"Flight attendants please prepare for landing."
The pilot's voice echoed through the airplane and Santana let out a frustrated sigh.
"Going home?" The older woman next to her asked nicely after hearing the girl's reaction.
"I guess you could say that." Santana offered back as she looked around. She saw adults sleeping or anxiously waiting the landing. The children were excitedly playing with whatever souvenirs they bought during their time in New York or their eyes were glued outside the window as the shapes and colors they saw transformed into buildings and roads.
"You know I heard once that homecoming means coming home to what is in your heart. I went to New York to see some old friends but Ohio is where my family is, where my heart is." The woman said with a smile and a nod.
"I'm glad you are going back to your family." Santana offered up a smile desperately trying to rely the message that she wasn't interested in talking any further. The woman thankfully got the message and went back to looking out the window.
As the passengers were departing the plane after landing, the old woman from before offered one more smile towards Santana.
"I hope this homecoming is a good one for your heart." She said before heading in the other direction. Santana laughed bitterly at how that woman didn't even know the half about this so-called homecoming.
Santana headed to get her luggage and was met by the conflicted face of Noah Puckerman. Given the circumstances, sadness washed over his face yet there was a slight tint of happiness to see one of his closest friends again.
"Hey, San." He said before leaning in to hug her. "I'm so sorry." He said into her ear as she nodded.
"You look different without the Mohawk." She said with a smile before heading out towards his car.
"Well just because it's gone, doesn't mean I'm any less Puckzilla then I was before."
"Yeah sure, sure." Santana teased as the got into his car. "I appreciate you letting me stay with you. God knows I wouldn't be able to handle Alexis and her family. But are you sure that Lauren won't mind."
"It's the least I could do and she's fine with it. She's looking forward to seeing you. We ran into Alexis at the store like 2 weeks ago and she kept going on and on about how her kids were so smart and talented and all that so I'd be cruel if I didn't offer up my guest room."
Alexis was always stuck up and walked around with a chip on her shoulder. She was the first of the sisters to get married and have kids. She immediately equated that to her being better than the other two. Her level of annoyingness was so high that it actually made Rachel Berry seem tolerable.
"Wow, hasn't really changed much here, huh?" Santana said after they finally made their way back into Lima.
"Not really. You should see McKinely. It's basically like we never left. Will stills wears nothing but vests and Sue just bought a cannon that shoots 4 people at a time."
"How would you know?" Santana asked genuinely curious.
"I help out with the football team whenever I'm not on duty at the firehouse."
"Oh." Santana said a little upset that she didn't know anything about this. "How's the team doing?"
"Not bad. Well, I mean they could literally just stand on the field and they'd probably be better than the team when we were there."
"You guys weren't so bad when you unleashed your inner Sasha Fierce." The two laughed at the memory.
"Um, I think mostly everyone from the Glee club is home. They all know even you know, her." Puck winced as the pronoun slipped out of his mouth. It was better than saying her actual name but still.
"That's good. I guess it'll be nice to see everyone despite the circumstances."
They pulled up to Puck's house. He parked the car and then got Santana's bags from the trunk. They walked up to the front door and it was opened before Puck could even get his key. Behind the door was a very different looking Lauren Zizes. She was much thinner and even had some blonde streaks in her hair.
"Wow, Lauren." Santana said taking in the girl's appearance. The same girl who she once called an endangered white rhino.
"Hey, hey. Lespez, don't be checking out my girl now." Puck teased as Lauren just shook her head and pulled Santana in for a hug.
"Nice to see you, Poppin Fresh." Santana whispered into her ear.
"Nice to see you too, Satan." Lauren laughed as she pulled away. "I'm sorry about your sister. I wish this was under better circumstances." She said sincerely and Santana just smiled sadly before nodding.
"Well, I better call Alexis and get that over with." Santana said heading towards the front door.
"How's she doing?" Lauren asked looking at her boyfriend.
"You know Santana. She's all tough and shit. I don't think the realization has actually hit her yet. I mean it hasn't really even hit me yet so I can only imagine what it's doing for her."
"Did you mention that all the glee clubbers will be there?" Puck nodded to the question. "How do you think that's going to go?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. It's only seeing Brittany that I'm worried about. I mean now that she's single again maybe this will be a good thing."
