Santana stood under the steady stream of water flowing out of the shower head. She tilted her head back and let the water cascade onto her face and through her hair. She gently lathered her skin with her body cream and let the rain like drops trickle all over her body rinsing it clean. The water was scalding hot. Just the way she liked it. The temperature was almost too much for her body to take but not quite. Her carmel skin had been tinted with a deep pink color from the heat of the water. Steam filled the shower stall and clouded up the formerly crystal-clear glass doors. This was her third shower of the day. Her first was immediately following this morning's wake up sex with her one night stand from last night. Her second was after her afternoon spin class with Quinn. And now, her third, was after her evening kickboxing class with Puck and Finn. She had a lot of frustration and pain she wanted to work through and kick boxing seemed to do the trick to help her channel her feelings in a healthy way.
Her trysts with Kitty, last night and this morning, as well as her workouts with friends temporarily took her mind off of the fact that Dani had started dating again. But now that she was home alone with only her thoughts (and Stella) to keep her company, she couldn't seem to get Dani off of her mind. She wondered where Dani was living, who she was dating, and how long she had been dating her new love. She assumed Dani was completely over her and in love with the new person she was seeing. That's how Dani worked. It didn't take her long to fall in love. It's not that she fell in love often, it's just that when she fell, it happened in the blink of an eye.
When Santana and Dani first met they hit it off straight away. Santana was a recent transplant to New York having just dropped out of college and moving in with her friends from high school, Rachel and Kurt. They weren't the best of friends at first, and at times they didn't get along at all, but after living with each other for a few months they became like family. Maybe it was the things that they went through together. Sharing the experience of being a struggling artist in NYC with one another gave them each a new and truer appreciation for the others. The bond that the three of them shared was unparalleled to any other of Santana's relationships. Still, she didn't consider them her best friends but her very close and dear friends.
It was about six months after relocating Santana met Mercedes while she was tending bar at Coyote Ugly. Mercedes stumbled in one night seeking shelter from a terrible rain storm. They talked for hours about music, acting etc and made plans to meet up a few days later for drinks. It was that night Santana met Dani. Santana had arrived at the bar a few minutes earlier than she was supposed to, as per usual, and ordered herself a drink. Just as she was about to order another one, out of the corner of her eye she saw her. A cute bottle-blonde with deep brown eyes and a dimpled smile that could either melt your heart or break it. Santana had been so taken by the blonde that she didn't even notice her new friend approaching.
"Uh, hey girl… over here." Mercedes said waving her hands in front of her face. "Yoohoo!" She laughed.
Santana shook her head breaking her stare. "Oh! Hey, Mercedes. I'm sorry I didn't see you come in."
"Yeah, I know. You were too busy checking out my girl Dani over here."
Dani approached the two girls reaching her hand out to shake Santana's. "I'm Dani. Nice to meet you." She said with a smile.
Santana smiled back. "Hi."
"Santana, Dani. Dani, Santana." Mercedes said pointing to each girl while introducing them."
"Nice to meet you, Dani." Santana said.
"Likewise." Dani winked. "Oh hey, 'Cedes, it's ok that I invited Jordan, right?"
"Of course, the more the merrier!" Mercedes replied. Dani took out her phone and began clicking away at the touch screen.
"Jordan?" Santana inquired.
"Oh, yeah. That's Dani's girlfriend."
"Ohhh, she's gay? That's why you brought her!" Santana asked furrowing her brow.
Mercedes laughed. "Busted!" She continued,"I just remembered you saying you didn't really have any gay friends, except for that one guy you know from high school. I just happened to know the coolest lesbian in all of New York…"
"And that would be me!" Dani chimed in with a smile. "Just think of me as your guide to all things lesbian in this city." She flashed another dimpled smile Santana's way and went back to texting someone on her phone. She looked up from her phone and added, "just don't tell anyone. I'm only partially out of the closet." She winked and went back to texting.
Santana leaned in close to Mercedes and said softly "It's a shame she is taken because she is super hot."
