A/N: Thanks for the love, guys :) And apologies for the wait…had a massive weekend ;p
Shout out to brucasever for the Spanish love :)
To infinity and beyond!
-H
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee :(
CHAPTER 7
Brittany was lying on her bed, her hand covering her eyes as Rachel gently restrapped her ribs. She'd cracked two ribs. Well, Santana had cracked two ribs. Two ribs! If Brittany hadn't been strictly told to stay in bed, she'd be all up in that loser's face and show her some Fierce Pierce.
"How does that feel?" Rachel asked.
"Hmmmff," Brittany muttered.
"Yeah, I don't speak concussed cheerleader," Rachel snipped back with a smile.
"It's fine, Rach," Brittany mumbled. "Thanks."
"Ok, so you have your pain meds – no excessive partying now – and I'll come by tomorrow morning to check on you."
"Where are you going?" Brittany asked, lifting her arm and frowning at her best friend. "I'm in pain here. You're supposed to be taking care of me."
Rachel sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "I guess we were going to have to have this talk eventually."
"What?" Brittany asked warily, pretty sure she already hated anything that the brunette was going to say next.
"I spoke with Coach Em and you're still on the squad," Rachel began, "but there's a condition."
"Ugh." Brittany let her arm drop over her eyes again.
"You have to be nice to Santana."
"What?" Brittany shouted, sitting up too quickly and wincing in pain.
"Easy, B," Rachel said gently. "All the Cheerios and the jocks are going to stop with the slushies and dumpster tosses."
"What the hell kind of twisted story did you spin Coach Em to get her to agree to this?" Brittany spat.
"Look, Santana's little speech in the choir room ruffled a few feathers and I wouldn't be surprised if the underclassmen start revolting against us. I took a pre-emptive counter strike."
"My, how chivalrous of you," Brittany said dryly. "And, of course, this would have nothing whatsoever to do with your inexplicable desire to get into Santana Lopez's pants."
Rachel flushed slightly. "Look, Britt. You and Santana were both equally responsible for that fight. It wouldn't be fair if she'd been suspended and nothing happened to you."
"Uh, hello? Has she melted your brain? There's a reason why we're at the top of the ladder. Shit like that doesn't happen to us."
"Well, maybe it's time things changed," Rachel said quietly, looking down at her nails.
Brittany's mouth dropped open. "I'm sorry, I may still be suffering the concussion that your psycho bitch weirdo gave me, but are your allegiances wavering, Berry?"
Rachel looked up, her eyes flashing. She stood. "Santana is my girlfriend, Brittany. Don't speak about her like that. And no, I haven't switched allegiances. I'm just a little more open-minded. You should try it sometime because if you don't, you can guarantee that Coach Em will strip you of that uniform faster than you can say Head Cheerio."
"I don't believe this is happening," Brittany muttered, lying back down.
"Look, you have two days of compulsory bed rest to consider your options," Rachel replied, picking up her bag. "I'll be by in the morning."
"Where are you going?" Brittany asked. "You never answered me before."
Rachel looked up. "Well, because I'm still your friend, no matter what you may believe, I'll tell you that Santana is pretty banged up too. So I'm going to take care of her."
Brittany allowed a smirk to cross her face. She held Rachel's gaze for a few moments before sighing. "Fine, I'll play nice. But I'm not making any promises. You'd better advise your girlfriend that any antagonising might be detrimental to her health."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Don't be petty, Britt. Your pride is wounded because my girlfriend kicked your ass. Get over it. Play nice or lose your status. The choice is pretty simple, actually."
Brittany's eyes went wide. "You'd make a very good politician," she mumbled. "Now go away. I want to sleep and forget this day ever happened."
Rachel chuckled. "Hey, maybe one day you'll thank me for this."
"Highly doubt that," Brittany replied, turning onto her side with great effort.
"Night, Brittany," Rachel sang as she walked out.