"You honestly think they belong together don't you?" Lauren asked and Puck thought for a second before he nodded.
Before they could go further into the topic, Santana opened the door and immediately rolled her eyes.
"She's unbelievable. I couldn't get a word in. You would think that she's planning a wedding not a funeral. But I have to meet up with her tomorrow to discuss some things."
"We are going to go out for some drinks tonight with some of the glee members and catch up. Rachel sent out one of those annoying mass emails." Lauren said. Santana rolled her eyes at the mention of Rachel and Lauren laughed. "You want to come?"
"Thanks, but I think I'm just going to hang here if that's okay. I'm not really ready for any reunion besides I have to get up early tomorrow."
"No, I understand totally."
"Besides, S, you won't miss much. It'll literally be 3 hours of Rachel chewing our ears off while she talks about the latest Broadway revival she's in while the rest of us take turns pretending to listen while the others down shots." Puck added.
"Trust me, I get enough of Rachel those few times I see her in New York. But I didn't know you guys all met here. Do you do that a lot?" Santana said.
"Most of them come home around the holidays so whenever we can we'd meet and just catch up." Lauren said and Santana just nodded before looking down. She had mixed feelings about the whole situation. While she was in New York, Lima was out of sight and out of mind but now that she was actually back she kind of felt guilty.
"Well, S, as you know mi casa es tu casa so do whatever you want." Puck said with a smile and Santana laughed at his attempt at Spanish.
"We will probably be heading out in an hour. You still have some time to reconsider." Lauren winked before she headed into her bedroom.
"I'm not coming."
"I know, didn't expect you to. I know you have a lot going on. Maybe before you head back to New York?" Noah asked hopefully.
"Maybe." Santana whispered.
"Should I say anything to her?" Puck caused cautiously and Santana looked up at him.
"There's nothing to say. She probably expects all this praise for coming despite everything we've been through." Santana laughed bitterly. "She doesn't deserve to know anything about me. I have enough to deal with."
Puck decided to drop the topic seeing that the wounds Brittany left on Santana were still very much fresh.
About an hour later, Santana announced that she was going to sleep while Puck and Lauren informed her that they were going to be leaving in a couple of minutes.
Once at the bar, Puck and Lauren could immediately hear Rachel talking and knew they were in the right place.
"Puck!" Sam, Finn and Mike all yelled out when they saw him entering. He immediately grabbed a beer and gravitated towards the boys as Lauren went towards the girls.
The girls were drinking their fruity drinks while the boys downed beers and caught up.
"So how's Santana doing?" Mercedes finally asked Lauren.
Brittany, who had remained relatively quiet and very much sober while the girls chatted, finally became interested in the conversation when she heard her ex's name.
"She seems fine. But then again you never know what's going on in her head." Everyone agreed on this point. "She's back at our house sleeping. We invited her out but obviously it's not really appropriate."
Everyone agreed and the conversation went off in another direction. However, Brittany's mind stayed focus on the Latina. She was wondering how she was feeling and how she was doing. She hated herself in that moment because she knew how close Santana was to her sister and yet because of her choices in the past she truly had no right to be the one comforting Santana.
Quinn noticed the confliction that was written on Brittany's face.
"Hey, you okay?" She whispered into the girl's ear.
"I want to go see her." Brittany let out and Quinn immediately shook her head.
"Britt, I understand where you are coming from but I don't think that that's a good idea right now."
"Why, Quinn? She's alone at Puck's house right now and you know how she gets when things happened. For all we know, she could be getting drunk or…."
"I'll go." Quinn interrupted the blonde's panic. She needed to stop Brittany because what she was saying just made her angry. She hadn't been in contact with Santana in a couple of years but she knew that Brittany had broken her when she left. In that moment, Quinn saw the love that was present in Brittany's eyes as she worried about the Latina and she knew that if Brittany went to comfort her tonight that it would be like lighting a match. Santana needed time. She needed the wake and the funeral and some time to grieve before Brittany was added into the mix. "Britt, it's not a good time right now. I'll go and check on her for you. Okay?"
