Chapter Five
Santana didn't move immediately as she watched Quinn walk back up the porch steps, not bothering to grab her clothes and head into the house.
The whole night had been a total rollercoaster.
What the fuck is going on?
Looking over to Sam and Puck she saw that the whole event was totally forgotten by them. They were too interested in trying to impress some of Taylor's college friends to give a shit about Quinn, they didn't even bat an eye in her direction. She didn't feel so drunk anymore.
Exiting the pool she made pace as she snatched up both their clothes on her way into the house. Guessing Quinn would be in a bathroom somewhere she pushed her way through the bodies left at the party. Things didn't seem as hectic, so it didn't take too much time to make it to the downstairs bathroom.
Knocking on the door before entering, Santana mentally patted herself on the back when she found Quinn sitting on the closed toilet seat with her head in her hands.
"Thought you might want these?" Santana held their clothes up in front of her, Quinn looked up in surprise as though she hadn't heard her come in.
"Tha- thanks."
"S'kay." Santana shrugged and crouched in front of her.
Santana placed a comforting hand on Quinn's thigh and rubbed it reassuringly, not saying anything in hopes that she would say something when she was ready. It took her by surprise when she saw the other girl's body begin to shake with sobs.
"It's so fucked that he says shit like that." Quinn gasped out, her breath stuttered as she tried to regain composure. "He knows I love Beth, he knows it and he knows I can't be her mom." She looked then into Santana's eyes, only to see them filling with tears too. "It hurts and I don't know what to do about it."
Santana took Quinn's hands in hers, "I didn't realise you felt like this."
"I'm good at hiding it. But maybe I'm sick of it, y'know?"
"Yeah, I know."
"I hate Cheerios and everything it means, I hate my dad for what he did and I resent the fact my mom let him kick me out. Sure she came around, but I was a kid! I was a fucking kid having a kid! I'm done. I really am just fucking over it." Quinn took a deep breath and slowly released it, her chin wobbled slightly as she did so. "I'm quitting Cheerios."
"Woah." It was a lot to take in for Santana, but she kept a hold of Quinn's hands, "Really? Are you sure?"
"I am." Quinn once again looked at Santana in the eye and nodded her head as though confirming the fact for herself more than anybody else.
"Shall we do it together?" Santana's tone took on a hint of conspiratorial mischief, the corner of her mouth twitching with a smirk she wasn't sure would be appropriate for the sombre mood.
Try as she might Quinn caught the smirk and began to smile because of it. "She won't know what hit her." Quinn's face was red and puffy from the tears she'd already shed. Emotions were still running high as more tears slipped down her face despite the smile that now graced it. Santana reached up and wiped them away.
"The old witch can stick it. It's me and you, baby." She pulled Quinn into a hug with a "c'mere" and a small chuckle at the thought of Sue's face on Monday.
…
It was starting to get bright out by the time Santana and Quinn reached Santana's front door. It must have been around six in the morning. With her heels hanging from her wrist Santana jimmied her key into the door, she missed the first few times as she turned to hush Quinn for whining at her for being cold. Finally tumbling through the threshold the two girls attempted to be as quite as they could. Quinn tripped up the stairs and felt Santana fall into the back of her.
"Ow!"
Quinn quickly turned and pressed her finger to Santana's mouth, "Shhh!" When Santana's eyes went cross-eyed looking at Quinn's finger, she couldn't help the giggles she felt creeping up on her. Santana couldn't believe the hypocrisy. She raised her eyebrows at Quinn and in turn slapped her hand over her mouth to stop any noise from waking her mom and sister up. The shock that registered on Quinn's face however only served to set Santana off. She had to suck her lips into her mouth as her body began to shake with the laugh she was trying to hold in.
Then something wet touched her hand. That felt like a- Quinn had licked her palm! The smile quickly fell from her face and she yanked her hand away with a look of disgust. "Ew! Quinn!" She began to wipe her hand on the back of Quinn's top.
"Don't touch me with that!"
"It's your spit!"
"What are you doing?"
Both girls' heads shot up to the top of the stairs. Lucia was standing in her running gear checking her reflection in the mirror. Santana had forgotten that Lucia would have been up already.
"Oh, hey there." Quinn said in a peculiar voice that had Santana giving a funny look. She might've been overselling the sober thing.
"You gonna block the way forever? I gots to go." Lucia began descending the stairs. Considering the compromising position the pair were in they seemed mighty cosy in her eyes.
Quinn went to stand, but Santana was still leaning against her, "San."
"Oh. Oh yeah, sorry." Santana was still looking at her sister, trying to comprehend the strange look she was giving. "I'm not drunk."
At that Lucia gave Santana a disbelieving look. "Okay, Drunky McDrunkerson."
"Don't tell mom."