"Hmmmff," the blonde mumbled, closing her eyes and letting the fatigue that had been plaguing her all day finally take over.
Friends with Santana Lopez. Yeah, right. When pigs fly.
"Mami, estoy bien!" Santana said in exasperation. "Just, I don't know, go and cook something."
Carmen frowned at her stubborn daughter. "Mija, this swelling needs to come down. Now either I do it or I get your brother to come in and do it."
Santana's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."
"Pruébame," Carmen challenged, the familiar testing look flashing in her eyes.
Santana groaned. "Can't you just pull a Mary Poppins and grab some medicine that'll make me all better?"
Carmen chuckled and placed the ice pack against her daughter's bruised cheek. "Santana, that mind of yours is golden."
Santana smiled. "Gracias, mami."
Her mother tucked her hair behind her ear and wrinkled her nose affectionately. "No necesitas fingir que eres fuertedelante de mi," she said softly.
"I don't pretend, Mama," Santana sighed. "It's just become like second nature because of school."
Carmen's eyes narrowed at that.
"Mama, things are changing," Santana said quickly. "I'm not going to be slushied anymore."
"No, now you get into fights," Carmen replied, raising an eyebrow in the exact same manner as her daughter.
Santana smiled sheepishly. "I don't mind people calling me stupid names, but I'm not a slut," she said quietly.
"I chewed her out for that," a voice said at the door.
Carmen turned around and Santana leaned past her mother to see Rachel leaning against the doorframe.
"Esa una falda muy corta," Carmen commented.
"Mami," Santana chastised, although it was very short. Her mother didn't need to know how much she liked that short skirt, though. "Hey," she said to Rachel.
"Hey," the cheerleader replied, smiling. "Miguel let me in. How are you?"
"She'd be a lot better if she'd let me help her," Carmen said, putting the ice pack back against Santana's cheek.
"I don't mind doing that," Rachel said quietly and Santana had to smile at her shyness. Rachel Berry, shy? She bet the cheerleader had never actually done the whole meet the parents thing either.
"Excellent," Carmen said, happy to pass on the task. She handed the ice pack to Santana and stood up. "And you're staying for dinner."
"Oh, no, that's-"
"She's not asking, Rach," Santana interrupted quietly.
"Oh." Rachel looked at Santana questioningly. "Um, then sure! I'd love to stay. Just let me know if you need any help with anything?"
"Make sure she doesn't break any other bones," Carmen stated before walking out.
"What?" Rachel asked, walking quickly to the bed and sitting down. "What did you break?"
Santana chuckled before wincing slightly. She held a hand gingerly to her ribs. "Nothing's broken. My mom just likes to exaggerate. I did crack a few ribs, I think."
"And then there's this," Rachel said, taking the ice pack from the Latina and holding it gently to her cheek.
Santana just looked at Rachel's face as her eyes took in Santana's face, checking for any other marks from her fight. She had a little scratch on her chin from Brittany's nail when she'd punched her. That didn't hurt as much as the one on her cheek and the bruising was significantly less too.
Their eyes met and Rachel smiled. "I know you're in pain, but how are you otherwise?"
Santana breathed in slowly, careful not to move too much. She'd cracked ribs before so she knew how it felt.
"I'm ok," she said eventually. "Gymnastics always resulted in me having some kind of injury so this really is just more stuff I'm used to."
"Gymnastics, huh?" Rachel said with a smirk. "Fellow gymnasts give you black eyes?"
Santana smiled. "Nope. But try mistiming your spin on the parallel bars and hitting your face instead."
Rachel winced. "Ouch. Sorry I asked."
Santana chuckled, then hissed in pain.
"Don't laugh, you idiot!" Rachel said sternly, furrowing her brows.
"Rach, it's fine. I've had cracked ribs before. I'll be good to go in about three weeks."
"Wait." Rachel's face dropped. "Does that mean…?"
