Chapter Ten
"Do you think that mom would mind me borrowing these?" Lucia asked walking through the door into Santana's room.
Santana pulled a face and eyed the shoes her sister was holding. Hang on a second.
"Those are mine."
"Yeah, true, she won't miss them." Lucia nodded and slipped back out to head to her own room. She was packing for her dad's, the holidays were upon them and it was time to make nice with her second family. Honestly, she didn't mind it too much, it was just weird sometimes.
Shoving the shoes down the side of her suitcase she turned back to her closet to throw a few more things in.
"You're packing?" Her sister's voice came from her door.
"Yeah, that time of year." She knew that Santana missed her when she left for the holidays and she couldn't blame her. Who wouldn't miss her?
Santana didn't say anything more. Lucia looked back to where she was standing, she looked like she was lost in her own head.
"You okay?"
"Hm?" Santana refocused her gaze, shaking herself out of whatever that was. "Yeah, yeah. Erm. Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"We're talking now aren't we?"
"No need to be a dick about it?" Santana frowned at her and took a seat on her bed.
"Jeez, take a joke." Touchy much. "Shoot, girl."
"You know Quinn?"
"Heard of her, yeah." She continued to put things into her case.
"Okay, smartass. Just listen for a second." Santana snapped.
Lucia kept quiet, she didn't want to leave on a fight.
"We're kind of, y'know," Santana was looking at her, waiting for her to pick up on whatever she was on about.
"Y'know?" Lucia scrunched up her face in thought. Had she packed her moisturiser?
"Yeah," Santana let out a breath, "seeing each other."
That caught her attention. She slammed her case shut and span to face her big sister. "Shut up."
"What?" Santana strangled out.
"Shut. Up." Lucia was immediately by her side, squealing as she hugged her. "Oh my God, I think I might cry." She dabbed at her dry cheeks before locking her sister in another hug.
"You're acting like I'm getting married." Santana laughed out, pushing her sister off of her.
"You didn't get her pregnant did you? Should I expect a shotgun wedding soon?" Lucia said, pointing at Santana.
Rolling her eyes, Santana shook her head. "No, I did not."
"How long have you been dating?"
"About a month."
Lucia went slack-jawed. "A fucking month? And you didn't tell me until now!" She stood up and paced the room. "I am so annoyed with you. Is that where you've been this whole time? I thought the house was quieter than usual." She stopped and crossed her arms. "And the fridge a little fuller. But never mind that, I'm happy for you, you'll just have to forgive my sudden urge to punch you in the head right now. I am so pissed off, what the fuck?"
"Tell me how you really feel. I thought you wanted me and Q to be together?"
"Yeah and I said I was happy, dummy. I'm just annoyed you didn't tell me when it happened. I thought we were friends!"
"We are! We haven't told anybody yet." Santana pulled her sister back down to sit with her. "You're the first person I've told. And I've wanted to tell you, I have, I guess I didn't want to jinx it since it's so new and even though you knew I'm a," she paused, feeling the word out on the tip of her tongue, "lesbian. Argh," she covered her face in embarrassment. "I was still scared to say it. I still am. It's so stupid."
"It's not stupid. I mean maybe a little bit, but only because I know you're gay as hell. This is good news though, so what's with the face?"
"I guess I'll just miss you." Lucia had a feeling it might've been more than that, but she gave her sister another hug.
"I'll miss you too. I won't be too long, time will fly by." She tried to reassure.
"Yeah, I guess. I can't believe mom is letting you miss school for this."
"The flights were cheaper this way."
"Still, totally not fair. She would never let me skip."
"Like that ever made a difference."
Santana smirked. "Yeah, suppose."
"Behave yourself, tell Quinn that I'll beat her ass if she hurts you, blah blah blah, and I don't know, like carry my bag down for me? Please?"
Santana stood and patted the top of her suitcase. "Fuck off." With that she left and went back into her own room.
"Lucia!" Her mom called from the bottom of the stairs. "Your auntie is here to take you."
"Be down in a minute!" She hauled her bag off her bed with a huff and dragged it to the top of the stairs. Before she left she popped her head back into Santana's room and saw her yabbering away down the phone. She caught her eye and gestured to her, asking if it was Quinn. When her sister nodded she pointed at her and pretended to cry, then pointed at the phone and punched her palm a few times. Santana just laughed and waved her off. Maybe she thought she was joking, but she'd straight up murder a bitch for her big sister.