Mercedes giggled. "I know, right? Just wait til you meet Jordan." Mercedes fanned herself indicating that Jordan was even "hotter" than Dani. Santana laughed shaking her playfully in response.
The entire night Santana couldn't keep her eyes off of Dani. She was definitely physically attracted to her but it felt like more than that. She wanted to talk to her and get to know her even more than she wanted to kiss her. They had so much in common and it seemed like they would never run out of things to talk about. Santana was already developing a crush on this girl. But, she knew Dani wasn't single so she forced those feelings away and over time the two becoming great friends and were inseparable.
Over the next few years Dani, Mercedes and Santana grew really close. Mercedes scored a record deal with Russell Simmons's label and she managed to get Santana featured on a few of her songs. She also got Dani a writing contract with the label and in turn wound up recording a few songs Dani had penned. Over the next year both Santana and Dani would get record deals of their own. Santana with Columbia Records and Dani with Jive. Neither of them was given much artistic freedom on their first album but that was to be expected. But they both had hits on their hands. Santana's album, entitled Back to Black went triple platinum and was nominated for 4 Grammy awards. Dani's record was certified platinum and was also nominated for 4 Grammy awards. Dani and Jordan had broken up a few months after Dani was signed to her label. Jordan didn't like the fact that Dani wanted to keep their relationship even more private than it already had been. They tried to work through their issues but ultimately it was just too much and the relationship didn't survive.
After living in New York City for 4 years, Santana decided it was time for a change of scenery and a change of pace. She had hired Kurt as her manager, when she was signed to her label, so when she made the decision to relocate it made sense for Kurt's career for him to follow closely behind. Mercedes had already made the transition to the West Coast about a year prior. Rachel had a blossoming career on Broadway so she would continue to call New York home and Dani vowed to stay loyal to her hometown but she soon found the Big Apple was too big for her without Santana and Mercedes and she found herself house hunting in LA about six months after Santana began calling California home again.
The relationship between Santana and Dani was slowly changing, morphing into something more than friendship but hadn't quite crossed over to romantic just yet. They hadn't even noticed the changes. They were subtle changes, really. They became more touchy with each other which just seem to come natural and felt normal. Neither of them thought twice about cuddling with each other while watching a movie or spooning one another while napping. They flirted incessantly and whether they realized it or not they were falling in love. It was only a matter of time before they would take the next step and become lovers.
The night of the Grammy ceremony was when things heated up between Santana and Dani. Along with Mercedes, the two friends attended the ceremony together with Rachel and Kurt being their plus ones.
"I can't believe we are actually here! Aahhhh!" Rachel squealed. Rachel had taken a different musical route than Santana. She opted for the Broadway stage as did Kurt.
"I know. This is unbelievable!" Kurt agreed. "Oh my god, I think I just saw Beyoncé!" he exclaimed.
Santana laughed. "Lady Hummel, you're so gay."
Mercedes scolded her, "Don't let Dani hear you use that word on the red carpet, Santana!"
Santana covered her mouth jokingly. "Oh my gosh, her secret is out! And mine too!" Everyone laughed.
"Shut up, stupid." Dani teased.
As the three singers approached the media section they were each pulled into different interviews. Santana got nabbed by Ryan Seacrest first. "Ladies and gentlemen I am lucky enough to get the first interview with Santana Lopez tonight. Santana, you look wonderful," he said kissing her cheek. "Who are you wearing?"
She blushed. She was wearing a long black form fitting gown. The front bust area of the dress was open, exposing the top of her cleavage. Her hair was down and styled in big waves. "Thank you, Ryan. My dress is Versace, my shoes are Jimmy Choo and my clutch is from Marshall's." She said with a laugh.
"Marshall's!" The e news correspondent laughed. "That's fantastic. I love it. You are adorable."
She blushed again. "Thank you."
"Anyone special in your life right now? Do you have a boyfriend or are you single?"
"I'm very single."
Ryan shook his head in disbelief. "I just don't understand it. Why haven't you been scooped up yet?"
Santana just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
Ryan moved on from the topic. "Ok, so tonight is a very big night for you. First time at the Grammys. Let me ask you, are you nervous tonight? Nominated for four Grammy awards, one of them being best new artist. That is a huge deal."
