Chapter Eight
"I think Tina and Britt are coming together, they seem to hang out a lot these days." Mercedes mentioned as she got herself comfortable on the bed.
Santana made a distracted sound of acknowledgement. Her mind was still with Quinn. How long was she going to take?
"I also heard through the grapevine that you and Rachel are taking dance classes together. Now that is hilarious."
"Don't get me started. I could've died. It was so hot in that studio, I'm sweating just thinking about it. I think I'm traumatised by the whole experience."
"So you're not keeping it up?"
"I didn't say that." Mercedes inwardly rolled her eyes at Santana's dramatics. She supposed it wouldn't hurt if Berry and Satan were actually friends, they were quite similar if she thought about it. A thought it would remain too. She didn't think she'd make it through the night if she shared her opinions on the matter with Santana.
Quinn made her reappearance, looking as fresh faced as ever, "Do you guys wanna head down? I think the others will be here soon." Both girls nodded and made to leave.
Before they left Santana caught sight of something very familiar looking. She couldn't make it out exactly with it being on the bedside table but once Mercedes had gotten up she climbed across the bed and snatched it up.
It was the drawing she did of Quinn. The sight of it made her laugh and had Quinn coming to take it off of her like a mother coming to tell off their misbehaving toddler. Santana relented and held it to her chest.
"What did I say, Q? It's got to have pride of place." She placed her hand on the wall above the bed.
"I don't think so. I obviously forgot to toss it out." Quinn pretended to be serious and gave Santana a stern look.
"Ah-ah." Santana wagged her finger at the other girl as she slipped off the bed and rooted through Quinn's belongings. "Where'd you keep your sticky-sticky?"
"My 'sticky-sticky'? What are you even saying right now?" Quinn slapped her hands from messing anymore of her things up. "Leave my things alone."
"But Quinn." Santana whined. "I spent a lot of time on this piece of art! It's a Lopez original. This could make you a mint one day." Santana held the drawing like it was a precious piece of fine art and pouted at Quinn.
Santana knew she was a pain in Quinn's ass and she would say she was the best pain in the ass anyone could ask for. Being such was quite like her drawing. Y'know, a fine art of sorts.
"You make me sick, do you know that?" Quinn took the paper off of her and stuck it up as requested. She tried to act all tough, but Santana could tell she wanted to crack a smile.
"Happy?" Quinn asked from where she knelt at the head of her bed.
"Very."
Mercedes shook her head at the whole thing. She stepped up to have a closer look at the picture. "Wow, Quinn. Your head is huge."
...
Everyone had arrived and were all well on their way to messy. Quinn had never witnessed the Rachel she was currently witnessing.
They were playing truth or dare and she had dared Rachel to give Santana a lap dance. Santana had glared at her, but that was a given, Berry was the surprise. She had hopped up, swaying slightly when she got to her feet, and sauntered her way over to a wide-eyed Santana.
Before reaching the other girl Rachel asked for some music and when it came on she returned her full attention to the one person in the room who wanted it the least. She slowly began to get into the beat, pointing at Santana and winking as she closed the remaining distance.
The other girls were stuck between hysterics and disbelief, it was a sight they thought they'd never see.
Any grace Rachel had managed to poise before reaching Santana left her all together as she plonked herself down on the other girl's lap. To her credit, she fell on beat.
"Hey, bestie." Rachel had her hands around Santana's neck and was batting her ridiculously long eyelashes.
Quinn caught Mercedes' eye as the other girl raised her eyebrow. Quinn responded with her own eyebrows raised and a shrug. She took a healthy swig of her very strong concoction. Cheers, Judy.
Santana only laughed and placed her hands on Rachel's waist. "Not much dancing on this lap, Berry."
"Say it ain't so!" Rachel bounced slightly in her spot. "See, I'm dancing."
Santana squinted her eyes at her and let out an amused hum of disbelief. "You're not fooling me. Let me show you how it's done."
Before Rachel knew what was happening she was essentially pushed off of Santana and onto the floor. She was still holding onto the other girls neck as she went, pulling her down with her.
The other girls laughed at the sight, Santana was sprawled out on top of Rachel, laughing so hard she couldn't move.
Rachel was right there with her, every time she laughed her body shook Santana and set the other girl off even more.
Quinn sat back, a smile fixed on her face, she liked seeing her friends having a good time. Having the girls around was fun, she'd never had them all around like this before. She supposed she'd never really had the opportunity up until her dad moved out and her mom took up 'tennis' in the evenings. That's what she called him anyway, she didn't know who she thought she was fooling with that one. Judy could keep Tennis to herself. Quinn didn't fancy meeting her mom's new man anytime soon, thanks.
