Hey guys. I'm REALLY sorry it's taken me so long to update, but life is really busy right now. So updates will probably be less frequent now (although hopefully won't take as long as this one) and they'll probably be a few a week instead of a few a day haha. So really sorry about the wait, but thank you for your kind comments and for sticking with me! You are all lovelies!
Also,it's Quinntana week, and lookatthestar is doing a fanmix (inc fan art) for this fic! Which I am over the moon about! So you should go check it out, because the fan art is awesome, and I'm excited to see the mix :D
Thank you!
"How can such a small boy be so tiring?" Quinn chuckled as she flopped back onto the bed, her hair fanning out around her.
"I know, right? And you wondered why I slept for an age after Christmas!" Santana replied as she changed into her pyjamas, "But if it helps, we're leaving before them in the morning, so we can go in and wake him up?"
"Yes. I'm gonna go in and throw toys at him." Quinn grinned, reaching out her arms for Santana to pull her up off the bed, and the brunette slid under the covers behind her as she began to change.
"Have you had fun this weekend?" Santana bit her lip, propping herself up on her pillows as she watched Quinn, who grinned,
"Yes! It's been awesome, I've had lots of fun and I got to spend some time with my beautiful," she leaned over for a quick kiss, "incredible, funny, smart, adorable girlfriend, and apparently I suck at treasure hunts, but I love you and I've had an amazing time."
"Good" Santana grinned "I love you."
-ooOoo-
"I hate you." Quinn groaned as they sat in the departures lounge.
"What? Why?" Santana frowned, eyes wide as she turned to the blonde, who huffed.
"Couldn't you have got a later flight? It's seven am!" Quinn pouted, and Santana held out her arm for the blonde, who leaned over the chair partition to nestle into the crook of her shoulder.
"You get up at six on a regular basis to bake, why are you complaining?" Santana giggled, pressing a kiss to the blonde's hair with a subtle inhale.
"Because I'm tired!" Quinn scowled, "And that's because I have to!"
"Jesus I thought it was me who hated mornings. Well I could leave you in Ohio instead?" Santana rolled her eyes before gazing up at the ceiling as she listened to the announcement, "Oh. Come on, that's us!" she stood up and dragged Quinn by the hand towards the gate "You can sleep on the plane, cutie." She grinned at the blonde, who smiled back against her will,
"How do you put up with me?" Quinn grinned, and Santana grimaced thoughtfully,
"You know…I have no idea." She frowned slightly as she handed over the tickets, and the blonde slapped her arm playfully.
"No plane snuggles for you." She glared, and Santana's jaw dropped, horrified, before she pouted.
"You suck, Fabray."
A few minutes later and they were settled on the plane, Santana's foot bouncing up and down impatiently whilst Quinn had her nose stuck in the safety manual.
…we request that all mobile phones, pagers, radios and remote controlled toys be turned off for the full duration of the flight…
"Santana." Quinn didn't look up from the manual, and the brunette frowned.
"What?"
"Your phone isn't turned off." Santana watched her, but the blonde didn't look up,
"Yeah, it is. I did it earlier."
"No, it's still turned on." She shook her head slightly, and Santana raised an eyebrow,
"I did it before we got on. I guarantee it is turned off." She said confidently, and Quinn rolled her eyes, finally dropping the manual and looking at the brunette. Santana smirked knowingly and reached into her bag, pulling her phone out and thrusting it in Quinn's face, "See? Off." She pressed a few buttons to prove her point, and the screen immediately lit up. Quinn raised an eyebrow with a knowing smile and placed the manual back in the pouch, watching out of the window as the seatbelt sign flashed, but Santana was staring at her phone with a frown.
"Turn it off!" Quinn hissed, and Santana rolled her eyes,
"I am! But Britts has text me. There, off." She shoved the phone in Quinn's face again before dropping it into her bag, and Quinn immediately snuggled into her shoulder with a yawn as the plane started to take off.
"Oh? Saying what?" she asked quietly and Santana dropped her head onto the blonde's,
"Apparently Mystery Man was there again last night, and the last three nights."
"Hmm, I see. Sounds serious. I vote we just stake out their apartment until he comes out." Quinn giggled and Santana snorted,
"We don't need to. I'm telling you, I bet its Puck."
