Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Glee or any of its characters.

Warning: A few curse words here and there.

My first Glee fanfiction, also available on Ao3 at user cathsloft

Hope you enjoy this one-shot !

What's a queen without her king?

Quinn looked around the room, hoping for a second that it was a mistake. That Figgins slipped up, that Finn would be standing beside her with his crown. She was looking for her crown.

But tonight made it clear that it wasn't hers.

Quinn made a mad dash for the hallways outside the room, completely ignoring the murmurings of the student body. They always whisper, and now they were whispering about the gay kid they voted to be prom queen and the head cheerleader who got mocked in the process.

The gay kid. The cheerleader. Santana was hearing it all. Even though none of their jabs were about her, it felt like she was a walking target, headlining as both the cheerleader and the gay kid.

She watched Kurt run off and his Warbler boyfriend ran after him. Everything else resumed and prom was underway again. Everyone was talking, dancing, pouring themselves a glass of punch. Like this was just a big fucking joke to them. They're still laughing and talking.

"…the Spanish room…oh my god, is she crying?... pathetic… yeah I voted for him too…"

Santana caught some snippets of a conversation some group was having while walking away to the parking lots and skidded to a stop. Quinn.

Quinn was crying in the Spanish room. Silent tears fell from her face as she tried to make sense of what just went down. She needed this, she really needed to feel like for once, she won.

It's because I don't have a king, she thought, and her mind wandered to a thousand places. To anywhere but here.

She heard footsteps approaching in her direction and swore she could feel whoever it was carrying slushies. The prospect of all the ice that would be hitting her caused a shiver to run down her spine. Someone, some people were going to throw slushies at her, like she was some kind of loser. Being in the Glee club and the pregnancy debacle made life hell for her plenty, she didn't need any more.

But it was just Santana when she turned around. Santana.

"You totally thought I was carrying slushies, didn't you?" she said, registering the look on her friend's face. Quinn turned back, looking forlorn and worn out as she leaned against a desk with her arms, hands on her face. Santana moved closer to her and leaned against the back of a chair. Feeling eyes on her, Quinn looked up and the two made eye contact. Santana was wearing this sympathetic smile on her face that she didn't like. At all.

"Are you hear to gloat, or just here to pity me? Because I don't want any of it."

Santana shook her head, not wiping off her smile but extended it instead. "I'm here to listen to you Q, you look like shit, no offense."

I'm here to protect you. From them.

"You lost too; you know that?"

Boy, did she know. On her way to the Spanish room, every bone in her body burned, warning her to go back and mingle. Pretend to be shocked at the night's results and bitch about it. Leaving would make it all worse, people would know. She didn't know how but she had a feeling they already did.

"I know, Quinn, I know."

Quinn didn't understand how she could be so calm about this. She began pacing around the room. This wasn't just about the crown, but more about looking at the big picture. She probably didn't have a boyfriend anymore, now that she thought about it.

"Can you believe it? He'd rather be with her… Rachel Berry." She said, sounding exasperated. "When did I become the second choice here?" Quinn looked at her friend now, voice shaking a little, "Aren't we supposed to be the popular girls? So why can't we have our dreams come true?"

Santana thought about it for a while. Her dream. Quinn was right.

"It's always those Glee kids, isn't it?" She began, "Hobbit's got Finn. Lady Hummel's got the crown. And Artie's got Brittany."

Quinn slowed in her tracks for a moment, a slightly quizzical look forming on her face. "Brittany…? What does she have to do… with any of this?" She said, slightly waved her hands in the air to make a point.

Santana smiled, albeit a little weakly. Wasn't it her feelings for Brittany the very reason she ran as prom candidate in the first place?

"And I'd totally be with you, if it wasn't for Artie."

The words rang in her ears hours after she'd heard Brittany say them. She didn't get it. Contrary to what everyone believed, Brittany wasn't stupid. When they had sex, while she was dating Artie and even before, Brittany didn't mind, she went along with it with enough gusto. She wasn't a cheater, but Santana was always an exception to her, doesn't matter who was in the picture.

Just knowing that had made Santana feel special and finally brave enough to confront all these feelings she had for her blonde best friend. Brittany was just waiting for her to realize the truth about herself and now that she had, they could finally be together, right? As soulmates? Isn't that why she was always her exception?

"…if it wasn't for Artie."

"Fuck!" Santana threw her sandal at the teddy bear that sat on her dresser. The very one Brittany won for her at some stupid carnival game. Except it wasn't stupid, that was the best night of her life.

Their lives, she had hoped, but no. If Brittany was going to choose some boy she'd been dating for three months over her best friend for the last two years, then that's on her.

Mrs. Lopez walked into her daughter's bedroom and saw Santana clutching her other sandal, ready to throw it somewhere. She stopped short though when she saw her mother looking worried.