"Oh…um, yeah. Sorry," Santana said apologetically. "We can build the anticipation?"
Rachel sighed. "It's fine. I'm glad it's nothing more serious than a few cracked ribs."
Santana smiled as Rachel readjusted the ice pack. "You're totally playing nurse to me right now. If I weren't incapacitated, I might make use of that role."
The Latina watched as the cheerleader flushed and felt her hand tighten around the ice pack.
"Jesus, Santana," she mumbled. "If I can't have you for three weeks then you can't tease me like that. It's not fair."
"Ah, poor baby," Santana teased, grabbing her free hand and kissing the back of it. "You're right. I'm sorry."
Rachel smiled and leaned forward, meeting Santana's lips gently. The Latina cupped her cheek and traced her tongue along Rachel's bottom lip, immediately being granted the entrance she'd requested. Their tongues rolled lazily together and Rachel ended up straddling her, paying careful attention to stay away from her stomach.
"Just so you know, this isn't teasing," Santana breathed, letting her lips trail down Rachel's cheek to her neck.
"No, of course not," Rachel replied with a smile. "This is just making out, right? No pressure to do anything else."
"Hmmm," Santana replied, fusing their lips again.
Rachel moaned softly as Santana's hands found their way underneath the red spankies that she loved so much. The Latina's fingers gently massaged the soft, smooth skin and pulled away suddenly, breathing hard.
"Did I hurt you?" Rachel asked quickly, sitting up.
"No," Santana said with a groan. "But my resolve isn't going to last very long, so we'd better stop now."
Rachel pouted, but slid off the Latina's body and picked up the ice pack that had been discarded on the bed in favour of their very hot make out session. She sighed as she studied the bruise before placing the ice pack over it.
"Brittany's got a concussion and two cracked ribs," she said quietly.
Santana froze momentarily and met the cheerleader's gaze. "What happened? With Coach Pillsbury?"
"Oh, well, I managed to save her Head Cheerio spot, even though she'll be out of commission for a month. There's no way Coach Em will let her train with a concussion. As much of a psychotic tyrant as she is, when it comes to serious injuries, she makes sure we get the best care."
"Brittany can't be too happy about that," Santana commented.
Rachel shrugged. "She doesn't really have a choice. I saved her uniform."
"What exactly were these terms?" Santana asked carefully.
The cheerleader shifted, looking uncomfortable.
"Rachel."
"Ok, but hear me out," Rachel said quickly. "No getting mad."
"Jesus," Santana hissed.
"First off, you're in the clear. No suspension, nothing on your record."
"Seriously?"
Rachel nodded and Santana smiled, pulling her in for a kiss.
"Thank you," Santana said sincerely as the cheerleader flushed slightly.
"It was nothing," she mumbled and cleared her throat. "I told Coach Em that the 'losers'," she used air quotes, "were going to revolt and that they had their sights set on the jocks, cheerleaders and teachers."
"Rachel!" Santana said in alarm. "They would never do that!"
"It doesn't matter whether or not they will. The point is that Coach Em believes that they will. I may also have mentioned that they were behind my slushie experience on Friday."
"But that's a lie," Santana said with a frown. "I don't want things to change because of a lie, Rachel. That's kinda pointless."
"I get that you're apprehensive, but hear me out, ok?" Rachel asked.
Santana nodded and the cheerleader shifted closer to her on the bed, careful not to press the ice pack too hard against her cheek.
"Ok, so yes, I did tell a little white lie, but Coach Em bought the entire thing. She went to Schue to make sure that you didn't get suspended and I kept Britt on the Cheerios."
"By doing what exactly?" Santana asked, picking up immediately that Rachel purposefully skipped that part.
Rachel took a deep breath. "The Cheerios and jocks are not allowed to slushie or dumpster toss anyone anymore. And Brittany has to play nice with you."
"I'm sorry?" Santana was pretty sure she'd heard wrong.