"Wanna bet?" Quinn lifted her head to smirk skeptically at the brunette, who raised an eyebrow,
"Yeah. Ten dollars." She said confidently and Quinn narrowed her eyes before nodding,
"You're on." They shook hand as Quinn leaned up to place a soft kiss on Santana's temple before dropping back down into her embrace and falling asleep shortly after.
-ooOoo-
"So it all went well?" Rachel asked, greeting her with a grin as she slid her coat off and hung it on the back of the chair opposite Santana. It was a few days since the girls had arrived back in New York, but they had all been so busy that Santana and Quinn had barely seen the others.
"Yes, it was awesome!" Santana nodded, sliding Rachel's drink across the table as the shorter girl sat down, before frowning slightly "Where are the others, by the way?"
"Work. They're both signed on the same music video, so they're pretty much coming and going in unison right now." Rachel shrugged "They might come by later, what about Quinn?"
"Baking then seeing Sam. She was supposed to see him at the weekend but obviously she couldn't." Rachel nodded her understanding, gazing around the bar as Santana continued, "Talking of things completely unrelated to each other," Rachel frowned, "Who's your mystery man?" she grinned, and Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Oh, not this again."
"Yes, this again. Spill."
"No. It's nothing, it's not important." Rachel shook it off with a shrug, but Santana shook her head slowly,
"No. You're not getting out of it, who is he?" she demanded, and Rachel rolled her eyes dramatically, slumping her shoulders as she looked accusingly at Santana.
"Have you ever thought maybe there's a reason I'm not telling you all?" she held her hands out, palms facing upwards, and Santana frowned disapprovingly.
"Yeah but…this is me." She pouted "You have to tell me. You always tell me."
"Well I will!" Santana grinned in triumph, "When I'm ready!" her face fell, and she sighed, throwing in an eye-roll for good measure, but let it go, asking about Rachel's auditions instead. An hour or so later, and two familiar girls slumped through the door, still in their dancing clothes and looking fairly miserable, and Santana and Rachel exchanged a worried frown as they sat down at the table.
"Hey, what's up?" Santana raised an eyebrow as she looked between Jess and Brittany, who dropped her head onto the table with a groan as Jess sighed.
"This job is going to kill both of us." She replied simply, her jaw tensed, "The director is a total bitch, everything has to be done fifty fucking times, and she wants us in at six tomorrow. I swear I'm going to fucking kill her." Jess growled before catching the attention of the waiter and ordering quickly.
"She told me I'm a horrible dancer." Brittany added, still face-down on the table, and Jess scowled as she reached forwards to brush her fingers through the blonde's ponytail.
"What?"
"How?"
Santana and Rachel stared at the blonde in shock, and Brittany shrugged sadly, "I don't know. She just told I'm horrible and she's seen dying antelopes with more rhythm." She finally looked up with a sad pout, and Jess rested her elbows on the table, dropping her chin into her palms with a sigh.
"She kept calling me Julie Andrews." Jess frowned, and shrugged when Santana and Rachel stared at her uncomprehendingly.
"She sounds like a bitch." Santana frowned, and Brittany nodded sadly, but Jess shrugged.
"She is, but she's also an amazing director. Tons of people want to work with Sue Sylvester."
"Sue Sylvester?" Rachel was suddenly alert "Oh God, even I've heard of her." She stared at Jess with mild wonder, and Santana shrugged,
"Well, I haven't heard of anyone who isn't a member of the school board so I'll just imagine." She nodded blandly and the two dancers sighed again. They sat in silence for a few moments until Santana sat up cheerily "Okay so here's something to lighten the mood!" the girls all turned to her expectantly and she looked between Jess and Brittany with a grin, "Mystery Man!" she announced, and the girls suddenly smiled.
"My favourite topic!" Jess chuckled as Rachel sighed, rolling her eyes, "Now, we've finally got past the whole 'there isn't anyone' stage, but we still don't know who he is."
Santana opened her mouth to speak but Brittany held up her hand to cut her off "And before you try to demand the truth, it won't work. We've asked a billion times, she won't tell."