"See ya!" She shouted from the front door.
"Bye!" Was the response she got back, then she heard her sister's laughter at something Quinn must've said.
She'd be alright.
…
"Thanks for this, it was starting to look a little janky."
"You said it," Santana said as she applied the blonde dye to Quinn's hair. "Are you going to keep it short?"
"Yeah, maybe for a short while, it's way easier to wash. And I think it's cute."
"It is." She shook the applicator bottle to get the last bit out. "This stuff stinks. I hope you're going to pay me generously for this."
"I'll think about it," Quinn smiled at Santana's reflection in the mirror. They were at her house in her bathroom. She'd had a free house for most of the day with her mom being out with Tennis. At least she was admitting she was dating him now. "Have you thought about Winter Formal? I know that the other guys are going, we could go together." When the other girl frowned she quickly interjected, "It can be a friend date, you know, like going with a friend. But secretly a date-date? Nobody will be any the wiser." She tried not to sound too hopeful.
"I'm not sure, Q. Isn't it kind of risky?"
"Why would it be? It'll be fine."
Santana didn't look convinced. "I'll think about it."
"Okay."
…
Monday's Glee club did little to help Quinn's case. They had been practising some new steps for a routine when they started to mess with each other. Quinn would "accidentally" bump into the back of Santana and she'd be poked in the back in return. They kept upping the ante, thinking the others were too distracted to pay them any notice. It's only when Kurt's harmless "get a room" remark hit them that Santana became cold.
Quinn doubted he even meant anything by it and it was just a joke, like anyone would make, how was he to know it was a great, big, red sore spot? It didn't stop Santana from creating distance and moving into the middle of the group.
Even though she gave Quinn an apologetic look it still stung a bit. Mercedes bumped shoulders with her and pulled her attention for the rest of the routine, she was glad she had a distraction.
"You want to come over soon? My parents are missing you." Mercedes smiled when they had a break in practise.
The comment touched Quinn, Mercedes' parents were so warm and kind to her, when she first met them and saw how they were with their daughter she was genuinely a little awed at how a healthy relationship with your parents could be. "Of course, I'd love to."
"Oh good, now I can tell them to get off my case." Mercedes' mouth quirked with amusement despite the annoyed tone, it made her smile too. Quinn linked her arms with one of Mercedes' and put her head on her shoulder as they stood listening to Mr Schue. "You okay, girl?"
"Yeah," she glanced at Santana, "don't worry about it."
Glee soon came to an end and Santana quickly let Quinn know that she had to get home, she nodded in understanding and gave her hand a light squeeze. She knew Santana must have been panicking, but seeing Rachel chase her down did give her a chuckle.
Before she left herself, she saw Finn lingering near the doorway waiting for her.
As she thought, as soon as she made her way toward him he seemed to be preparing himself for something.
"Hey, Finn. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, you look nice today," he gestured to her the dress she had on. She thought that if she was going to dye her hair back that she'd take up some of her old clothes too. The Skanks had ribbed her at first, but she wasn't too bothered. Her plans were changing and even though she'd given up on her image after quitting Cheerios, she had to admit that she missed some of the benefits. Maybe she'll take a new spin on it. She could still be top bitch and not under Sue's or the Skanks' thumb.
"Oh, thanks." She flattened out the nonexistent creases in her skirt.
"I was thinking," that's dangerous she thought, "since we're both single now and there's a dance coming up that maybe you'd like to go with me?" His dopey smile that once endeared her sat on his face, waiting eagerly for her response.
Quinn tried not to react too wildly, she knew she definitely had no interest, but Finn didn't. "Can I get back to you on that?"
…
"Absolutely not."
"That would be my preferred answer too, but San, if we're keeping up appearances this could work well."
"I'm not fucking having it, Quinn. Just, no."
Quinn had made her way straight to Santana's after her talk with Finn, she'd spent the drive over thinking of the pros and cons of his proposal. Maybe it would work in their favour. Especially after seeing how freaked Santana was over Kurt's comment. It could take some heat off, right?
"San, I don't like him if that's what you're worried about."
"Quinn!" Santana exclaimed, too frustrated to even make a point.
"I don't understand what you want me to do here. It's just a dance."