"Of course I'm nervous. I'm shaking out of my Choo's," she said nervously.
"Best new artist is a tough category this year and you are nominated alongside one of your best friends. How does that feel?"
"Well, to be honest I am truly honored to be in such great company. Dani is an amazing artist. She probably deserves to win it more than me… actually they all probably do." She laughed nervously. "But, it feels great to be recognized."
"Do you want to win? Does it matter? Or is being nominated enough?"
She hesitated and then said, "Um, I know I'm supposed to say that being nominated is enough, but I want to win. I really do." Ryan erupted in laughter. She suddenly felt embarrassed, "is that wrong? Am I a horrible person?"
Ryan attempted to respond but Santana kept speaking, "Well whatever I don't care if that makes me terrible. Everyone else who says winning doesn't matter… they are lying. It so does." She laughed.
"You know, I totally agree with you. Your honesty is refreshing. Don't lose that!"
She smiled.
"Have fun tonight, Santana. You look stunning. It was a pleasure. And Good luck tonight!" And with that she was ushered off to her next interview.
After about ten interviews she decided she was finished answering questions and waited for her friends. They promised one another they would pose together for the photographers. Dani was the first to join her, "I heard some of your interviews… you were awesome. So funny and real."
"I was nervous at first but I figured what the hell do I have to be nervous about? I just need to be me. If people don't like me, screw 'em. It's their loss."
Dani smiled at her. Like she had never really smiled at her before. "You look beautiful by the way."
Just then Mercedes approached. "Let's go take some photos ladies!"
"Mercedes, doesn't Santana look incredible?" Dani blushed a bit when she said that and coyly looked at Santana.
"Well, that didn't take very long," Mercedes laughed. She sensed that the dynamic was shifting between her two friends.
The trio were seated together for the ceremony. The three friends still couldn't get their minds around just how far they had come. Santana presented the first award of the night and was flawless. She was probably the most nervous she had ever been in her life but she didn't let her nerves get the best of her. Mercedes performed her new single to a standing ovation and an eruption of applause and cheers. Dani had won one of the categories she was nominated for, Best Pop Vocal. So far Santana had gone winless, however, the most anticipated award of the night was about to be presented. The coveted Best New Artist.
Alicia Keys and John Mayer were the presenters, two of Santana's favorite musicians, and when they announced the nominees Santana felt her stomach do a flip.
She looked at Mercedes to her left and gripped her hand. Mercedes shot her an excited smile and leaned over to both her and Dani whispering "if neither of you win this award I will pull a Kanye and demand a recount on national television." They all laughed nervously. When Alicia Keys read Santana's name as a nominee Dani reached for her hand and mouthed, "good luck," and flashed her bright smile. Then Dani's name was read by John Mayer and Santana tightened her grip on Dani's hand.
"And the winner of the Best New Artist Award this year is…"
Santana felt her heart race. Her palms began to sweat and her hear hearing was all mumbled. She could hear people clapping and cheering. Dani and Mercedes both jumped up in their seats and we're looking at her with a genuine excitement. Santana stood up to cheer and when she looked at Dani she could see that Dani was saying "You won! You won!" But she couldn't really hear her. She was in complete shock. She felt hands pat her on her back, that she assumed belonged to Rachel and Kurt who were seated in the row behind her. She looked over to Mercedes who wrapped Santana in a warm congratulatory embrace and spoke in Santana's ear,"get up there, girl. This is your moment. Enjoy it" and she moved to her right to exit her row and go up on stage to accept her award Dani, who had moved to the aisle to make way for Santana, grabbed her and kissed her check saying, "I'm so happy for you!"
When Santana finished with her final post-show interview she pulled her phone out of her clutch. She had 23 missed calls and 61 missed texts. Everyone was calling or texting their congratulations and she would be sure to address that later. But before she did any of that she called Kurt.
"Well, if it isn't my client and BEST NEW ARTIST Santana Lopez!" He said upon answering his phone. "Thanks for the shout out in your acceptance speech by the way. I'm truly honored to have been a part of your success."