Rachel smiled smugly and Santana scowled "I think it's Puck." She said simply, noting the slight blush that crept up Rachel's neck.
"It is not! Noah and I are just friends now." She defended hotly, and Jess raised an eyebrow,
"But it would explain why you won't tell us." Jess shrugged, and Santana grinned, holding up air quotes
"'maybe there's a reason I'm not telling you' like your little fuck-buddy has become all mushy and romantic?" she smirked, and Rachel rolled her eyes.
"No! It's not Noah!"
"I don't see why you won't just tell us!" Brittany threw her hands up in despair and Rachel growled in frustration,
"Because it's none of your business! It's important to me and I will tell you when I'm ready!" her tone of voice indicated that the subject was closed, and the girls drank in silence for a moment, suitably chastised, until Santana gasped.
"I know!"
"What?" Rachel frowned warily,
"I know who it is!"
"No you don't." Rachel replied confidently, but her worry was clear in her expression.
"Who?" Jess grinned, while Brittany looked skeptical.
"I know why she's so adamant not to tell us. Why it's such a big deal." They stared at her expectantly and she looked between the girls with a triumphant grin, "And it's not Puck."
"Well duh." Rachel rolled her eyes, but her voice wavered,
"It's bigger than if it were Puck….it's a chick!" she grinned, watching Rachel, who scoffed.
"No, Santana. Although you may like to believe that everyone in the world harbors secret homo-erotic intentions, you are wrong. He is, in fact, male." She rolled her eyes, but Santana continued to glare at her suspiciously.
"Oh God, I never even considered it being a girl!" Brittany groaned, "Now there are even more people who it could be!"
"No! There aren't! It is not a girl!" Rachel insisted, with a huff, and the other girls sighed.
"We will get to the bottom of this." Jess told Rachel dangerously, and Rachel recoiled slightly,
"Sadly, you're the one I'm worrying about." She told her, and Jess grinned smugly.
"Yeah, fucking James Bond over there." Santana grumbled, and Brittany grinned proudly at Jess.
"I can't help it if you're all terrible at keeping secrets!" she shrugged with a grin.
-ooOoo-
"Hey gorgeous!" Santana grinned as she stepped into the blonde's apartment, "How's Sam?"
"He's great!" Quinn smiled back from the couch "Thankfully Sugar wasn't there so we just got to hang out and stuff." She shrugged as Santana dropped down onto the couch beside her, immediately laying along the full length and draping her legs across Quinn's lap, gently running her fingers through the blonde's hair with a small smile.
"Sounds awesome. I missed you tonight; the girls can't wait to see you."
"I know, I'm seeing Jess tomorrow or Friday I think, hopefully I'll see Rach and Britt too. Any news on Rachel's guy?" she dropped her head back against the couch cushion, rolling her neck to gaze at the brunette.
"Not really. She still refuses to say anything. Although we decided it could also be a girl." Santana smirked, but Quinn frowned thoughtfully,
"Nah, Rachel's too…straight." She chuckled "I think it's definitely a guy. It's probably someone we don't even know!"
"No, if we didn't know him then she would just tell us. I'm telling you, it's Puck."
"Or maybe one of her exes? Has she ever had a bad ex-boyfriend?" Quinn pondered, and Santana snorted
"Has she ever not had a bad ex-boyfriend, more like? Her exes suck." She giggled, before biting her lip "Suppose it could be one of them." She stroked her thumb down Quinn's face before sitting up, cupping Quinn's face and leaning in for a gentle kiss "I am so tired." She said simply, and Quinn nodded.
"Yes. We can ponder Rachel's love life tomorrow, for now its bed time." She pushed Santana's legs off her lap, standing up with a wide stretch, and Santana quickly pressed her lips to the slit of exposed skin of Quinn's back as her t-shirt rode up. Quinn giggled at the sensation and squirmed away with a grin but Santana captured her hand and tugged her back. She pulled Quinn close, kneeling on the couch and wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist, staring up at her with a smile before dropping her head and placing soft kisses up and down the length of Quinn's collarbone. The blonde cupped Santana's face in her hands, tilting her head back to lean in for a long kiss, before she pulled Santana off the couch. She turned her back and took both of Santana's hands in her own, pulling Santana's arms to wrap around her waist, and leaned her head back to rest on Santana's shoulder with a contented sigh, as they wandered down the hall to the bedroom.