"No more slushie facials or dumpster tosses," Rachel repeated.
"And me and Wonder Barbie have to play nice," Santana added.
"Yeah," Rachel said slowly.
Santana sighed. No slushies or dumpster tosses – that was gold. But being nice to the blonde bitch from hell? That was going to be a tall order.
"Santana, please?" Rachel asked, her eyes pleading. "I did this for you. Promise me you'll try and put all this shit with Brittany behind you?"
Santana's brows furrowed. "I'm lying here with cracked ribs and a shiner the size of Mount Doom on my face and you're asking me to put this behind me?"
Rachel looked down, her confidence faltering. "Look, I don't know how you're feeling about everything because you haven't really told me, which is ok cos this whole relationship stuff is still new, but Brittany's going to give it a try, so-"
"Wait, what?" Santana interrupted.
"Brittany's on board," Rachel said. "She knows that I saved her Cheerios career and she knows that you're my girlfriend so she's agreed to try."
Santana blinked, a few different things running through her head. One, Rachel had called Santana her girlfriend, which kinda made her heart do a little flutter. Second, Brittany had already agreed to this, which meant that she would have to be a real ass to not at least try. Third, and she wasn't sure why it had actually taken her so long to realise this, but Rachel had gone through all of this for her. It made her chest flutter again.
Santana grabbed the back of Rachel's neck and pulled her down, kissing her hard.
"W-What was that for?" Rachel asked a little breathlessly when they pulled apart slightly.
"Because you're amazing," Santana said sincerely, smiling. "I think you can consider Operation Santana a resounding success."
Rachel grinned widely before leaning down to gently kiss the Latina's cheek.
"I told you that I wanted things to be different with you," she said softly.
Santana nodded. "You've got me convinced. But I should warn you that there are four big, strapping Latina men who will break your sexy little body into a gazillion pieces if you hurt me." She pecked Rachel's stunned lips quickly. "Just so you know," she added with a wink.
"Oh, dear God," Rachel whispered.
"Relax, Rach. I was teasing. A little. Maybe."
"Shut up," Rachel said, kissing her again.
They broke apart, much to Santana's disappointment and she showed it, folding her arms across her chest and pouting.
Rachel giggled. "Very cute. How's the strapping?"
"Strapping?"
"You told me you were going to strap you stomach," Rachel accused with a frown.
"Oh, yeah, well…my mom kinda just…"
"No matter," Rachel replied, standing up and walking over to the open first aid kit on Santana's dresser. "Shirt off. I'll do it before dinner."
"You enjoy getting me out of my shirt, don't you?" Santana teased.
Rachel turned her head and smirked. "Yeah, because you make it so difficult."
The Latina smiled. She may hurt a lot, but things were looking up.
The week passed without major incident. Both Brittany and Santana stayed at home for the full week as their bodies recovered from the fight that had circulated the school about fifty times, becoming more outlandish with each retelling. As things stood, Brittany had a cracked skull, three broken fingers and had to have emergency reconstructive surgery to ensure that her face stayed the same. Santana, the resident badass, was rumoured to have a broken cheekbone, four broken fingers and five broken ribs. And she'd permanently walk with a limp for the rest of her days.
Rachel walked through the halls on Friday after lunch and shook her head as she picked up snippets here and there. High school really was like a gossip rag – she should know, she'd graced the front cover many times.
The only piece of news rivalling the fight was the as yet unconfirmed rumour of Rachel and Santana becoming an official item. Rachel remained tight-lipped and when she told Santana, her girlfriend had laughed heartily before doubling over in pain.
She'd gone over to Santana's house every evening to spend time with her, give her the schoolwork she'd missed for that day, and help her restrap her stomach and do a few breathing exercises to help speed up the healing process. The mornings she spent with Brittany, always waking the blonde who was not happy that she'd gotten the morning shift. But, true to her word, she hadn't said anything mean about Santana. Rachel wasn't holding her breath though. The true test would be on Monday, when they were both back at school.