"I couldn't have done it without you Porcelain." She said with a smile. "Hey, are you with Dani and Mercedes yet?"
"Yes ma'am we are all at the Rolling Stone after party. I sent a car for you. Your driver is waiting for you outside."
"Damn it, Kurt. You are the best. I love you."
Kurt acted shocked at her declaration of love. "You what? I don't think I heard you right. Did you say you love me?"
Santana grumbled. "Ugh, forget it I take it back. Thanks for setting up my ride, Lady H."
"I love you too, Santana."
Santana walked out of the venue and saw Puck standing against the town car holding up a sign that said Best New Artist on it. She was surprised and so happy to see him. She walked over and hugged him. "Well, that's a bit presumptuous of you. What if I didn't win?"
"There was never any doubt that tonight was going to be your night." He said kissing her forehead. "Babe, you're smoking hot and you're a bitching recording artist. No one deserves that award more than you."
She laughed. "I am smoking hot , aren't i?"
"Smoking." He replied with a smile as he moved to open the door for her.
As she moved into the car she noticed another body seated at the other end of the car by the back driver side door. She quickly realized it was Dani who had changed out of her Grammy dress and was now wearing a feminine black suit with a white bow tie. In her hand was a large bouquet of red roses and between them was a bucket filled with ice and a bottle of champagne chilled inside of it. Dani handed the flowers to Santana as Puck closed the door behind her with a smile on his face. He moved to the front of the car and slid into the driver's seat closing the partition to give the ladies in the back some privacy.
Santana put her nose to the flowers and breathed in their aroma. "What's all this for?" Santana asked.
"Tonight, we are going to celebrate you."
"We should celebrate you too. You won too."
"Tonight is your night, Santana. You are the woman of the hour."
"True. Everyone is talking about me. I've had over 50,00 mentions on Twitter in the last 30 minutes. Santana Lopez is Music is trending on Twitter right now. I mean, what could be more impressive than embodying all of music?" She said with a smirk.
"Nothing comes to mind." Dani winked and picked up a champagne flute and poured Santana a glass and handed her one. "You have two choices as to how we can spend the rest of the night. We can go to the Rolling Stone after party like we planned, meet up with Mercedes, Kurt and Rachel, mingle with other musicians and celebrities or…" she took a sip of her champagne and let Santana hang on her words.
Santana couldn't think of anything she'd rather do than go celebrate her big win with her close friends"Or…" Santana encourages her to finish.
"Or we can celebrate. Just the two of us… back at your place."
Santana's eyes grew wide. That was the one thing she'd rather do than spend the night having people fall over her in celebration. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.
"I made a few calls and I made some arrangements in case you chose the second option. But if you would rather go to the after party I totally underst-" her words were cut off by Santana's lips passionately pressing against her own.
Santana wrapped her arms around Dani's neck. She pulled her deeper and deeper into her kiss sucking Dani's top lip between hers. Santana pulled her mouth away from Dani's slowly. "I have wanted to do that ever since I first laid eyes on you."
Dani smiled. "Me too." Dani inched up toward the front of the car and tapped on the partition. Puck lowered it slowly. Dani filled Puck in on the destination.
"Right on." He replied as he changed course and drove toward Santana's house.
When they arrived at the house Dani stepped out of the car first and took Santana's hand in hers gently helping her out of the car.
Puck had gone around to open Santana's door for her but Dani beat him to it. "Way to take my moment away from me, Loser." Puck joked. He gave Santana a goodbye hug and congratulated her once more before leaving.
When they walked into the entry way Santana couldn't believe her eyes. There candles lit everywhere and there was a gentle hum of music flowing through the house. There were were rose pedals on the floor lining a pathway to the kitchen and up the staircase and she was welcomed the most amazing smell of food being cooked in the kitchen. She looked over at Dani who stood beside her smiling sweetly. "What's all this for?"
"You." Dani replied simply.
Santana took Dani's hand in hers and moved in front of her. She leaned in and kissed Dani softly. A different type of kiss than before. This time it was a gentle sweet kiss. Dani wrapped her arms around Santana's waist and returned her kiss with the same emotion.