-ooOoo-
"Brittany, I can't!" Jess hissed in the darkness, prodding the blonde.
"What?" she groaned, rubbing at her eyes with a yawn "What are you talking about?"
"I just heard Rachel's guy go in her room. And I can't just lay here listening anymore. It's killing me!" she whispered furiously and Brittany giggled
"Stop listening then, you perv. Just go to sleep, maybe we'll see him in the morning." She shrugged, rolling over the face the brunette, but Jess shook her head.
"No. We won't and you know we won't. Because we never do! I'm going to go sit in the hall and wait, and find out who it is!" she made to crawl out of the bed, but Brittany grabbed her wrist and pulled her back,
"No! No you won't!" Brittany hissed, pulling her onto the bed and wrapping her arms around the struggling girl.
"I have to know! I can't do it anymore!" she threw her hands up in frustration before slumping back against the stronger blonde.
"Waiting in the hall makes you into a stalker, sweetie." Brittany mumbled gently, dropping a kiss to the girl's bare shoulder, "But we will find out soon."
"How? He's always gone by morning!" Jess dropped her head into her hands with a groan and Brittany giggled, rolling her eyes.
"I don't know, but we will. Now, we're up in three hours. Please go to sleep." She chuckled an Jess sighed,
"Yes. I know. Okay." She slumped back onto the bed, crawling under the covers and snuggling close to the blonde, who squeezed her tight against her with a grin.
"No! Wait, I have a plan!" Jess grinned and leaned over to grab her phone, immediately sending an identical text to Quinn and Santana, and Brittany smiled with a nod as she read the text over Jess' shoulder.
-ooOoo-
"Okay, Rach, we're going now!" Jess called from the living room, and Rachel stuck her head around the door to wave them off.
"Sure you don't wanna come, Hobbit?" Santana raised an eyebrow but Rachel shook her head,
"Star Trek marathon? No thanks." She rolled her eyes and the girls shrugged, waving their goodbyes as they left the apartment.
"So, what now?" Quinn whispered as they walked down the hall.
"You don't have to whisper" Jess laughed "There's at least four walls between us and her."
"Except Q's right. What now?" Santana shrugged, and Jess smiled knowingly,
"I dunno. Bar for half an hour?" she shrugged, and Brittany grinned, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Then we sneak back in and put a face to a name!" she whooped, but Quinn frowned.
"Actually, then we put a face and a name to...a voice?" she raised an eyebrow at Jess and Brittany, who bit her lip thoughtfully,
"Actually, we don't have a voice either this time. He's always silent." she frowned,
"Shame the same can't be said for Rachel." Brittany grimaced.
"So...are we sure Rachel isn't just...picking her own berries?" Santana asked with a small grimace, mirrored by Quinn, but Jess shook her head,
"No, we hear him coming in and out."
"Wanky" Santana smirked, and Brittany giggled while Quinn rolled her eyes,
"Okay, so we go to the bar and come back. But what makes you so sure he'll be there?" she asked skeptically, and Jess nodded knowingly.
"Because, we're all out for at least five hours; what would you do?" she raised and eyebrow at Quinn, who tilted her head before nodding thoughtfully.
"Will we even know by his voice?" she asked, shaking her head slightly, and Santana shrugged,
"I suppose we'll know if it's Puck, or a girl, or one of her exes so...yeah?"
"Yeah, hopefully we'll know. Oh, but no drinking at the bar!" Brittany pointed at them in turn with a stern expression, and Santana's jaw dropped
"What, why?"
"We need clear heads!" Brittany defended, but Santana rolled her eyes knowingly.
"Brittany what if it's one of her exes? Do you want to face one of them sober?" she raised and eyebrow and Brittany looked horrified,
"So first round's on me!"
-ooOoo-
"Shh! Q you have the footsteps of a mammoth!" Jess hissed as they crept along.
"Why are we crouching down?" Brittany whispered with a frown, "We're in the hall, there's a wall between us. Rachel still won't see us if we stand up."