"Honey, is everything all right? I heard a loud thud."

Sighing, she replied, "Just stressed, mom. School stuff."

"Glee club or the Cheerios, honey?"

"Cheerio, mom, a Cheerio."

Mrs. Lopez raised an eyebrow at her daughter's words, "A Cheerio?" Glancing around the room and seeing a knocked off doll on the floor, she asked quietly, "Is it Brittany?"

Santana didn't say a word but the sad puppy dog look on her face gave it away.

"Are you both having a fight, dear?"

"No, ma, it's nothing," Santana waved her mother off, "Just some disagreement over a new practice routine. She's getting bossy. Again."

"Bossy? That can't be dear Brittany, do you mean Quinn?"

"What? No, this isn't… never mind. But it's nothing you gotta worry about? I'll be fine… we'll be fine." She added for better reassurance.

"Speaking of Quinn, why don't you invite her over?"

"And why would I do that?"

"Well, she has been your shoulder since you were a child. She'll make you feel better about what it is in no time."

"Well, Quinn's a class-A bitch now with her own platter o' problems." And after seeing the look on Mrs. Lopez's face, "Sorry. Language. Whatever."

"Think about it, honey. Your dad will be home late, so we have extra servings of pasta on the stove."

Closing the previously ajar door, she left Santana to her thoughts.

She was thinking about Quinn now and if she really did want to invite her over. Quinn would know what's up in a second and they could talk it out.

Which means that Quinn would know.

Santana scoffed. No, no fucking way was she telling Quinn. Telling her would be giving her extra ballistic she'd use later to fuck Santana over. Quickly, she shoved this thought aside.

Quinn really was a class-A bitch, but she wouldn't go that far, ever. Maybe they could talk about it.

"So what? Am I just supposed to tell her that, 'Hey Quinnie, guess what? I'm gay!'." She said aloud to the girl in the mirror, who just stared back at her stupidly.

"No, let's try that again." She spoke. Pushing her hair back into a ponytail, she looked at herself intently in the mirror. "Hey Fabray, listen, I'm a lesbian."

She snorted. "I need to tell you that I'm… gay."

Santana smiled a little. "So, listen, you know about the island of Lesbos. Yeah, that's my hometown."

Okay, this was fun.

"I'm gay, me Santana, I am… so gay."

She felt her face flush as a weight in her seemingly began to shift, just a little.

At that moment, while she was in the middle of mirror therapy, her mother came back suddenly.

"Honey, I was thinking that the cookies-"

"I'm gay!"

A silence loomed over them for about five seconds, but it felt like time wasn't real at all as Santana's words escaped her mouth just before she noticed her mother was standing there. The silence was aching, but it didn't stretch on for much longer. Mrs. Lopez walked over to her daughter and enveloped the latter in a hug before she could say anything.

"I am so sorry for just walking in like that, but oh honey, I am so proud of you."

"Mom, I…" Her words died in her throat and she clutched her mother tightly. She wasn't a mama's girl (not openly) but she realized she really needed her mother right now and the fact that she was willing to be there for her instead of turning her away, caused this surge of relief to wash over her.

Mrs. Lopez pulled apart and beamed at the younger one who looked confused at that moment. "You're okay with this…? Why are you okay with this? Aren't you Catholic?"

The woman just laughed and gently pressed Santana's shoulders, "I've been okay with this since the day you told me you wanted to marry Quinn Fabray during House when you were a child. And I will always be okay, no, proud of who you are as long as you are yourself."

"Wait… when did I do that!?" Santana looked even more baffled now.

More laughter ensued. "You don't remember? You'd make your wife and you'd be the husband until I told you that you be the wife too. Oh, you look nearly ecstatic when you learned two women could marry."

"Mom, I… no, that never happened. Ugh, Quinn."

Aren't Quinn's parents Catholics too?

"And the Fabray household was okay with her play-pretending to have a wife too!?"

"It was just the three of our secret. I knew how they'd react, but I didn't want to stifle you both."

"Ma, Q's not gay."

Now Mrs. Lopez looked confused, "She isn't? I could have sworn the whole flannel look and Natasha Lyonne phase meant something."

While gently brushing her daughter's hair with her hand, she began saying, "It can be… difficult to be open about your true feelings, mija. The world, including the Lima community here, they… won't want to understand. Before you let yourself out in the open to the world, you should surround yourself with people who will stand up to protect you when everyone is unkind. I am not telling you to hide who you are… but you are my daughter and I want you to be safe."

Santana bit her lip and nodded.

"What about your Glee club? And Brittany? Have you told them yet?"

"No… god no."

"They would support you."

"I know, ma, I know."

"What about Quinn? Will you tell her…?"

"…"

"Santana…?"

She snapped out of her reverie and looked at the other girl. They locked eyes for a moment before Santana looked up, skyward.