"Is someone else here? I smell something being cooked." Santana asked as their kiss ended. She started walking toward the living room here eyes moving from room to room.
"I hired a personal Chef to come in and make us dinner. But he left out the back door when we got here." She leaned in and kissed Santana's lips with a soft quick peck. "It's just you and me."
"I like the sound of that." Santana said with a flirty smile. She looked Dani up and down adding, "I like your suit. You look sexy."
Dani blushed. "I thought you might."
She took Dani's hand in hers. Leading her toward the staircase. "I'm not very hungry. Are you?"
Dani shook her head.
"I'm gonna slip out of this dress. Make myself a bit more comfortable." She kicked off her heels. "You want to come help me?" She asked flirtatiously.
"I thought you'd never asked." She grinned from ear to ear following Santana up the stairs and into the master bedroom.
Santana motioned to the back of her dress. "Can you help me with my zipper?" She turned so her back was facing Dani. Dani moved closer and started slowly unzipping her dress. Santana could feel Dani's warm breath on her skin. It was turning her on. She slowly spun around so that her and Dani were face to face again and left her dress fall from her body to the floor leaving her clad in only her black lace underwear. Dani's eyes followed it down, taking in every detail of Santana's fit physique. Santana pressed her almost naked body against Dani's placing another kiss on her lips. Dani moved her hand to the small of Santana's back and used her other hand to grip on Santana's ass. Their kisses became more intense the more they kissed and soon Santana was helping Dani remove her clothes without breaking from their kiss. Santana pushed Dani, now down to the same article of clothing as Santana, onto the bed and straddled her hips. She hovered herself over Dani pinning her arms above her head on the bed. "You are so fucking sexy." Dani said in between her heavy breaths. "Your body… is so tight. I don't ever want take my hands off of you" she said running her hands over every inch of Santana's skin.
"Wanky," Santana whispered as she lowered her top half onto Dani's; pressing their naked chests together and slipping her tongue into Dani's mouth.
Santana pulled the knob to turn the shower off. She reached for her towel as she stepped out of the shower. She wrapped the towel around herself after using it to partially dry her hair. She walked over to the sink and placed her hands on the counter leaning her body weight onto her palms. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. She sighed heavily, closing her eyes. She was starting to believe that it was impossible to get Dani off of her mind. There were just too many reminders in LA… in her home, a home she used to share with Dani. When she was in Murano she fooled herself into believing she was on the verge of being over Dani. Or at the very least, that she had at least started the moving on and letting go process. She realized now that couldn't have been further from the truth. She hadn't made any true progress. She was just as in love with Dani as she had ever been and she didn't see an end to that in her near future. Why was it so easy for Dani to move on? And why couldn't she? She wanted to be over these feelings. She didn't want to miss her any longer. She would get over Dani at all costs. No matter what it took.
She reached for her phone and flipped through the contacts. She got to Kitty's number and hovered over it for a few seconds. Kitty had put her number in Santana's phone just in case Santana wanted her to be more than just a one night stand. Santana informed her she wasn't looking for a relationship and Kitty said she wasn't either. Then she said, "call me when your body is lonely and you want a warm body underneath of you."
Santana replied aloud at the memory, "Not tonight, kitty." She tossed her phone onto her bed and went to her closet and slipped into some sleep sorts and a cami. She glanced at the clock. 8:45pm. That was absolutely an acceptable time to go to bed on a Tuesday night, she told herself. She flopped down into her bed, pulled up the covers and turned off her light.
Author's Notes:
Hey guys! I wound up having some more down time than anticipated this weekend so I was about to complete a chapter. I really hope you liked it. Please feel free to leave feedback. I am enjoying writing this story and I hope you are all enjoying reading it. The comments I have receive Ed thus far have been very encouraging and honestly they have made me want to update more frequently. So when you are finished reading just shoot me a quick comment if you get the chance. Thank you all so much for reading! It means a lot to me.
PS I've already started my outline for the next chapter :)