Rachel spotted the blonde head that she had been searching all day for and made a beeline for her.
"Hi, Quinn," she said brightly.
Quinn turned from her locker and raised an eyebrow. "Rachel," she replied monotonously.
"How have you been?" Rachel pressed, determined to fix this for Santana. The Latina had confessed how regretful she was about going against her best friend's wishes.
"Smashing," Quinn retorted, slamming her locker shut. She kept her voice low. "Morning sickness has really perked up my life."
Rachel wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to respond to that. "Uh, Santana said to tell you that she misses you." Ok, she had told Rachel that she missed Quinn, but had then threatened her with a hiatus of kisses if she ever told the blonde. The cheerleader was confident that she'd still be getting her hot Latina kisses and her girlfriend would make up with her best friend.
"How sweet," Quinn replied, her voice holding nothing but contempt. "Somehow I can't seem to find it very genuine coming from you."
Rachel frowned. "Quinn, you may not like me, but I've been there for Santana after you ran off. She hates how she went behind your back, but she was just trying to make sure that you'd be treated right."
Quinn was quiet, but her eyes were flashing with an emotion that Rachel wasn't very familiar with.
"Her mom and I had to pretty much tie her to the bed to stop her from going to see you," Rachel continued.
"I bet she liked that," Quinn said before she could stop herself.
Rachel laughed as Quinn clamped her hand over her mouth.
"Sorry," she muttered. "That's none of my business."
"No, it's totally fine," Rachel said with a dismissive wave. "I wouldn't know what she likes, anyway."
Quinn frowned. "But I thought you two were together?"
"We are, but her cracked ribs have prevented any kind of…strenuous activity. So we're actually taking things slowly and getting to know each other properly instead of just letting our sex drives take over." The cheerleader frowned. "Although that is becoming increasingly difficult when she keeps rubbing up against me when I change her strapping."
This time it was Rachel's turn to clamp her hand over her mouth and Quinn chuckled.
"God, TMI," Rachel mumbled. "Sorry, Quinn. Anyway, the reason I'm here is because your best friend misses you. Yes, she fucked up and she's really sorry. She'd be here herself if it wasn't actually really bad for her current state of health."
Quinn smiled at her in a strange way, causing Rachel to look down at her uniform, searching for some strange mark or something. "What?" she asked.
"Santana is totally rubbing off on you. Not in the…you know…" Quinn cleared her throat. "I mean that you're starting to speak like her."
"Oh." Rachel blushed. "I love how she speaks. It's one of the things that pulled me to her in the beginning." She glanced up at her girlfriend's best friend. "Look, Quinn, regardless of how things happened, they did happen. They're in the past. We can't change that. But I know it would mean a lot to Santana if you'd go and see her. She'd come to you, but I don't want her moving around too quickly."
Quinn gave a small smile. "She can't be too happy being confined to a bed for a week."
"You have no idea," Rachel said. "Lucky for her, I'm just as stubborn. We've already had," the cheerleader looked up as she mentally counted, "four fights. Like full on shouting matches. We call each other names and everything." She grinned.
Quinn frowned. "That sounds like a very strange relationship."
"Very strange," Rachel agreed. "But it works for us."
"Hmmm," Quinn mused, leaning against her locker. "I appreciate the gesture, Rachel. Um, I'll think about it, ok?"
"Great." Rachel had expected a vehement denial, so this was awesome. "Just so you know, I'm only going there for a little bit after school, then I'll be at Brittany's house before the game tonight."
Quinn frowned. "I'd love to know how you're juggling the two of them. They hate each other."
"Well, they have to be nice to each other now," Rachel replied with a laugh.
"I'd love to know how you managed that too."
"Go and visit Santana and she'll tell you," Rachel quipped. The bell rang. "Oh, I've gotta run to Ms. Davis and grab Santana's Geog notes. Bye!" she called, turning down the hallway.