"You're still head Cheerio, right? Sue hasn't kicked you off the team yet and look, by Monday, the entire school will go back to worshipping you." She spoke.

Quinn wanted to snap, but she held back.

"I lost my father. Then I lost my baby, and now Finn is gone too. To top it all off, I lost my crown." She took a deep breath. "His crown, I mean."

Santana winced, knowing her friend was right. Quinn really did lose so much, and it hurt to see her standing there with flushed cheeks and a tear-stained face. She stood up straighter from her position and involuntarily brushed a stray tear off.

"I just wanted to feel… like a princess for one night. To feel loved."

"You are loved, Q." Santana hesitated a little, before continuing, "I love you, and screw anyone who makes you feel otherwise."

Quinn looked at her, amusement and confusion playing with each other in equal amounts. "How come you're being this nice to me? You're never this nice, not even with Britt."

"I don't want to talk about Brittany right now."

"Uh…what?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"She's with Artie now."

"Yeah, she… oh…" Quinn began to realize, or she thought she began to realize. "Wait, Santana, are you…?"

There must have been a hundred blueprints of dresses laid out before her when she received the call. Her display showed the name 'Snixx', which was the contact name Santana had set for herself in Quinn's phone. According to this 'Snixx', Quinn's alter ego is a Russian spy named 'Svetlana'.

Quinn picked up her cell and answered, "Santana."

"Are you busy right now?"

Quinn noticed that the other girl's voice sounded even more raspier than usual. Or maybe a little teary, she couldn't tell with the noise of music blasting from the other end.

She looked around her room and at the papers scattered out once again and replied, "No, why do you ask?"

A breath and a pause later, "Can you come over?"

"Yeah, I'll be there."

She had plans later that afternoon with some of the other Cheerios at Puck's house but this was as good an excuse as any to bail from one of his parties. Too much alcohol. So much noise.

When Quinn walked in, Santana was pacing the room with her phone to her ear, having a heated conversation with whoever was at the other end.

"Forget it, Britt." She whispered angrily into the phone and hastily cut it before throwing it onto her bed.

Quinn gave her an amusing yet slightly worried look and Santana replied to that expression saying, "Looks like it's just you and me again tonight."

"She won't come?"

"Says that she isn't ready to see me again yet and honestly even if… above all and everything, I am her friend, why doesn't that mean anything to her?"

"Well," Quinn began, sitting on the bed and raising her legs atop it, "You have been blatantly ignoring her for a week now and snapping at her during practice. To shorten it, you were being a huge bitch and expecting her to show up when you're ready to talk is just… no."

Santana turned to look at her, sniffling quietly, "But it's not like that with us? One moment I'm pulling your hair, the next I'm braiding it. And she's our friend to now, part of the Unholy Trinity so why does it have to be different with her?"

"San… not everyone's me," She took Santana's hand in her own and clasped it lightly before continuing, "Not everyone's us. And I love Britt just as much as you do but face it, in the end it's, more or less, always been just us."

Santana ran with what she just heard. "Oh, you love Britt as much as I do?"

The sparkle in Santana's eye was suspicious but Quinn ignored it and replied, "Yeah, of course, why would you doubt it?"

She laughed a little at the response. Idiot. Then she said, "How're things going on with you and Frankenteen?"

"I'd appreciate if you didn't call him that." She huffed.

"What? I forgot his name."

"Finn," She said, "and I are doing fine. And I know you didn't call me here to talk about my relationship problems."

"So, you admit that you both are having problems?" Santana mused further, welcoming this gossipy distraction.

"It's clear as crystal to anyone that we are, isn't it? Even Mr. Schue, the world's second most dense human being, can tell." Her tone got a little angrier now. "It's just never going to be a fairytale for us, not since Berry came into the picture."

Santana shot Quinn a most quizzical look. "Since when do you want a fairytale life with Mr. Finn Hudson? Wasn't he just supposed to be a relationship steppingstone for you before college, as you said, on our first day at high school?"

Quinn pushed herself down further into a bed, wanting to drown between all the pillows. "I honestly don't know anymore."

"You should've seen it coming honestly," Santana said while filing her nails and earning herself a burning glare from Quinn, "You cheated on Sam with him and now he's cheating on you with her."

"He isn't cheating on me!"

"Please, anyone in that musty choir room can sense the way he and Hobbit are constantly undressing each other with their eyes."

"I love him!"

"Do you?"

Quinn nearly broke at that moment. She wasn't sure why. She half-expected to come to her childhood best friend's house to comfort the other girl, but now, as Santana almost surprisingly pulled her into her arms, she was the one receiving the comfort.

"Hey, it's okay, shhh. You can talk to me."

"And you won't judge me for it?"

"I will… but I promise to keep it between us."

