"I don't...I don't think I'm ready just yet." Rachel says with a gentle shake of her head.
Santana sighs softly, having been prepared for that answer. Rachel kind of just got out of a relationship recently and even though they shared a kiss, Santana wasn't sure if Rachel was ready to start dating again.
"It's cool." She says with a light shrug, not really hurt from the rejection.
"It's not that I'm not interested because I am, I just want a little time to myself to make sure I'm ready before I start something new." Rachel further explains.
"It's cool Rachel, don't worry about it." Santana adds, her voice void of any negative emotion. Rachel is mildly confused at how calm Santana is about this but she doesn't question her.
"I should probably get home though." Santana says, standing from her spot on Rachel's couch. Rachel stands as well, worry etched on her face.
"Why do you look like that? This isn't gonna make shit weird between us." Santana assures her.
"Are you sure?" Rachel asks, worrying her lip.
"Yeah, my ego isn't that fragile. I'll text you when I get home." Santana reaches out to give Rachel a one armed hug and Rachel returns it with a relieved sigh.
"Okay, be safe." She says as she walks Santana to the door.
"You're oddly calm about this." Quinn says as she reaches into a cabinet and grabs a box of cereal.
"What was I supposed to do? Force her to go out with me?" Santana says from her seat at the kitchen table.
"No, just figured you'd have fought more or something. I don't know." Quinn finishes with a shrug as she sits across from Santana, pouring her cereal into a bowl.
"You can't actually believe I'd give up that easily. I gets what I want, and I wants Rachel. It's only a matter of time." Santana says, smirking as she snatches the box of cereal from Quinn's hand.
"If she was smart, she'd fucking run the other direction." Santana chuckles as she pours herself a bowl.
Santana doesn't mind waiting and knows sometimes taking your time is the best thing you can do, so she'll let Rachel have her time, but that doesn't mean she can't periodically check in. Later that week, Santana decides it's the perfect time to see where she stands with Rachel. They're friendship hasn't shifted at all after Rachel turned her down, so Rachel still went to Quinn and Santana's for their routine movie night together.
"I'll make some more popcorn. You two find another movie to watch." Quinn says from her recliner.
"Why can't I find a movie?" Brittany asks from her spot across the room on the loveseat.
"Britt, you have to pee don't you?" Brittany tilts her head thoughtfully before nodding.
"Yeah, are you psychic?" She asks seriously and Quinn chuckles with a light shake of her head.
"Something like that. Go to the bathroom." She says and Brittany stands as she does and they go their separate ways. Santana grabs the remote and begins to scan the movies on Netflix.
"So, there's this new pizza place down the street that opened up. Completely dairy free. You down?" Santana asks causally.
"Sure! when would you like to go?" Rachel asks excitedly.
"Whenever you want, but are we going as friends or..." Santana trails off and Rachel smiles at her softly.
"As friends. Not quite there yet." She says and Santana only nods, continuing a casual conversation until the two blondes return.
Rachel is surprised when there's a knock at her door. Checking her phone for the time, she wondered who could be here at this time. It was only 3 in the afternoon but she knows all of her friends are still at work.
"Who is it?" Rachel asks as she walks towards the door.
"Delivery." She hears a man respond from the other side of the door. Rachel's eyebrows furrow as she opens the door. Maybe Kurt had purchased something? she thought to herself. Opening the door, she sees a tall muscular man dressed in purple overalls with a matching undershirt and a yellow bowtie, holding a bouquet of sunflowers.
"Are you Rachel Berry?" He asks. Rachel nods as she takes a small step forward. The man sighs in relief and offers Rachel a smile along with the flowers.
"Good. A small but very scary Latina woman threatened to do things to me I'd rather not repeat, if I didn't get these to you." He says as Rachel takes them from her, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry about her. She's more bark than bite. Thank you." Rachel says politely as the man nods his goodbye and leaves. Rachel looks at the flowers and notices a card. Picking it up, she reads
Saw these today and thought of you. Hope they brighten your day. P.S I'm ready for that date if you are.
Rachel smiles to herself as she walks back inside, shutting the door behind her. After finding a vase and the perfect place to put her flowers, Rachel grabs her phone and texts Santana.
Thank you so much for the flowers. They're beautiful but I'm not ready just yet.
Rachel goes to set her phone down when it vibrates in her hand. Reading the screen, she sees a text from Santana.
Nowhere near as beautiful as you but fine, I'll ask again later.
Rachel smiles despite herself. Santana is being very patient and Rachel appreciates it even if she does keep asking her out. Santana isn't being pushy or demanding, she's simply asking if Rachel is ready to move forward with her and drops the subject every time Rachel answers her, no questions asked.
A month later, Santana finds herself wondering exactly how long does Rachel plan to keep her waiting? But she still doesn't mind, wanting to give the woman her time but she's starting to doubt Rachel's interest.