"You just said you didn't want to go with him, but it sure sounds like you do. Fucking go ahead then. I'm not going to be there." Oh, boy.
"What?" incredulous, "I won't go with him, it's fine. Truly. Why are you so mad about this, it's only Finn?"
"It doesn't matter who it is."
"Why?"
"Because, not to sound like a prehistoric caveman or anything," she looked at Quinn, "you're mine. I don't want to pretend share you or whatever dumb shit you're trying to sell. I don't want that."
Quinn's heart softened at Santana's admission. They had been arguing this whole time standing across from each other in Santana's room. That wasn't any good. She made sure to close the distance between them and sat with Santana on the edge of her bed, holding onto her delicate wrists and rubbing them soothingly with her thumbs.
"Me either." It came out as soft as the skin under hers.
"Good." Santana smiled at her then and turned her gaze back to their hands. She was thumbing over the recent ink she had there, it was healing nicely. "I can't tell you how much I," she didn't finish her sentence. She simply traced Beth's name and sat in silence. When she looked back up into hazel Quinn could see her throat bobbing with held back tears.
I love you.
"I love you." Quinn felt like her heart was going to beat its way out of her chest.
"You do?" Santana whispered, a few tears falling from her eyes.
"Yes." And she knew it was true.
"I," the other girl started, but couldn't finish as she burst into tears unable to talk.
"Oh no. Don't cry." Quinn held her, worry in her voice.
"I'm not sad." The words came out uneven, but clear all the same. "It's just a lot at the moment."
"Okay. That's okay." She settled herself in the middle of the bed and encouraged Santana to do the same so they could lie together.
After some time Santana finally settled down and pulled Quinn tighter against herself. "I'll go with you. As your date, I mean."
Quinn was pulled out of her own world, shocked by the words. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
"I do, I've got to stop being so scared."
"You don't have to do anything."
"I'm sure, Quinn. And like you say, it's just a dance. No big." Quinn could tell by her voice that she was nervous, hell, she was nervous for her.
"Exactly, we can go together," Quinn shot Santana a sly smirk, "dance together." Santana let out a small laugh. "Everyone will support us you know."
"Maybe not everyone." Puck came to mind, but she wouldn't let that dick determine how this would go.
"The people that matter will and the people who don't won't care, for the most part anyway. We can deal with the rest as it comes. Look at Kurt, he had a rough start but look at him now."
"Do you think he'll bring that guy he's been gushing about? It's revolting the way he goes on and on," Santana had a fond smile despite her words and she couldn't blame her. Kurt had been seeing a guy from another school for a little while now and he hadn't shut up about him since. It was sweet.
"We could always ask. We're in it together, San. If you have any doubts, please just tell me and we can do whatever you like." Quinn placed a hand on the other girl's face and brought her in for a soft kiss.
"Aren't you just the best girlfriend ever?" Santana murmured out between kisses, her tone light and joking.
"Girlfriend?" Quinn leaned back a little.
"Well duh, I'd hope so. What have we been this whole time?" Santana was still smiling at her and it made her feel warm inside, didn't stop her from teasing her though.
"I don't remember you asking me." Quinn slowly ran her fingertips along the skin of Santana's neck, enjoying the slight shiver she felt come over the other girl.
"I'm pretty sure I asked you if we were dating. That counts." She countered.
"I don't know. I think you should make sure." Quinn lightly bit her lip so that she didn't smile too hard, she wanted to keep some allusion of seriousness to her act.
When Santana pulled away and sat up she was confused, had she said something wrong? But then she was being pushed back onto the bed, the air in her lungs escaping her. Santana climbed on top of her, thighs either side of her hips, plump lips back on hers.
She closed her eyes and took all of her in, the taste of her mouth, the smell of her perfume and the feel of her weight on top of her. Quinn felt drunk on Santana.
"You seeing anybody?" The question brushed against her mouth and she decided to keep her eyes closed, knowing they'd be too close to see each other properly anyway.
"Yeah." It came out more breathless than she intended.
"Oh, yeah?" The low, husky tone of Santana's voice shot straight between her legs.
"Yeah."
"Will she mind this?" Her lips were back on hers and she happily accepted them, shaking her head slightly when Santana pulled back.