She felt somebody sit next to her on the floor. Turning her head toward the warm body she saw it was Brittany.
Her cheeks were flushed pink and she had an impish grin on her face.
"Hey." Brittany had gotten close to Quinn's face and motioned for her to turn her head back so she could whisper in her ear. "I spoke to Taylor the other day." Her breath was hot and wet against her skin.
Quinn was still, her mind was hazy with the alcohol but she still understood completely. She turned to look at Brittany. Her grin was still there and so was something else.
"I knew you liked girls."
The hot and wet feeling was on her mouth now. Brittany's face still close to her own. The other blonde's eyes quickly flicked to two girls who were now giggling over something else.
The moment felt heavy out of nowhere and Quinn didn't know how to feel when Brittany's gaze came to meet her own. Brittany pecked her on her mouth and it was so quick she could've sworn it didn't happen.
"I've got you, babe." Then suddenly the warmth of their closeness was gone and Brittany was clapping her hands to get the others' attention. "Ladies! May I have the floor?"
Tina began whooping, Sugar copying as soon as she started.
"I suggest we play a little game." Brittany's attempt at being subtle was admirable despite being poor, waggling her eyebrows in Quinn's direction before nodding to Santana. "I think spin the bottle will bring us all closer together." She squeezed Quinn to her left, then moved to squeeze Mercedes on her right.
"Yeah!" Rachel shouted from her position on the floor. She was flat on her back with her legs on Santana. "Team bonding." She looked up at Santana and when she get a nod from the other girl it only solidified for her that this was a great idea.
"You're all hot and everything, but I only kiss boys." Sugar declared.
"Boo!" Brittany hollered. When Sugar pulled a face Brittany gave a reassuring smile. "You can just peck them on the cheek, or just drink!" With that she knocked back the rest of the drink she had. "Refills first."
"I'm with you on that." Mercedes began to stand and held her hand out for the other girl. Both of them making their way to the kitchen where they'd left all the booze. Tina and Lauren soon followed them after finishing off their drinks too.
Quinn nursed her own drink a bit more as she watched Santana talk with Rachel. The other girl looked at her then. Her dark eyes making the hair on her arms stand on end.
...
Santana pretended to listen to the drunk ramblings of Rachel. She and Quinn had been having a staring contest for a couple of minutes by this point. Neither had looked away and the more she thought about it the more it she found it amusing.
She tilted her head when Quinn did and when Quinn righted her head she did the same. Quinn picked up on it fairly quickly and pinned Santana with a look that was meant to be intimidating.
She shot her a wink and began to push Rachel's legs off of her. The girl on the floor was none the wiser, now invested in giving Sugar singing lessons.
"Okay, Sugar. Let me show you a favourite technique of mi- hick." It would take more than hiccups to deter Rachel Barbra Berry. "... mine."
Santana playfully rolled her eyes and Quinn hid her smirk behind her cup.
"C'mere." Quinn patted the spot next to her. Once she'd sidled up she rested her head on Quinn's shoulder.
"What's that?" She asked as she nodded to the drink in Quinn's hand.
"Want a taste?" The other girl tilted the cup towards her lips. It went down with a grimace, but she took it in stride. That shit was strong and super gross. "Don't like it?"
"I've had better." It was true, she could make a mean cocktail when she wanted to.
"I bet you have." There was a mischievous glint to Quinn's eye and it had Santana smiling before she even knew what for. When Brittany had told them all they were going to play spin the bottle she had been hoping that she'd get to kiss Quinn again, but it seemed it'd be happening before they'd even started if Quinn kept looking at her like that.
"Stop it."
"Stop what?" Quinn bit her lip.
Santana couldn't help her eyes dropping to the other girl's mouth. Quinn played dirty. She should've known this by now. "You know what."
Quinn was fiddling with one of the buttons on her shirt and Santana laughed at how blatant Quinn was with her teasing. She both hated and loved how effective she was at it.
"You'll have to tell me. I'm not sure I understand."
"Berry and Sugar are right there. And those guys will be back soon." She said without much conviction, whilst putting her hand on Quinn's to stop her from doing anything else.
Quinn took a look at the other girls who were now making noises that were questionable in the name of pitch perfection. When she returned her gaze to Santana's it could've knocked her dead right there and then.
"Better make whatever it is you're wanting to do quick then, huh?"
"You're crazy." And so hot.
Before Quinn could respond Brittany was prancing back into the room, sloshing some of her drink onto the carpet.
"There were no empty bottles so we had to finish one of them off." She wiggled the bottle in her hand and tossed it into the middle of the floor. Rachel screamed thinking it'd smash. When it didn't it quickly became obnoxious laughing.