Many bowls of vegan ice cream (prom was coming up) and fruit salad (again, prom was coming up) later, Santana and Quinn were both exhausted from all the ranting they did. The entire room was seething with their hatred and anger they just poured out and now they were looking at each other, feeling lighter than they have felt in days.

"I think," Santana pushed herself up from her horizontal position on the floor, "I've had enough of bitching about people for one day. Wow, and here I thought I'd never hear myself say that."

"You? Tired? Remember Sarah Lee from sixth grade? You bitched about her 24/7 and picked apart everything she said with such steam."

After taking a sip from her glass, she added, "If I didn't know you any better, I'd say your obsession with her was a crush and not hatred."

Santana nearly threw up on the carpet then and there. You know that moment when something just clicks in your head and realization slowly hits you? Santana wondered, thinking. Yeah, that just happened.

Then just as quickly she remembered why she had called Quinn over. Looking over to the blonde girl, Santana studied the way she looked so calm and peaceful leaning against the bottom of the armchair. Her eyes were transfixed on the T.V, paying careful attention to Rick and Ilsa's goodbye scene. The girl looked more relaxed than Santana had seen her this entire year that fear suddenly crept up her spine.

Confessing to being a lesbian already pushed one of her best friends away (it was more the rough situation than her sexuality actually). Coming out to the other might leave her completely alone again and Santana didn't want to ruin what they had.

She didn't know how Quinn would react. It was a new feeling. In all their years together, they both had become insanely predictable to each other, but she didn't what would come next.

When the credits started rolling and Santana was still staring blatantly at Quinn without realizing it, Quinn cleared her throat. That jolted the other girl into reality, and she blushed a little.

"Are you okay, San?"

This is it… right?

"Yeah, Q, whatever. Are we going to have to watch more noir films, or will you finally give in and watch Final Destination with me?"

Quinn sighed. "Just this once, Lopez. And I'm covering my eyes during all the gruesome scenes."

"Wait, Santana, are you…?"

This is it. I think I'm ready now.

"Hells yes." She said, quietly and without as much gusto as those words usually accompany, "I play for the other team, in case you didn't know."

"No, I… what about…" Quinn trailed off, shaking her head in the process. "Are you in love with Brittany?"

"I love her, sure, but I am not going to stop this night for her or for any douche out there who wants to talk behind my back. And Quinn? You shouldn't either. We're too hot for you to be feeling this way."

For the first time since the evening began, Quinn laughed genuinely. And then she looked into Santana's eyes, her soul searching for something but not quite sure what.

"You're a queen. And your prom king might not be here to serenade you, but you do have me. I'll be your queen."

"Are you telling me that you're in love with me?"

Santana laughed, "Don't the jump the wagon here, Fabray. But…" she sighed patiently, "If I wanted it, I could have you." She winked.

"I thought you were in her love with…"

"Just say the word and, at least for tonight, I won't be."

Quinn hesitated. Just a little.

"Okay, then… don't be."

Santana threw her head back in quiet laughter and looked at the true Queen (because who else could it be?) with sparkling eyes.

"I'm only thinking of you, Fabray."

Quinn sighed, not understanding what was happening. From outside the room, the sound of music just got louder but so did the sounds of footsteps. People were sneaking out, to either the classrooms or the bathroom. "Probably to make out." Santana mentally noted.

"What are you thinking about?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Santana looked at her new prom date. She was biting her bottom lip almost absent mindedly and staring with intent eyes. The look unnerved her a little but that wouldn't stop the young Lopez from voicing out her thoughts.

"Okay, if you're going to look at me like that, I'm going to kiss you." She announced, with fire in her voice, because really, now she was thinking about it.

Quinn seemed to consider it for a minute, Santana assumed, which surprised her greatly for the moment.

"We're going to be so late for prom then." Was what she responded with. In no world is that a declination. Quinn's such a tease.

"Wanky."

"Santana!"

"I'm just kidding, Fabray, really."

"Are you?"

Such a tease.

"I don't know, wait, now I am confused. Are you?"

"Santana, I do think you're beautiful but I am not going to kiss someone who's in love with somebody else. Been there, done that. So complicated."

After doing a double take, she asked, "Hold on, you think I'm beautiful?"

"Only second to me."

Santana watched her stand up straight and walk with poise in her steps towards the entrance of the Spanish room, looking almost ethereal. An unexpected surge of appreciation for her best friend's backside flooded Santana's head, and she quickly shook the thought off, not wanting to explore it just then. But she looked back at Quinn again, who was humming now and sounding like she didn't have a care in the world when just minutes ago, she was bawling. What is this girl?

If just tiny compliments can lift her spirit up so much in a matter of seconds, then she needed to hear more of them.

Quinn turned back to usher her date into following her and, Santana noticed, that she had quite a flirty smile etching her face now.

"Huh, so maybe that whole Natasha Lyonne thing might not have been a phase after all…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Q, nothing at all. Let's go dance."