En route to the geography classrooms, she passed three Cheerios and eyed them warily. One of them had a slushie, but she was sipping it through a straw. They smiled nervously at her as she walked by them. Rachel figured they wouldn't be stupid enough to risk being kicked off the squad. She'd told them all about the new plan at an emergency meeting on Tuesday morning. As expected, it hadn't gone over well – a lot of the girls wanted revenge on Santana for beating Brittany up, but Rachel had put a quick stop to that, saying that anyone would have to go through her to get to either of them. The threat of being kicked off the Cheerios seemed to be terrifying enough, even if it wasn't coming from their captain's mouth. The entire squad knew that Rachel was Brittany's second-in-command, and dared not cross her. The small brunette was formidable in her own way.
After her afternoon Cheerios practice, Rachel drove to her girlfriend's house. Her dads were surprised to find out that she had an actual girlfriend and they were eager to meet the mysterious Latina that Rachel couldn't stop talking about, but the cheerleader was adamant that it would only be when Santana was well enough to move around freely without wincing in pain every ten seconds.
The small brunette was happy to admit that she loved taking care of Santana and she knew her girlfriend loved being taken care of, even if she grumbled about it non-stop.
She pulled up into the Lopez driveway and grabbed her bag with Santana's homework. She rang the doorbell and waited patiently, humming softly.
"Rachel!" Angelo greeted her with a smile, picking her off the front step in a bear hug and depositing her inside the house.
"Angelo, put me down!" Rachel squealed.
Santana's eldest brother chuckled and closed the door behind her.
"One of these days you're gonna actually crush me," Rachel teased.
"And endure the wrath of my sister?" Angelo said, his eyes wide. "Definitely not on my list of to do things." He turned to the living room. "Santa, your exceptionally hot girlfriend is here for her daily booty call."
Rachel blushed and followed him into the living room where all four Lopez siblings were gathered. She had quickly gotten used to the vast amount of teasing between sister and brothers.
"Hey," Santana greeted with a smile. "Angelo, I'll tell Liz all about your porn collection if you hit on my girlfriend again," she added with a warning finger.
"God, Santana, I was kidding!" Angelo whined, flopping next to his brothers.
Santana chuckled and Rachel was happy to see no flicker of pain cross her face. She walked around the big sofa to the love seat that Santana had curled up on.
"Hey, you," she said softly, leaning down.
Santana smiled and tilted her head up, letting their lips brush softly. She carefully shifted up and made space for Rachel to sit next to her. The cheerleader squeezed in and snuggled into Santana.
"Aren't they just too damn cute," Miguel teased. "We should take a photo and put it on a Hallmark card."
Santana flipped him off and pressed her lips against Rachel's forehead.
"How was school?" she asked softly.
"Boring," Rachel sighed. "Oh, you've got a new injury."
"Oh, really?" Santana asked with a smile. "What now? Wounded pride, perhaps? Or maybe a cracked clavicle? No! A bruised toenail!"
Her brothers chuckled and Rachel joined in.
"Nope. You got a bionic eye because Britt hit you so hard that your eye popped out."
Santana laughed hard and doubled over immediately after, clutching her chest.
"Rach, that was mean," she wheezed. "Ow, dammit."
"Angelo, looks like Rachel seems to be abusing our little Santa there," Miguel commented, nudging his older brother. "You gonna stand for that?"
Angelo glanced at Rachel and Santana, then turned his attention back to the TV. "Cracked ribs or not, I'm not falling for that."
Miguel chuckled. "Ferdie?"
Fernando, the youngest Lopez brother, rolled his eyes. "You know this will only end in tears, right? Most probably yours."
Miguel shrugged, but his eyes glinted with mischief. Rachel paused in her ministrations to make sure that her girlfriend hadn't seriously hurt herself to see the middle brother slowly stalk towards her.