"Because we're being sneaky. And you crouch when you're being sneaky." Santana shrugged, and Brittany rolled her eyes.
"I still don't understand why we're whispering and crouching. This isn't the Great Escape." Quinn grumbled as they reached the door, and Jess started flapping her hands,
"Okay shh! No talking from now on!" they gathered in a circle around the door, looking at each other warily, until Brittany sighed,
"Ready?" they nodded and Jess took a deep breath as she pulled out her key, sliding it slowly and quietly into the lock. She pushed the door open gently, before pointing to Quinn,
"Blondie, you have the thinnest head. Get in there." She pointed at the rack and the blonde rolled her eyes.
"Okay, General." She crawled forwards on her hands and knees, "By the way, this is stupid." She inched her head around the door before motioning to the girls and pushing the door open slowly, slipping through and crawling quickly to the couch, with Jess, Brittany and Santana following single-file and closely behind. They reached the couch and stayed crouched down, Santana joining them a few moments later after closing he door as quietly as possible, and waited, listening intently. A low hum of voices was coming from the bedroom, but the voices were unrecognizable, and she girls looked at each other unsurely.
"What do we do?" Brittany asked in a low whisper,
"I don't know" Santana shook her head "I can't tell who it is."
"It sounds male?" Quinn shrugged, and Jess bit her lip thoughtfully,
"I suppose we could get closer?"
"No way! That's too risky!" Santana hissed, eyes wide, but Quinn shrugged
"Well, if we did we could hear better?"
"But what if they come out?" Santana insisted, and Jess shook her head
"If they come out we're screwed either way!" she hissed back, and Brittany rolled her eyes,
"Fuck this. Follow me." She dropped onto all fours and slowly crawled to the end of the room, pressing herself against the wall as the girls followed behind,
"Hey," Quinn giggled in a whisper "Can we do that thing where we all poke our heads round the wall in a column?" she grinned, and Santana smirked as Jess rolled her eyes,
"Not the time!"
"Please" Quinn pouted, and Brittany giggled, stifling it with her fist, but her laughter was contagious and soon all of the girls were pressed flat against the wall, covering their mouths and trying to shush each other.
"Fine, come on." Jess popped her head around the wall, close to the floor, follow by Quinn and Santana, with Brittany at the top, and Quinn grinned triumphantly.
"Thanks."
"I still can't hear." Brittany frowned, her shoulders slumping, and Santana nodded her disappointment,
"I know. But how much closer can we get?" they all retreated back around the wall, crouching in a circle as the though through the situation.
"What if we just go out and come back in, just burst into the apartment and say it was cancelled or something?" Santana shrugged, but Brittany shook her head,
"No we've tried that. She just finds ways around it or pretends her isn't there. We can't just walk into her room." She reasoned, and Jess frowned,
"Unless we sneak up the hall?"
"No way," Santana shook her head insistently, and Brittany nodded her agreement.
"Yeah, besides the hallway floorboards creak and she'd hear us."
"What if one of us went?" Jess suggested, her eyes shining with excitement, and Brittan nodded enthusiastically, but Santana looked alarmed.
Suddenly a loud cry erupted from the room, and their jaws dropped as Santana grinned triumphantly "I knew it! There's a chick in there!" she nodded triumphantly, but Brittany shook her head,
"Shut up, that's Rachel!" she rolled her eyes, but was cut off by a low moan.
"Yup. That was male." Jess nodded with a small grimace,
"Puck?" Santana asked, and Jess shrugged while Brittany shook her head cluelessly. Santana bit her lip thoughtfully before frowning, wide eyed "Hey, where's Q?" she hissed, popping her head around the door and waving her hand to get the other blonde's attention, who was now halfway down the hall, "What are you doing Cupcake Girl?" she demanded, and Quinn shrugged innocently.
"Shh! Key-hole!" she held a finger to her lips before pointing at the door, and the girls watched with bated breath as she crept down the hallway.
"Q!" Brittany breathed, "Fourth board squeaks on the left!" Quinn's hand hovered over the board, and they all gasped as she wobbled, before placing her palm back on the floor and shimmying to the right, continuing down the hall creak-free.