Quinn's body was right next to hers and it made her insides all jittery and her skin hypersensitive, the cotton of the shirt Quinn had on being a constant reminder of earlier. It was quite distracting.
"I'll go first!" Tina quickly got out. Santana was a little surprised, if not a little impressed too.
Tina's spin landed on her. Of course it landed on her.
"Pucker up, girly." She heard Quinn say beside her. Oh she'd pucker up alright. She was a damn good kisser and Tina was about to find out just how good.
When her lips met Tina's she was pleasantly surprised at how soft they were. She stuck her ass out a little more as she leaned across the circle for Quinn's and everybody else's benefit, naturally. She was hot and she knew it.
And the game proceeded as such. Rachel had enjoyed her kiss with Tina a little too much, she'd have to keep an eye on that one. Sugar gave Mercedes a sloppy kiss on the cheek and they shared a shot. Zizes landing on Brittany was the best, despite her protests Brittany had worked her charm and got a smooch out of the girl and left her laughing like she hadn't seen before. Everyone was in high spirits.
Her face ached with the amount she'd smiled within the last couple of hours.
The one thing that was bugging her was that her own spins had landed on anyone but the one person she wanted it to land on.
Her luck was not about to change.
Her next spin landed on Brittany. Shit.
As soon as she caught her eye, she saw that a cheeky smile plastered on her face. Brittany crawled across the circle and took her face in her hands. It was like second nature as her long fingers lightly tickled under her ears as she slowly dragged them across her skin. They rested against the back of her neck, where they had so many times before.
Their mouths met and muscle memory guided them. It was so, so familiar, yet so different.
Santana still cared for Brittany, but as they kissed she knew that she didn't want Brittany's mouth on hers the way she wanted Quinn's.
They pulled apart and Brittany looked into her eyes, trying to read her. The whole thing had just reaffirmed what she'd known for a while now. She was into Quinn. Way more than she had thought.
She chanced a glance at her and saw her reach forward for the bottle and spin it with force. More force than necessary.
Quinn's spin landed on her.
"I'm bored! Let's play something else." Sugar whined.
Fuck that. Santana was getting on thems lips.
She looked to Quinn and saw her looking back. The fire in her eyes shot straight through her.
"Sure. But first!" Brittany got up, tripping over her feet as she made her way out the door. "Refills!" The shout could be heard down the hall.
"C'mere." Quinn mouthed.
She grabbed a handful of Quinn's shirt and pulled her forward. Smashing their lips together harder than she intended.
Their kiss was hot, wet and sloppy thanks to the drinks they'd had. You wouldn't catch her complaining though.
It was tunnel-vision from thereon out. She could only focus on Quinn's mouth on hers.
"Guys, the game's over." Sugar said.
Rachel hushed her by pressing her finger against her lips.
...
Brittany could've patted herself on the back. People underestimated her constantly and it sucked. What they didn't know was that she was more clued in that they thought.
Ever since she spied Quinn ogling Santana's perfect ass in the choir room, she had an inkling that Quinn had some lady loving potential. It may have stirred the green eyed monster inside of her at the time, but she wasn't going to get in the way of Santana getting another shot at being her authentic, Lebanese self.
The kicker was when Taylor had called her up a couple days after her party and spilled the dirty details on what had gone down when she'd gone to powder her nose. It was only later that evening over a bowl of Lucky Charms did she realise that they had been getting it on in her bed. The revelation of Quinn's sweet lady kissing activities put a pin in any outright annoyance, but she reminded herself to tell Taylor to keep her business out of her bed in future.
The sleepover was the perfect opportunity to play Cupid. The bright idea to play spin the bottle hit her when she felt the disappointing weight of her cup. Some may call it a win-win situation. She could finish a bottle off and Quinn could get her lips on Sanny's.
Brittany had to admit that the possibility she'd get to kiss Santana again excited her, an added extra of sorts. Don't get her wrong, she didn't want to cheat on Artie, it was just the name of the game. Sure, it may have fed some selfish part of her that wanted to be Santana's one and only, she wouldn't lie to herself and say it didn't. And yeah, her body still reacted to those sweet lips on hers, but the lack of reciprocation told her everything she needed to know.
Santana was into Quinn too. And more than some little crush.
When she sat back on her haunches the glare she received from Quinn tickled her. Yes, of course she and Quinn were on the mend and she didn't intentionally try to wind her up, it was just a little bonus when she did. And anyway, she had totally wing-manned the shit out of the night.
Quinn's blush as her turn landed on Santana had her feeling all giddy and accomplished. Her job was done and she was nowhere near drunk enough to watch Santana and Quinn make-out and dry hump on a pile of pillows. Actually… No, Brittany. Just no.