"San, I'm not five and mom already left for work." Lucia decided to climb over the both of them instead of waiting any longer, patting Santana's head as she did, "See ya later, cutie."
Slapping her hand away Santana pouted, "Don't touch me."
"Why is your hair damp?"
"Why are you so annoying?"
"Love you, bye!" Lucia promptly ignored her sister and grabbed her drink and slamming the door on her way out. They both flinched at the sound and began slowly making it up the stairs without another peep. They both felt headaches coming on and could only think of sleep after the night they had.
...
Once in the cosy safety of Santana's room Santana grabbed some clothes for them to sleep in. They got dressed in relative silence with only the occasional glance to one another. The blinds were closed and their party clothes were forgotten in a pile on the floor by the time they were under the sheets.
"Thanks, San."
The duvet rustled as Santana turned to Quinn without saying anything. She didn't think words were necessary. She just shifted close and hugged her, revelling in the warmth of her body. Quinn wriggled further into the embrace, not being used to the affection but lapping up every bit of it.
After a while of laying there Santana couldn't help herself, "You smell like a pool."
Quinn pulled back slightly to give Santana a look, but it was pointless in the dark, "Gee, thanks San. You smell so much better."
"Shh, sleep time." Santana brought Quinn back down with a couple of soft taps of her head. It had Quinn rolling her eyes, but smiling nonetheless.
Whilst the rest of the world began to wake and the birds began chirping, the pair quickly fell asleep wrapped up in one another.
...
When they woke up it was mid-afternoon and they were both competing for world's worst hangover. Quinn woke up first and got a face full of morning breath from Santana that had her rolling away from her. She dragged herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. Bad idea. She closed her eyes to stop the room spinning. The groan from behind her told her that Miss Sunshine herself had woken up too.
"My brain is throbbing harder than..."
"Don't finish that."
"Mmhmm." Santana couldn't be bothered to argue. She slung her arm over her eyes and willed her body to move.
In the silence of the room Quinn could hear noise from downstairs, "Is that Luc?"
"Probs." Santana cracked an eye open and saw that Quinn was now up and patting down her hair that was mussed from sleep. Her eye lingered on the motion, then on her friend's face.
The memory of last night was hazy in parts and almost non-existent in others, but she sure as hell remembered kissing Quinn. She knew she liked it and she guessed Quinn definitely knew it too. The idea that Quinn had kissed her because she was drunk and high hurt her more than she'd have liked to admit, it wasn't just an ego thing, it was a her and Quinn thing. Would Quinn be weird with her now? Would she think that Santana was obsessed and in love with her on top of it? She didn't want to go through the same thing she went through with Brittany. She didn't want to harm a friendship because of deeper feelings. It made her feel sick.
"What are you staring at?" Quinn caught Santana's eyes through the mirror, squinting at her as she watched her get all flustered.
"Me? Er, nothing? Nothing." She whipped her covers back and went to slip out the door, "I'm going for a shower." And she was gone. If Quinn had blinked she would've missed her.
Weird.
Quinn shook her head to herself and grabbed a few things out of Santana's drawers to make herself somewhat presentable to whoever was downstairs. She actually managed to find an old pair of shorts of her own, she had been wondering where they had gotten to.
…
Lucia was making food. A task that took all of her concentration to avoid disaster. She was pattering around the kitchen minding her business when Quinn cleared her throat and gave a small, awkward wave.
"Hey."
"Morning, sunshine. Well I suppose it's afternoon now."
"Yeah, sorry about earlier, I didn't even think about you being in."
"Oh, thanks Quinn." Lucia quipped.
"Not like that."
Lucia smiled, "I know, just messing." She looked back to Quinn as she rummaged the fridge and saw that she was drawing patterns on the kitchen counter. "You have fun last night?"
A bashful smile snuck up on Quinn before she could measure it and she turned her head away to hide it, pretending to cough a little. When she felt like she had it under wraps she nodded to Lucia, who was now eyeing Quinn suspiciously. She was seriously too much like Santana. Why did Quinn feel guilty all of a sudden? Like she had committed a crime or something?
"Yeah, I had a lot of fun actually."
"Hmm, what kind of fun would that be then?" Lucia was now blatantly not looking for food, but standing by the door of the fridge, hand on hip and looking straight at Quinn.
"Oh, you know." Quinn felt like she was under interrogation and she didn't understand why.
Lucia just raised her eyebrow and gave her a pointed look. "Quinn, did you get it on with my sister?"
Quinn choked on air. She wasn't sure how, but she did. "What?" She squeaked out, unable to control the high pitch to her voice.
"Simple question, Quinn. I'm not stupid, I know she's gay. I didn't know you were though." Lucia looked thoughtful at this, genuinely thinking it over.