"Miguel, get your ass back on that chair," Santana snapped, lifting her head and taking a slow, deep breath. "Cracked ribs or no, I can still kick your fat ass."
"Ha, I'd pay to see that one, hermana menor."
"Miguel, leave Rachel and Santana alone," Carmen said, stepping into the living room with a stack of plates.
"Hi, Carmen," Rachel greeted with a smile.
"Rachel," she replied, smiling. "Dinner tonight?"
"Unfortunately not," Rachel replied. "It's the first game of the season tonight. I'm cheering."
"You are?" Santana asked, sounding disappointed.
"Sorry," Rachel said softly, turning back to her girlfriend. "I thought I'd told you."
Santana sat back and pouted, causing Rachel to laugh.
"Haven't we established that your pout doesn't work on me?" she teased.
Santana leaned towards her ear and whispered, "Would my fingers suit you better, Cherry Berry?" She flicked her tongue out to catch her earlobe.
Rachel gripped the edge of the love seat tightly, clenching her jaw.
"Mija, try and keep it family friendly," Carmen said dryly. "The living room is public domain."
Santana chuckled quietly in Rachel's ear and it sent shivers down the cheerleader's spine, settling uncomfortably in her core. She leaned back and smirked at a now very aroused and flustered Rachel.
"Meanie," she muttered.
Santana raised an eyebrow in challenge so Rachel leaned in, pretending to snuggle, but rested her head on Santana's shoulder so that she could whisper in her ear without anyone else hearing.
"Your fingers are what make me shudder every night, Santana," she whispered slowly. "And your name is on my lips every time."
Santana's breathing picked up and she bit her lip. She shifted slightly so that her legs could tighten together. Rachel smirked and kept her head resting on Santana's shoulder.
"One day soon, you're going to be screaming my name," Santana husked, surprising Rachel, but she smiled, remembering how she'd said the same thing to her not so long ago. She tried desperately to ignore the little (or not so little) voice in her head telling her to grab the Latina and run upstairs with her, cracked ribs be damned.
Santana slipped her arm around Rachel's shoulders and trailed her fingers up and down the cheerleader's bare arm.
"What time's the game?"
"Eight," Rachel replied. "But I'm going to see Britt beforehand."
"I thought after school was my time."
Rachel grinned again. She didn't even have to look at Santana to know that she was pouting again.
"It is, but I was thinking maybe we could spend the whole day together tomorrow. Maybe go out a bit? Walk around, go to the mall, that kind of thing?"
"I'd love that," Santana replied, kissing Rachel's head again. "I feel like a damn prisoner."
"No one's keeping you under lock and key here, mija!" Carmen called from the dining room, which was right next to the lounge.
"Uh, actually, she is!" Santana called back. "Just without the actual lock and key because we'll be needing those at a later stage," she added in a low voice just loud enough for Rachel's ears.
"Hey, you call me out on teasing you all the time," Rachel said quietly, finding Santana's free hand and threading their fingers together. "This is hard for me too."
Santana sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm really regretting being so stupid. Quinn still won't talk to me and I hate being this incapacitated."
"She'll come around," Rachel said with a secret smile that Santana couldn't see. "And you're mobile. Maybe not as much as you'd like, but you're not in a wheelchair or anything."
"Ugh, true," Santana said, wrinkling her nose. "I'd hate that. I'd become a super bitch."
"As opposed to your everyday cheery disposition?" Miguel taunted.
Santana grabbed the TV remote and threw it at him.
"Santana! Miguel!" Carmen snapped. "Honestly! Te comportas como un atajo de niños!"
Rachel always felt a little left out when the Lopez's started speaking in Spanish. She could get by, sure, but they always spoke so quickly and with such natural accents (unlike Mr. Tanaka, her Spanish teacher) that she found it difficult to keep up with the words.
"Ah, come on, mami!" Miguel exclaimed. "We keep you young. You love us."