At Sugar's suggestion she escaped to the kitchen as fast as her feet could carry her. She was soon joined by the rabble. Mercedes gave her a knowing look as she entered and it peeved her for some reason. She didn't want pity if that's what she was going for. But then the other girl gave her a wink and tapped her nose. Brittany's smile could've lit up the room.
She had a partner in crime. Oh how fun!
She let out a laugh and tipped tequila into her mouth. "Down with the cup!" She smacked a plastic cup off the counter thinking it was empty. The clear contents inside spilled all over the floor.
Rachel screamed for the second time that night and tried to run from the splash and resulting puddle, her efforts were poor as she slipped around until she finally fell into Lauren's arms.
She'd have to go on vocal rest after tonight Brittany thought. Score.
Sugar, forever the people pleaser joined her campaign by pushing another cup off the side like Tubbs did to every snow globe Brittany had ever owned. Brittany felt delirious at how funny she found it.
"I declare no more cups! Drink and abandon the way of the cup, join the way of the bottle!" She let out a war cry as the other girls laughed and tried to drink their drinks as fast as they could.
She tipped the tequila back again before stepping back and in front of the others to create space. "Please, my children, come. Come and be quenched of your thirst." Tina carefully made her way over, being careful not to slip. "Open up, buttercup."
You'd have thought Tina was at the dentist as she 'ahh-ed' up at Brittany. She was rewarded with a mouthful of burning liquid.
"Next!" Brittany threw her arms back with too much force and threw herself off balance, sliding on the spilled drinks from earlier. She let out a yelp as she hit the fridge before landing on her ass.
Her eyes were scrunched shut, dreading she'd done the worst.
Slowly opening one of them she checked the wellbeing of what she held in her hand. The others all watched on, unsure on how to react.
When Brittany saw that the bottle was indeed intact and still had a healthy amount left she let out a joyous cheer that soon caught on and had all of the others cheering too.
"To the bottle!" Her cry was drowned out by the chaos that was going on around her. Awesome.
…
Quinn's head was spinning and it wasn't from the drinks. Kissing Santana was now firmly ranked in the top five things she liked to spend her time doing.
Their kiss had slowed, it was so soft and gentle that she felt an overwhelming rush of warmth run through her.
Santana pulled away and looked at her so intently that her skin prickled with heat. "Thanks."
"Thanks?" If only the ground would have opened up and eaten Quinn alive. Her eyes bugged as Santana gave her a bemused look.
"You're welcome?" Brilliant, Quinn. Simply brilliant. Her smile was awkward, the moment felt jilted. Why'd she go and ruin it like everything else? Her confidence from earlier faltered.
The confusion on Santana's face melted into a smirk that didn't help with the embarrassment. A nervous chuckle escaped her as Santana scooted closer.
"You're too cute." Her best friend put a hand on her heart and held her gaze. "It genuinely hurts my heart."
"Shut." Quinn playfully shoved her. "Up." Santana fell back and just lay there.
The silence became noticeable then. Nobody was in the room with them. Then she heard a crash and a cheer, it made her jump. She glanced around the room again as though someone might've seen. Realising that she already knew nobody was there to see her she let out a small laugh.
"Wha's funny?" Santana said from her spot on the floor.
She didn't respond. Instead she lay next to the other girl, pulling one of the many pillows strewn across the floor with her.
"Here." Leaving enough room for Santana she tapped the other side of the pillow for her to share.
"So nice." Shuffling closer she hooked a leg over Quinn's. "So nice." She said again softly, tucking her arms between them as she held onto Quinn's shirt.
Quinn stroked her hair and was content with just looking at the other girl. It was a weird place they were in. Even though she knew she had feelings for Santana that were more than platonic, it was still confusing.
"San?" Quinn whispered as she tried to rouse Santana who had since closed her eyes.
"Hmm?" Her eyes fluttered open.
The question was on the tip of her tongue, it almost burned. The liquid courage coursing through her was enough to topple it over.
"Will you kiss me again when we're sober?" Her hushed voice asked.
Santana slowly blinked up at her. The moment felt so still it was as though time itself had stopped.
Their faces were so close that when Santana leant in and planted a kiss on her lips she didn't see it coming.
"Why don't you ask me in the morning?" It came out more of a rumble than words, but she heard her.
"Let's go to bed."
They bypassed the party that was going on in the kitchen, leaving the other girls to their own devices, and headed straight for Quinn's bed. She'd worry about the inevitable mess tomorrow.
Her bones ached for sleep like they hadn't in a long time. Being with Santana made her feel so good, any time spent with her was time well spent.
She'd remember to ask her tomorrow, she promised herself that she would. She hoped Santana would remember too.
