A/N: I am absolutely obsessed with Quinntana lately and have been writing this fic in my head for months. Hopefully you guys like it :)

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Santana stumbled into her apartment at approximately 1pm, she thought it was about that time anyway. What was supposed to be a 16-hour shift had turned into 25 hours after she was required to head an unexpected emergency surgery and she was beyond exhausted. The brunette scanned her apartment and sighed; she hadn't had the time to clean around the place properly since she moved in last week and a few small boxes of her things were still scattered around the place. It was moments like this that she mentally cursed herself for choosing this career path; if somebody told teenage Santana that she'd be working long weekend shifts she would have laughed in their face, but she still loved her job.

Santana threw herself dramatically onto the sofa, not sure whether she should eat or sleep first. She had a few granola bars midway through her shift but hadn't eaten since the surgery started and her stomach was starting to talk to her. Sighing for the umpteenth time since she got home, she pulled herself off the sofa and made her way towards the tiny space that was her kitchen.

NYC was too fucking expensive, even for her salary, so she concluded that when she moved here she would pay for the shittiest, cheapest apartment she could find for a few years and put her left over salary into a savings account for a down deposit on a house in a nicer part of the city. When she left Lima General for New York Presbyterian Hospital, she knew she would have to downsize from the condo she rented in Lima.

It wasn't even like her apartment was awful, it was okay for her and only took a small percentage of her income each month, it was just on the fifth floor and she had quickly learned that the elevator in this place was pretty unreliable. It was cold some nights because the damn pipes were as old as the building, and her kitchen space was disappointing considering how much she loved to cook. But these were sacrifices she was happy to make for the time being if it meant she could afford her own house in her dream city in only a few years.

Oh… and there was a giant black cat in her kitchen. A cat that did not belong to her.

"What the actual fuck!" she almost shouted when she turned the corner and saw yellow eyes staring back at her, never blinking. 'Who are you and how the hell did you get into my apartment?" she asked the feline who had now jumped onto the counter nearest to Santana before she could even comprehend it.

Meow.

Santana quickly wondered if this was Rachel's idea of a poorly thought out prank, but then she realised Rachel was allergic to cats and hadn't even visited her apartment yet. She glanced at the cat, who was still sat unmoving on the counter, now blinking at her slowly. She noticed the paw print shaped tag hanging from the white collar around the cat's neck and hoped to god some details would be engraved on the back. She moved towards the cat slowly, always maintaining eye contact to show the cat she wasn't scared. "Are you going to claw my eye out if I touch you?" she laughed out loud, as though the cat could understand her.

Meow.

She looked at the cat's tail, remembering that Brittany had taught her how to read Lord Tubbington's body language years before. She knew that a cat's wagging tail did not indicate that it was happy or friendly like a dog's would. The cat still hadn't moved and was staring at Santana curiously. Santana lifted her hand slowly and moved towards the cat, giving it a chance to move away if it didn't want the contact. The tail remained still indicating that it didn't mind her close proximity. Thank god for cat crazy best friends she internally praised.

Her hand touched the cat's head, and she was immediately met with it rubbing upwards into her palm and starting to purr. "So you are friendly? Are you going to tell me your name?" she giggled as the cat kept trying to find purchase on her hand. She quickly took the opportunity to fiddle with the collar and find the tag she had seen a few minutes earlier. It was engraved, barely, but enough for Santana to decipher what it said.

Hello! I'm Freddie

If I'm lost, please call 678-999-8212

"Freddie, huh?" The cat seemingly nodded into her hand and she laughed as the purring became increasingly louder. "Just where did you come from?" She asked as her other hand reached for her phone and dialled the number on the tag. The call rang out a few times before Santana heard the click to let her know somebody had answered, and a lot of shuffling around.

"Hello?" Came a soft voice from the other end. Santana cleared her throat, suddenly becoming nervous. She couldn't really understand why exactly.

"Uhm, hi." She started slowly. "My name's Santana, I just got home and your cat has somehow found his way into my apartment. I got your number from the tag."

"Is this a prank call?" the voice on the other end asked carefully.

"Uhm… no. He was in my kitchen when I got home and scared the life out of me. I don't know how he got in because I unlocked my front door not even ten minutes ago so I know it was definitely not open." She answered back, wondering why the hell anyone would think this was a prank call. She had better things to do. Santana heard more shuffling, footsteps and a creaky door opening on the other end whilst she waited for a response.

"How on earth…" the voice trailed off on the line and went silent for a few seconds. Santana waited and was about to speak when the woman started talking again. "Listen, I just checked my bedroom where I'm pretty sure Freddie was an hour ago so either you broke into my apartment and took him without me noticing or you're actually telling the truth and you have no idea how he got into your apartment. I'm going to go with the latter." Santana gave a hearty chuckle, looking at Freddie whose ears had now perked up in curiosity, possibly at the sound of hearing his owner's voice from Santana's device.