She opened her eyes then and saw dark brown eyes staring back. "What about this?" Santana's hand snaked down her body and pulled at the bottom of her dress until it was up and over her hips. She torturously grazed her inner-thighs, stroking until Quinn couldn't cope with it anymore. Quinn tried to move her body to get her to touch her where she needed her, but Santana just pulled back.
"Please." She whispered.
That was all it took to have her touching her again, only this time Santana wasn't shy about giving her what she so desperately wanted.
Quinn couldn't help the gasp she let out at the pressure of Santana's hand cupping her, her mind going haywire. Thank God she went back to dresses.
"And this?"
Again she shook her head no, never letting her eyes leave Santana's. She didn't think she could speak if she wanted to. They held their gaze as she felt the other girl's hand move ever so slightly up to the band of her underwear, teasing at it just enough to elicit a verbal response from Quinn.
"Santana, I swear to God-" she didn't get much further before she felt fingers sliding into wet heat. "Oh fu-" she moaned, one hand cupping Santana's jaw, the other on her back, urging her closer, deeper.
Santana set a steady pace, telling Quinn to open her eyes when they fell closed once more and Quinn did. She'd do anything for her. For every pant and moan that escaped her it felt as though Santana translated every one into making her delirious. She tilted her hips upwards and pulled Santana into a heated kiss, wanting to tell her without words what she was doing to her as their rhythm became frantic.
"Up." Quinn got out. Santana didn't need to be told twice as she broke away to pull her shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor without a second glace along with her bra. Her pants didn't last long either. No time to lose.
"Off."
"Help me." Quinn lifted her arms for Santana to pull her dress over her head. And help she did with only a small struggle and a few giggles as the dress put up some resistance. Once it was finally off they took a second to take each other in, basked in the soft glow of the bedside lamp. The warm light being quite the contrast to the darkening sky of winter's early nights.
They shared a soft smile and came together once more. Their movements were slowed by the interruption, their caresses were gentler and more thoughtful, their kisses deeper and lingering.
Lying entwined, one of Santana's thighs fit snugly in-between Quinn's, she slid her fingers back down into Quinn's slick heat, gathering the wetness there before dragging them back up to her clit. Her head was tucked into Quinn's neck and she could feel the other girl's pulse race as she began to move.
Listening to Quinn's moans she kept going, pressing harder ever so slightly when she felt the friction between her own legs begin to increase. Quinn's legs fell open, her pants coming quicker and her nails digging deeper, quicker and quicker still until Santana heard a guttural moan and glanced down to see what she had already felt, her hand trapped between creamy white thighs and her own.
"I love you too." Quinn almost didn't register the words and when she did her eyes opened wide, looking at the flushed face of her girlfriend.
Relaxing her clenched thighs she ran her hand up Santana's back to hold her face, kissing her sweetly before running her hands back down to her ass then thighs to give herself leverage to pull herself up and flip Santana onto her back.
"Thanks."
The evening was spent showing each just how much they loved each other, between sweaty sheets and sweet nothings until Santana's mom came home from work and Quinn thought it best to make herself scarce.
The smile on her face hurt her cheeks as she skipped her way to her car out front. Before she got in she turned back to see Santana waving her goodbye from her window and she lifted her hand in turn. When Santana blew her a kiss she laughed to herself and pretended to catch it. That smile stayed on her face all the way home. Her heart hadn't felt so full in so long.
…
Mercedes, Brittany and Rachel were gathered in the lunch line the next day talking shop. Had Santana and Quinn been closer today? Or were they imagining things?
"Rachel, why are you even in the queue? You know they don't sell anything vegan." Mercedes asked as she held her tray out for more tots.
"It's a ruse, I needed to talk to you two before we all sat together for lunch."
"Well?" Brittany said from her spot behind her.
"Well, I know that you know that I know since our last chat," she tossed a look behind her at Brittany, "that I know about the Santana and Quinn thing. I wanted to thank you in advance for the money I'm about to win, because those two are definitely going to confirm their dating status any day now."
Mercedes stopped in her tracks. "What money?"
"The money from the betting pool?"
"Betting pool? What the hell?"
Rachel whipped around and pinned Brittany with a glare. "Where's my money?"
Brittany stared back unblinking, "I don't remember."
Rachel let out a growl of frustration and stomped off toward the table where the Glee kids usually sat.