"You don't think she might just be leading you on?" Quinn asks from her side of the table. She'd asked Santana to get lunch with her today so that's where they currently sat.
"What are you talking about?" Santana asks distractedly as she looks at her menu.
"Rachel. It's been what? A month? How long does she really need?" Quinn asks and Santana rolls her eyes.
"Why do you care? Something you want to tell me?" Santana looks at Quinn with a lifted eyebrow.
"I'm not interested in either of you." Quinn deadpans and Santana snickers.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of Q. I'm always down for a threesome." Santana winks and Quinn rolls her eyes.
"I'll pass. I'm being serious San. What if she just likes the attention? I mean it is Rachel we're talking about." Santana huffs and sits her menu down.
"Why don't you live your life and I'll live mine? Change the subject." Santana says in an annoyed tone. Quinn shakes her head with a sigh.
"Fine, fine. See anything good?" She asks, promptly changing the subject.
Over the next month, Santana hadn't given up her efforts, continuing to send Rachel flowers or any other item she could think of to make the other woman happy but they haven't been as frequent lately. Rachel continued to insist that she wasn't ready yet but Santana wasn't deterred, she wants Rachel and she wants her enough to wait.
"What if she's lost interest because of how long I've had her waiting?" Rachel asks her best friend, Kurt.
"Honey, if she waited this long I highly doubt she's going to give up any time soon. I'm just glad she finally stopped sending flowers. My allergies can not handle another bouquet." Kurt crosses his legs then lifts his coffee mug to his lips.
"How long do you plan to keep her waiting?" Kurt asks curiously.
"I don't know...I've only been rejecting her because...I'm afraid." Rachel says with a sigh.
"I'm tired of these...flings. I want something real. Something that'll last so that I can build with someone. I don't need another lesson in love." She continues softly and Kurt nods his head understandingly.
"Don't you think she's proven herself? If she didn't really want something with you, she'd have given up by now." Kurt says with a slight shrug.
Rachel silently watches her friend as she considers what he just said. Realizing, he's right Rachel grins before standing from her seat across from Kurt. Kurt laughs to himself as he watches Rachel excitedly move about their apartment, going on about her newly formed plans.
Santana grimaced at the dishes in front of her, hating that it was her turn to wash them. Last week, she was able to con Quinn into doing it but there's no way she was going to be able to pull it off again. Sighing to herself, Santana grabs a pot from the warm soapy water and begins to scrub.
"I love seeing you wash dishes. It's like your own personal hell." Quinn says from behind Santana, sitting at the kitchen table to have a front row seat.
"Fuck you. Who even makes stew in the summer? That should be against the law." Santana retorts.
"You had no complaints when you ate it. Sucks for you though, it gets stuck at the bottom so you're going to have to wash it at least three times." Santana can hear the smile on Quinn's face.
"Get the fuck out before I throw it at your enormous head." Santana says through gritted teeth. Quinn laughs as a knock on the door rings out.
"Did you order something?" She asks Santana, as she stands to open the door.
"No." She looks over her shoulder to see Quinn as she goes to the door. Santana turns back to the dishes but hears her name being called a few seconds later.
"What?" She answers.
"It's for you." Quinn says as she walks past the kitchen and veers off into her bedroom. Santana rolls her eyes as she sits the pot down and pulls off her gloves. Walking to the open door, Santana notices two small hands holding a bouquet of red roses so big it's obscuring the persons face, but Santana could point out those legs in any line up.
"Yeah?" She says once she reaches the door. The roses move and Santana smiles widely seeing the person behind them.
"Hi." Rachel says softly with a smile matching Santana's.
"Hi. Those are a lot of fucking flowers." Santana says as her takes them from Rachel.
"I thought I owed you." Rachel says with a grin. Now, being able to see Rachel fully Santana notices that Rachel's hair is down over her shoulders and she is wearing a red dress with a deep V neck that's so tight, Santana isn't convinced Rachel didn't snatch it from her closet.
"You look fucking hot." Santana says once she's able to look at Rachel's face again. Rachel shyly ducks her head to hide her blush.
"Thank you." She says then leans forward, smiling.
"I have a date tonight." She says eagerly and Santana smirks.
"Really? You must be trying to get laid." Rachel stands upright, smirking.
"If she's lucky." She replies with a wink. Santana moves off to the side so Rachel can come inside.
"I can't stay, if I don't leave now I'll be late." Rachel says then waves a goodbye as she walks down the hall. Confused, Santana watches Rachel walk to the elevator and press the call button.
"Where the hell are you going?!" Santana yells and Rachel laughs to herself as she walks back to Santana's apartment.
"I was two seconds away from throwing your fine ass down the elevator shaft." Rachel's laughter increases as Santana halfheartedly glares at her.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist." Rachel says, attempting to stifle her giggles.
"Get in here before I change my mind." Rachel touches Santana's forearm and presses a kiss to her cheek before walking into the apartment.