"I can't look!" Jess hissed, retreating back around the wall and burying her face in her hands, and Brittany patted her on the head gently as Santana winced watching the blonde. The remaining three girls all gasped quietly, hiding around the wall as the moans and groans began to increase in volume, and Quinn whirled round to stare at them, wide-eyed with alarm. A few moments later and they all re-appeared around the wall, biting their lips and wincing thoughtfully before waving her on, and Quinn grimaced, her shoulders slumping, before taking a deep breath and continuing to creep down the hall, attempting to block out the noises coming from the room.
She reached the door and the girls watched, motionless with suspense, as Quinn raised herself onto her knees to per through the keyhole. Rachel and the voice both let out a loud cry, and the girls grimaced and wined, until there was a millisecond of pure silence. The girls gazed at Quinn, who steadied herself slightly, narrowing her eyes to focus on the dark room beyond the keyhole, biting her lip with worry. She could make out the silhouette of a figure on the bed, which looked like Rachel, but still couldn't see the mystery man. She craned her neck from side to side, attempting to increase her limited vision, but as she did so a figure stepped in front of the door.
It all happened at once.
Quinn pulled back with a horrified squeak, covering her eyes and curling into a ball on the hall floor. Santana, Jess and Brittany all whirled around, cowering behind the wall once again, and covering their faces as the door handle turned. It swung open and the boy stepped out, his bare shins immediately coming into contact with the side of Quinn's curled up body, and he let out a small cry as he lost his balance, spinning in the air before careering towards the hall floor. He landed on his back with a thump, his legs waving in the air.
"What the fuck was that?"
"Are you okay?" Rachel asked as he scrambled backwards.
Quinn's head shot up at the sound of the boy's voice, and she turned to him with a horrified expression. Behind her Rachel flicked the lamp on, illuminating the scene, and Quinn shrieked at the sight before her, immediately dropping her face back into her hands and turning away with a loud groan, "Oh my God! My eyes! My eyes! Oh my God!" she squirmed on the floor as the boy tried to cover his naked body as best as he could, while Santana, Jess and Brittany popped their heads around the wall.
"What the fuck?" He demanded, staring between the girls with a deep blush, and scrambling back against the wall, covering as much of himself as possible as Rachel clambered from the bed, equally red, and grabbing the sheet to cover herself in the process, while Quinn rocked backwards and forwards on the floor "This is horrible. Why? Why?"
Santana crawled over to her, averting her eyes from the boy in the hall before reaching out to the blonde, stroking circles on her back comfortingly, while Rachel threw underwear and a pair of shorts to the boy, who pulled them on quickly, climbing to his feet with a deep blush and standing against the wall, staring from Rachel to the girls. Rachel wrapped the sheet around herself and stood in the doorway, glaring from Jess and Brittany to Santana and Quinn, although the latter was still covering her eyes with a grimace, and Jess and Brittany slowly climbed to their feet, their expressions a mixture of horror, guilt and triumph.
"Someone wanna tell me what the fuck is going on?" Rachel demanded, glaring at the girls and shooting the boy an occasional worried glance.
"We could say the same to you!" Brittany folded her arms, leaning against the wall with a suggestive smirk as she glanced between Rachel and the boy, who both blushed and looked away.
"No, you're kind of the ones who are breaking and entering!" Rachel retorted, but Brittany raised an eyebrow.
"Actually we live here, it's not breaking and entering." She pointed out, but looked down guiltily when Rachel glared at her, as Santana helped Quinn to her feet.
"I need explanations now." The blonde stuttered, looking like she was going to be sick, "Because I think we can all agree," she gulped "that I have come off worst in this." She grimaced, and the boy opened his mouth to disagree, but she held up a hand to cut him off. She glanced at him but looked away quickly with a shudder, before leading them all through to the living room "I have just seen something that I never, and I mean never, wanted to ever see in my life."
"Oh come on, Rachel's not that bad!" Jess smirked, but Quinn shook her head sadly
"I feel dirty." She whined, and Santana nodded sympathetically.
"I know, honey. So you just sit quiet," suddenly her soft tone was gone, "Because Hobbit and Trouty Mouth have a story to tell!"