Brittany shook her head and smiled at Quinn before downing one of the shots that was on the table. Quinn excused herself from the group and approached Puck. She explained the situation and he informed her as to where the spare key was hidden outside. Quinn hugged him before leaving. It took about 20 minutes for her to get to Lauren and Puck's house and less than another 2 minutes before she was inside and approaching the guest room.
She cautiously opened the door and sure enough, Santana was sitting on the bed with a bottle of Jack Daniel's in hand. The bottle was nearly half finished and Quinn just sighed as she took in her friend's appearance.
"What the fuck do you want, Fabray?" She slurred out with a bitter laugh.
"San, give me that." She tried to take the bottle out of her hand.
"You aren't my mother, Quinn. Leave me alone."
"Santana." Quinn whispered out pleadingly. Santana looked from Quinn to the bottle before taking another sip.
"Want some?" She offered up with a smile and Quinn rolled her eyes. "What, Q? Isn't this a fucking celebration? I'm back in Lima the place where shitty things happen." Quinn wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or just the circumstances that was making Santana cry but she couldn't help the scene from causing her heart to break a little bit.
She moved closer to Santana before pulling her into a hug. The girl resisted a little bit more she finally gave in a broke down even further on Quinn's shoulder. Quinn took this moment on vulnerability to loosen Santana's grip on the bottle and she placed it over on the table beside the bed.
"I'm so sorry, S." She whispered into the girl's ear. Santana regained her composure a little bit before she broke out of Quinn's grasp.
Santana looked into Quinn's eyes. "Los Angeles has really been good to you, Q." She slurred out before placing her hand on Quinn's leg. "So good." She whispered out seductively before she leaned into kiss Quinn.
Quinn gave in at first. That was until Santana's mouth open a little wider and Quinn could fully taste the alcohol she had just consumed. Quinn placed her hands on Santana's shoulders and pushed her away.
"What the fuck, Q?"
"Don't what the fuck me, Santana. You can't deal this way. I know, okay? Puck told me everything." She said sternly and Santana began to look at the ground. "When Brittany left, you spiraled out of control. And here you are doing exactly the same thing."
"Don't fucking bring her up. What she and I went through has nothing to do with anything right now. My sister and her husband are dead, Quinn. My fucked up life just got more shitty."
"Alcohol isn't going to fix this, San. I'm sorry but neither is trying to numb your pain and loneliness by sleeping with someone. You need to realize that you have people here for you and who care about you. You have me and everyone else from high school. We know why you pushed us away but we are here now and always will be. And whether you like it or not so is Brittany. She's the reason I am here right now."
"Oh, what? Was she too busy drinking and getting with everything that moved to come here herself?" Santana spat out bitterly.
"She wasn't drunk, Santana. She wanted to come here herself but I didn't think it was the right time. She knew about how you reacted to the breakup and she was worried."
"She has no fucking right to be worried and it's never going to be the right time."
"God, you're stubborn. I'm not going to argue with you about this. You need to hear her out and you need to let all of us help you. You aren't alone, San."
"I've been fine all these years alone, Quinn."
"Have you really, San?" Quinn responded back in somewhat of a sarcastic tone while she looked at the girl dead in her eyes.
"I have to be up early tomorrow. So it's probably best if you leave now." Santana said simply after a few moments of silence.
"Fine but I hope you know that I'm not going anywhere."
"Of course, I do because it would be too good to be true if you did."
"I'll let that one slide, Lopez, since I know you are still a bit drunk." Quinn said looking at the girl. She turned to leave but then retreated and walked towards Santana before enveloping her in a tight embrace. "Please, don't drink anymore." She whispered before pulling away. She offered up a tiny wave before walking out the door.
Santana sat down on the bed and had a staring contest with the bottle of Jack Daniel's as her thoughts raced inside her head.
"Fuck Quinn. Fuck Brittany. Fuck Lima. Fuck everything." She said as she reached for the bottle and began to drink a little more.
Within about an hour, she was asleep on the bed with only an empty bottle beside her. Her dreams were filled with scenes of when times were better and were the complete opposite from the reality that she was living.
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Thanks for the response on Chapter 1. Hope everyone likes this chapter. Still a bit torn on the whole Brittana vs. Quinntana thing although I do think that I may have a winner in my head already. Well anyways, thanks again and I'd love to hear feedback and suggestions ;D