"I got home from work, and like I said he was in my kitchen preparing to give me a heart attack. Little dude is pretty cute though, he let me pet him and now he's trying to figure out where your voice is coming from."

The woman on the other end laughed for the first time on the call and Santana's breath hitched. It was the most delicate laugh she'd ever heard; she couldn't even describe it or why it made her stop breathing for a second. "He loves attention. He's definitely a lap cat." She paused. "Wait, where do you live? Because if it's anywhere else but this apartment block then I'm going to be pretty worried and very confused."

"Uhm, apartment 31 in Trinity Block on 12th avenue. I only moved in like.. five days ago."

"Thank god!" the other woman exclaimed, then stuttered. "I mean, thank god that you're in the same building because I'd expect a worse outcome if Freddie had actually gotten out of the building. Also thank god that you don't seem crazy and live two doors down from me. I heard there was a new neighbor but I've been crazy busy with work hence why we probably haven't bumped into each other yet."

Suddenly the air seemed thick to Santana, knowing that the woman on the other end of the phone who had already made her lose her breath with a damn laugh lived so close to her. "So that makes you apartment 33? Well it's nice to meet a sane neighbor, considering the guy in 32 wouldn't stop obviously staring at my ass in the stairwell yesterday. I've been super busy too, I actually just finished a 25 hour shift, so was hoping you'd come collect your sneaky cat so I can finally get some sleep." Santana hoped that she hadn't seemed rude, but her thoughts were cut short when she was met with the call cut off tone and a few light knocks on her door. She glanced at Freddie who had too heard the knock and leaped down from the counter. She made her way over to the door, and slowly, cautiously opened it to meet the eyes and the smile and the softest blonde hair of most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Seriously.

She tried to move her lips to speak, but her voice was caught in her throat, and she kept staring at the woman, who probably thought she was fucking crazy for staring at her the way she did. But then the woman chuckled and bent down to pick Freddie up who had poked his head between Santana's legs to greet his owner. "Already beat you to it." The blonde spoke, scratching under Freddie's chin, beaming at Santana.

Santana, finally willing herself to close her mouth which had opened in shock when she opened the door, smiled back at the woman, although it was an internal struggle considering she was absolutely taken aback by the beauty of Freddie's owner.

"I'm Quinn." The blonde in front of her told her, extending her free hand towards Santana. Tired mocha eyes met soft hazel eyes and it was like the world stopped for Santana.

"Santana," she half whispered. "but I already told you that." She giggled nervously and took the hand in front of her, dying inside at how silky smooth the skin was, before shaking it delicately and finally, smiling properly at the woman.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Quinn started, slowly sliding her hand from Santana's to hold Freddie properly. "Though I did expect to meet you in the elevator when it was actually working, and not because my cat somehow found a way into your apartment." She chuckled, her eyes trained on Santana the whole time.

"Likewise." Santana chuckled lightly. "I'm glad Freddie belongs to you and not the creep next door." Hazel eyes disappeared for a split second as Quinn closed them and silently laughed. She was seriously fucking beautiful and Santana could not stop staring at her. It was only when Freddie struggled to get out of Quinn's arms to jump into an unprepared Santana's apartment again that she took her eyes away from the blonde.

"He likes you." Quinn stated, and motioned at Santana to pick Freddie, who was rubbing his head against her legs, up. So she did, missing the way hazel eyes raked over her body as she did.

"I'm glad. I like him too," Santana said, handing the feline back to Quinn gently before regretfully cutting the moment short. Damn long shifts and exhaustion, she wanted to spend more time talking to Quinn. "Look, I'd love to invite you in for a coffee but my apartment is a mess and I'm about to pass out after my shift."

Quinn nodded, understanding, the smile never leaving her lips. "Maybe another time when you're settled in. I'm sure Freddie would love to come over again."

Santana, deciding that she didn't care whether she came across as full on in the moment beamed. "Definitely, I have some holiday time in a few days, maybe then?"

"For sure," Quinn, with her perfect teeth and full pink lips grinned back. "I'll leave you to your beauty sleep then. You have my number," she motioned to Freddie's tag, "text me when you're free."

"Okay, cool." Santana looked at the woman in front of her again, deciding that it was absolutely not the best idea to befriend someone as beautiful as her but not caring in the moment. "Enjoy your day Quinn, I'll be out cold to the world in less than five minutes."

Quinn chuckled. That throaty chuckle that made Santana's knees turn weak, but she blamed on her tiredness. She turned to walk back to her apartment, Freddie in her arms.

"Oh and Santana," she called out to the brunette who was still at her door. "Forgive me if this is totally inappropriate, but I totally understand why creepy guy from 32 kept looking at your ass." The blonde winked and quickly skipped by into her apartment, leaving a frozen Santana at her door.

I am fucked, she gasped internally, and silently slipped into back inside and into her bed, with beautiful, blonde Quinn on her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

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A/N: I was actually going to call this fic 'the pussy(cat) brought us together' but I thought that was a bit too crude lol. Would appreciate you guys taking the time to tell me what you think!