"I.. I.." Quinn cleared her throat, "I'm not, I mean… I'm not?" Quinn was in a slight panic mode, but then she thought about how she felt last night and how she had no objections to what had transpired between herself and Santana (Taylor too, if she's thinking about the whole thing). "Actually, I don't know yet."
"That's cool, Quinn. I'm not interrogating you," Could've fooled me, Quinn thought, "I saw how you were this morning and thought maybe something was going on."
"Nothing's going on." Yet. The thought surprised Quinn. Could her and Santana be like that?
"Okay." Lucia noted it away for future and resumed her never ending search for whatever she was after. "You want any food? We have cereal and stuff, I suppose it is kinda morning for you still."
"Yeah okay, thanks." Quinn nodded and let her mind wander to the night before.
…
The weekend passed fairly quickly, Quinn left Santana to recover from her hangover to go and do the same in her own bed. They texted on Sunday about their plan for Monday, Santana couldn't really believe that Quinn would give up her position so easily, but she couldn't blame her for feeling the way she did. It was hard being a Cheerio, not just physically, but it took a mental toll too.
Not to mention the ridiculous temperament of Sue, she might have been a force that created winners, but it was at the cost of being able to be a teenager. She didn't know one other school where their cheerleaders had to wear their uniform all day every day. The constant berating, the stupid food fads, the many questionable tales of her past… If she wanted any of those things in her life she could just go and visit her abuela on her dad's side more often.
Dressed in her own clothes, with her hair down, uniform folded and packed into her bag, Santana psyched herself up to go and pick up Quinn. The familiar feeling of floundering in the face of feelings she didn't want to think about rose within her, but she pushed it all back down and hoped that Quinn was sans uniform too.
…
Quinn was hoping the same a few doors down, she had thought about not going through with it, but was determined to stick to her guns. It was secretly thrilling to be doing something so against what she'd normally be so horrified to do. She felt like she was changing and growing out of that old image of herself, for the better or worse she wasn't too sure, but she was going to have to lean into it to find out.
Climbing into the passenger side of Santana's car she saw the other girl visibly relax at the sight of her in her regular clothes. Santana must've been having the same doubts she was and it reassured Quinn that she wasn't alone in this. Even though they'd only rekindled their friendship recently, she felt closer to Santana than ever. She was one of the few people she felt she could trust and rely on at this point. Perhaps her past transgressions were the reason for her lack of support, but there was nothing to be done now. Anyway, nobody was perfect, a fact she'd bitterly been coming to terms with as of late. The image she'd crafted and maintained was what she imagined perfection was; the reality being sorely disappointing.
"Hey, Q."
"Hey, San."
"You ready for today?"
"Yeah, I suppose I am. What's the worst that could happen?"
"I think a lot, but we'll be fine." Santana looked uncertainly at Quinn. "Right?"
Santana's worry overrode any hesitation Quinn was having. She was a leader for a reason. Putting on a brave face she nodded with a smile and took Santana's hand, "Of course."
"Okay, cool."
Quinn felt a smirk creeping up on her, "Hmm, totally cool."
The teasing tone didn't go unnoticed, Santana reached over to shove Quinn, "Shut up."
"Hey!" Quinn grabbed at her hands and held them tightly to stop Santana from pushing her, "Whatcha gonna do now?"
Quinn was certain she'd caught Santana look down at her lips before she moved her body over the centre console. Quinn wasn't sure what Santana was going to do, but the warmth of her body over hers distracted her from the hold she had on her hands.
Suddenly, she felt her seat lurching backwards and Santana falling slightly further on top of her. Santana had pulled the seat's lever to send her backward, only she hadn't anticipated the force in which Quinn would go back and collided with the door.
"Ow!" Santana leaned back from her slumped position against the door and used Quinn's thigh as leverage to hold herself up. "That's twice you've injured me."
"Me!?" Quinn guffawed.
"Yes." Santana was uncomfortably sat with half her body on Quinn's side, very much aware of where her hand was. They would have to leave eventually, but she liked teasing Quinn. Although it was more Quinn teasing her at this point, which she found herself liking even better.
"You're just a glutton for punishment, what can I say?" Quinn readjusted her seat, causing Santana to wobble a little in her place. Precarious as it was, Santana didn't move away and only tightened her grip. "We should get going," Quinn said in a lower tone, "it's what I pay you for, after all."
"Pfft, I wish." Santana climbed back over to her side and clipped in her belt. "Safety first," she told Quinn quite seriously. Putting the car into gear she pulled off at a more moderate speed than she was used to getting about. She would have been lying if she said she wasn't nervous about Sue's reaction, but that trepidation was alleviated somewhat by having Quinn by her side. The thought actually made her smile. It was nice to not feel so alone.