"Why'd you tell her?" Mercedes chastised Brittany.
"I don't know, I thought it'd make things more interesting. C'mon 'Cedes," she pointed in Rachel's direction, her face scrunched up in annoyance, "I feel bad. Can we include her still?"
Mercedes relented, Brittany's puppy dog look was too much. "Ugh, fine."
...
"What's with the sourpuss, Berry?" Santana asked from her spot next to Quinn from across the table.
"Daylight robbery is what." She crossed her arms and huffed out.
"Do I even want to ask?" Santana rolled her eyes for Quinn's benefit, getting a light laugh out of her.
"No." Mercedes and Brittany came from the food line and took their seats. Rachel made a point to ignore their presence.
"Oo, what'd you get?" Santana leaned over to snatch a tot only to have Mercedes smack her hand away.
"Get your own."
"Will you guys be coming to Winter formal? I heard that Finn asked you, Quinn." Artie interrupted, oblivious to the tension he just created.
Tina, Lauren, Sugar and Kurt all seemed to want to know too, the only people not present being the boys who played football. Beiste had been riding them harder than usual. Wanky.
"He did," Quinn took a hesitant look at Santana who gave her a slight nod, "and I said no. But, I'm going, I mean we're going. Santana and I. Together."
"Oh that's so nice, you're such good friends," Sugar gushed, Lauren side-eyed her in disbelief.
"Not as friends."
"As in?" Kurt poked.
"Girlfriends." Santana said with confidence she definitely did not feel in the moment, she gripped one of Quinn's hand and gave her a wobbly smile.
"You're gay?" Sugar asked quietly and mostly to herself. When did this happen? She hadn't seen any signs whatsoever, at all, nada, zilch. Except at the sleepover, but like, oh. Her eyes widened in realisation.
"Yes!" Rachel clapped her hands together, "Oh my goodness, Santana I'm ecstatic for you I really am."
"Well can you keep the ecstatic to a two-man radius please?"
Rachel put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, yes. Of course." Santana could still make out the smile Rachel was trying to hold in and it was kind of infectious because she was smiling too.
"I'm happy for you, the both of you." Kurt added.
"We're telling you guys because we trust you and you're our friends. We aren't screaming it from the rooftops or anything, but we thought we would share it with you. So, you're welcome." Santana couldn't help adding a bit of snark to what she had to say, but from the faces she saw around her, they appreciated the sentiment.
The revelation injected some life into the table's conversation for the rest of lunch; people asking when and how; Santana getting annoyed with the interrogation; Rachel feeling vindicated and therefore somehow even more talkative than usual; Kurt asking everybody what they were going to wear; so on and so forth. It was a little hectic, manners were out of the window, but so what? Santana had told people she had a girlfriend and they didn't hate her for it, if she wasn't slightly pissed at the leer she caught Artie throwing their way she might've cried or something God-awful like that. This group of weirdos had come a long way together. It was kind of awesome. Don't tell them that, though.
…
Rachel was readjusting her headband in the girls' toilets when Bonnie and Clyde themselves accosted her. "Hello, ladies."
"Listen Rachel, Brittany didn't lie, we were betting and you won," Mercedes pulled out the small wad of bills from her back pocket and held it out for Rachel to take.
"I won? I won? I won!" Rachel cackled, that's right, cackled. Brittany shot a concerned look to Mercedes.
"It's a good thing we fessed up, she could've cursed us." Brittany glanced back at Rachel who was still grinning like the cat that got the cream.
"Thank you, ladies. I'll be sure to invest wisely. Now, if you don't mind." Rachel skipped past them without a second look and was out of the door.
"Remind me to never trust you to keep a secret."
"Hey, I'm plenty good at keeping secrets." Mercedes narrowed her eyes at Brittany, but Brittany just gave her a mischievous smirk.
"You're a strange one, Brittany Pierce."
"Thank you." She held her arm out for Mercedes to link. "Now come on, the smell of bathrooms remind me too much of that time I hid in a cubicle at my little cousin's bar mitzvah. One of his pimply friends kept asking if I'd fallen from heaven. It was so weird, cause like, how'd he know? I had to get out of dodge, but my mom was my ride. Total bummer."
"Your family's Jewish?"
"What? No. Why?"
Mercedes took a few slow blinks. "Nevermind."