Santana chuckled into Rachel's hair and moved her lips against it, causing the cheerleader to lean her head back against the chair and meet those intense dark eyes that she'd really become addicted to.
"She just said that we act like a bunch of kids," she whispered, nuzzling into the crook of Rachel's neck that was now available.
Rachel giggled at the ticklish sensation of feather kisses on her neck, but Santana didn't stop and she didn't push her away. She loved these little moments. Who would've thought that badass Santana Lopez was really a soppy romantic? Rachel didn't care. She loved the romance.
There was a knock at the door and Angelo jumped up. Santana pulled away slightly and tightened her grip around Rachel. The cheerleader gently picked up her girlfriend's legs and pulled them over her lap. There wasn't much space, but it allowed them to snuggle closer together.
"I wish you didn't have stupid cheerleading," Santana mumbled.
Rachel smiled. "You sure about that? If I didn't have stupid cheerleading, I wouldn't have this stupid cheerleading outfit that you love so much."
"True," Santana replied with a smile. "I do love that uniform. I think, however, that I would like you better out of it."
Rachel grinned and Santana matched it. They leaned in and exchanged soft kisses until Angelo coughed loudly. Rachel broke away and turned, smiling at the nervous visitor. She felt Santana stiffen in surprise.
"Quinn?"
"Hey, San," she said quietly, her gaze flitting to Rachel's.
"I should go," Rachel said quickly, gently sliding out from under Santana's legs. "Britt's probably eating her pillow out of boredom so…yeah." She leaned down and gave Santana a quick goodbye kiss before grabbing her bag and heading to the door. "Bye, boys," she sang.
"Bye, Rachel!" the chorused.
Crap! Schoolwork!
Rachel slid to a stop before the kitchen and smiled at Carmen, who was busy whipping up some amazing concoction. Santana's mother could seriously cook. Rachel had eagerly accepted every dinner invitation after that first night. The whole Lopez family was pretty awesome and they'd treated her like an honourary member from the get go.
"These are the notes from the classes she missed today," Rachel told Carmen. "Could you give them to her when, you know, she's finished?"
Carmen smiled. "Of course. Rachel?" she called, halting the cheerleader's exit. "I just wanted to thank you for being as attentive to Santana as you have been. I know she can be difficult and we've all heard your fights."
Rachel blushed. "Sorry, Carmen."
"No, no! It's good! We're Latina! We're hot-blooded. We do everything with great passion and my little Santana has the most passion out of anyone in this family. It makes me happy that she has someone with that same kind of passion. Someone who can challenge her and make her realise when she's being stubborn."
Rachel chuckled. "I think that's going to be an ongoing battle, but thank you. I mean, gracias."
"De nada," Carmen replied with a smile. "I'm glad she found you, Rachel. You ground her a bit."
Rachel tried desperately to convince her mind to stay as far away from the gutter as she could, but her and Santana's teasing game had made her libido even more active.
"Uh, thanks, Carmen," she said quietly. "Uh, I really gotta go. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Buenas noches," Carmen called as Rachel slipped out the door.
Rachel climbed into her car and leaned her head on the steering wheel. She knew that teasing was fun and it really was building the anticipation for both of them, but Rachel was really, really worried that she wasn't going to be able to stop herself before the full three weeks had passed. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Santana more than she was already. Besides, she had three really big brothers and she didn't doubt that they would tear her a new one.
"Ok, what's not sexy?" Rachel muttered, starting her car. "Football? Jock straps?" She pulled a face. "Ok, just think about guys. You'll be fine."
By the time Rachel pulled up outside Brittany's house, her libido was in firm control. In fact, she may have scared it off a little. Well, a certain hot-blooded Latina just needed to raise an eyebrow and it'd be back in full-
"Ugh!" Rachel said in exasperation. "Crap!"
A/N: Let me know what you think? :)
-H