really have any hobbies. I mean I listen to music a lot. That's something but I don't know. I like to watch old movies. Black and whites. Ya know. Old stuff. From the 30's 40's 50's."
"Interesting. I like old movies too. Old romantic movies to be more specific. Back when things where different when a man had to actually work and fight to get and keep a girl."
Santana looked over to Brittany and Brittany looked back at her knowingly.
"Not that that sort of thing doesn't happen anymore cause I know it does. It's just less common. People don't fight for there relationships anymore." Quinn backpedaled a little.
Santana's eyebrow rose at Quinn. She set her fork down and crossed her arms over her chest expecting something more from the blonde across from her.
Brittany knew what Quinn had said that irked Santana the wrong way and frankly it sort of irked her too. She crossed her arms over her chest in solidarity.
Quinn saw the gesture and looked between the two of them. "What?" She looked them over again. Neither Santana or Brittany said anything. They waited for Quinn to say something else.
Quinn began to get uncomfortable with the silence. Knowing it was probably something she had said she thought over her previous statements again. "Oh." It dawned on her the second she thought about it again.
"Look I didn't mean anything by it. I didn't mean it like that. You guys know what I mean. Oh wow I really stuck my own foot in my mouth with that one." Quinn lowered her head into her hands shaking it back and forth. "A guy isn't the only one who has to work for it. You two are a perfect example of that. Both of you working and fighting -so to speak- for your relationship. Always trying to improve what you have together. It's beautiful really. It's inspiring. I wish I had something like that actually." She looked up to see Brittany looking into Santana's eyes with all the love in the world. The same look reflected on Santana's features.
Brittany leaned over placing one hand on the back of Santana's neck pulling the brunette gently towards her. She placed a gently kiss on Santana's lips. Their love for each other reflected in the kiss. Brittany rested her forehead against Santana's after their brief kiss. Looking into her eyes. "Do you think we should forgive Quinn for her indiscretions?"
"I suppose we could. I think she just misspoke."
With a quick peck to Santana's lips Brittany pulled back and straightened up in her chair. Quinn looked at them with squinted eyes. "You are forgiven Quinn." Brittany giggled.
"So you are single? Not seeing anyone?" Santana jumped back into the conversation.
"No I'm single. Why?" Quinn asked feeling like there was more to Santana's question than that.
"No reason really." Santana shrugged. "I just thought you and Puckerman had this flirty thing going on that one day at the bar."
Quinn's jaw dropped in shock. Yeah maybe she was flirting with the guy a little bit. There's nothing wrong with that. She just thought that nobody had noticed.
"Nothing gets past me Quinn. I know you were flirting with him contrary to what you might say. And I know that he is interested in you. Sooo-" Santana trailed off.
"We should set them up." Brittany bounced excitedly in her chair.
"No way." Quinn finally found her voice.
"Why not Quinn?" Brittany whined.
"Because one he looks like an overgrown teenager and two I'm not convinced that he is boyfriend material."
"I hate when people say that. What does that even mean 'boyfriend material'? He's not an item he is a human." Brittany said seriously.
"No Britt. Just no." Quinn shook her head.
"What if I got him to shave that mess of hair off of his head?" Santana asked.
Quinn thought it over. "That would be a start but I still don't think so."
"He's a really nice guy though. Charming and I guess minus his hair he's not too bad to look at- for a guy." Santana added.
Brittany stifled a laugh. "Oh man."
"I'll give him some pointers. Some tips on how to treat a lady. I'll get him all cleaned up for you. And you guys can have a wonderful date." Santana offered.
"Oooh can I help?" Brittany asked.
"Sure." Santana threw back to Brittany as she stared Quinn down.
"Wait. When did I agree to this?" Quinn asked mad that she was being strong-armed into this.
"You didn't." Santana shrugged. "Just go with it Quinn. It'll be great, you'll see."
"Why do you guys always say that?" Quinn asked.
Brittany and Santana looked at each other both of them shrugging their shoulders at the same time. "Because it's true." Brittany said.
"Ok. Fine. I'm not totally 100% set on this but I well go through with it because the two of you are so adamant about it. And if this goes horribly wrong its all your fault." Quinn wiggled her finger both and forth between Brittany and Santana.
"Yay." Brittany raised her fists in the air in triumph. "This is gonna be so great."
Santana smiled at Brittany's excitement and then over at Quinn. "It is gonna be great." She whispered her smile turning into a smirk. "Puckerman is gonna flip his shit when I tell him about this."
"So tonight went well?" Brittany asked as she changed into her pajamas.
"It did." Santana assured her from where she sat on the bed. She shamelessly watched as Brittany striped out of what she was wearing and put on an a t-shirt and pair of sweats. "I had fun. Quinn makes it way to easy to tease her. I just couldn't resist."
"I know babe. But maybe you shouldn't tease her so much about this thing with Puck. If you want to give them a really shot then maybe teasing her about it isn't the best thing right now." Brittany reasoned.
"You're probably right." Santana agreed.
"I know I am." Brittany said turning to Santana and raising an eyebrow at the Latina.
"Stop it. Are you almost done over there?" Santana whined.
"Yes. Why?" Brittany asked even though she knew the likely answer.
"Because I would rather have you over here, in this bed, with me than on the other side of the room." Santana eyesight sank to the bed timidly.
Brittany skipped the few steps across the room and jumped on the bed right in front of Santana. "Ok. Better?"
"Much." Santana leaned into Brittany and kissed her.
"Good. Now lets make a plan for setting up your best friend and my best friend." Brittany beamed. "Isn't this just amazing."
Santana laughed. "It's kinda strange but yes I think that Quinn and Puckerman could actually work well together."
"Exactly. Soooo." Brittany drew out. "Can I shave Puck's head?"
Santana laughed again. "I don't know if he will let you. But we will have to see. I have to talk to him first."
"Right. And we need to get him into a suit." Brittany added.
"A suit?" Santana furrowed her brow. "I don't think I could get him in a suit even if he was going to his mother's funeral." Santana joked.
"That's sad Santana. Don't say stuff like that."
"Sorry Britt. But it's the truth. I have never seen him dress up remotely nice."
"Not even a button down shirt and dress pants?" Brittany asked.
"Nope not even that. He's such a scrub. I guess he's never had a reason to dress nicely before but now he has no choice if he wants to go on a date with Quinn."
"We will get him to look nice even if I have to take all of his clothes off myself and put nice ones on him." Brittany said with a wink.
"Dear God, no." Santana chuckled. "I don't want you anywhere near Puckerman's naked body." Santana tried to shake that image out of her head.
"Okay but we'll get him all spiffed up. I'm sure he will look very handsome."
"Right." Santana said with a sarcastic tone. "Can we please go to bed now. I don't want to have to think about Puckerman anymore today."
"Sure thing. But you are going to talk to him tomorrow at work, right?" Brittany wanted to make sure. She wanted to get this operation rolling as soon as possible.
"Yeah Britt. I'm on it. Now get over here." Santana wrapped Brittany up in a hug and pulled her down so that they were laying flat on the bed.