As much as I would like to own them, all the characters of Glee belong to Fox – I own nothing. All the characters of The Fast and the Furious belong to Universal Studios, I'm just borrowing some of them. All writing belongs to me.
First of all, something I forgot to say last week: congrats to all my American readers on marriage equality, I'm so proud to be out and free knowing that you can get married just as much as everybody else! #LoveWins
Second, I hope you all enjoy reading this. I'm hoping to get an update out next week too and then I'm gonna be away for summer Swan Queen Week but I'll let you know more about my schedule and that next week.
Thank you to everybody who has continued to follow, fave and review, I love all of you guys! Enjoy this update and I will see you next week! :D
Marley walked into the living room where the entire crew was scattered watching TV and placed her hands on her hips. "Ok, everybody up."
"Marley?"
Looking down at her crew leader Marley shrugged. "We're racing tonight."
Letty shared looks with the others before shrugging. Anything was better than sitting here at the house doing nothing. "You heard the woman, everybody up."
As they exited the house Marley shared a glance with Brittany and once the blonde had announced she'd catch up and sent Marley a wink the rest of the crew set off, everybody splitting off to their separate cars.
Cassandra laughed from beside Puck as they walked over to where Marley was lent up against the hood of her car at the start line.
"Where's your team member Rose? I thought this was a team race."
Marley shrugged. "It is."
"Then why don't you tell us why you dragged us out here? You plan on taking our guys by yourself?"
The brunette laughed. "No."
"Then where are they? Obviously they aren't any of your cowardly crew."
"No, but they're not."
"Who?"
Looking over her shoulder as if on cue Santana pulled up and filled the space in the center of the row. Marley grinned and turned back to Cassandra. "Her."
"What?"
"Don't look so surprised Cassie." Santana smirked as she got out of her Supra.
"Hey S."
"Hey Rose."
Santana smiled and accepted Marley's hug just as Blaine and the others made their way over. "Who's racing other than Marley and Santana?"
"Rory and Mercedes." Puck replied.
Blaine nodded. "Ok, 15k buy-in for everyone. Dollars everyone." Once they had all handed him the required bundles he smiled and handed the money to Mia to hold for safekeeping. "The race track has been sent to your GPS'. There's a yellow GT86 waiting at the halfway mark for you already so as soon as you see it treat it like a barrel and get around it and head back the way you came to start the second half of the race. To your cars people."
Santana and Marley shared a knowing look over the hood of Marley's orange Camaro and just as she was about to get back into her Supra Santana stopped at the sound of Cassandra's voice.
"Miss. Lopez, where's the mesmerizing Miss. Pierce this evening?"
Turning her head in the direction of the woman she despised she shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? It's not like she's my girlfriend anymore. Ask her her crew. Maybe she didn't wanna come."
Without giving the blonde a chance to reply Santana got into her car, smiling as she buckled up her race harness and pulled her snapback around to the front. Little did Cassandra know Santana knew exactly where Brittany was and what she was doing, she just had to keep up the façade until the end of the race. Moments later Blaine was telling them that they just had to wait for the race starter to arrive. Santana turned to her right to see Rory smirking at her but despite the fact that he had a brand new car it didn't phase her. She knew he wasn't anything to worry about, he was the same old Rory, just that this time he had a prettier cover to his book. Then she had a thought. In a way it was much like Fifty Shades of Grey, No matter how many times you changed the cover the writing was still a load of utter crap. Their intense gaze was broken however when everybody went quiet, both crews and the entire crowd surrounding them.
Faster, faster, faster, faster
Santana couldn't help but grin at what she saw.
Say you wanna live faster, faster, I got what you asked for
All the girls standing in the line for the bathroom
You ain't that shy, baby, don't be actin' bashful
Hands all in it like I'm pickin' out a raffle
Brittany walked confidently step after step towards the center of the road, her black heels clicking as everybody around her watched on in awe. She had to stop herself from grinning to maintain her 'seductive' cover, her face serious but alluring and framed by her curled blonde hair that fell down around her shoulder's like a waterfall of golden waves. It was all a cover – the sexy get up, the black 'fuck me' heels, the cool facial expression, all part of Marley and Santana's plan. They had agreed to get back at Rory and the rest of his crew by playing with them and the first order of business was to keep them thinking just that little bit longer that her and Santana still weren't together any more. If that meant dressing up in clothes that Santana would surely rip off her the moment they were alone, Brittany was definitely up for it.
Roll up, light a candle
Shot after shot, never runnin' out of ammo
We some wild animals, fuck what the time is
Walk that line, you'll be up all night, bitch
Hell nah, we ain't high yet
Know I got that loud and you niggas sound quiet
In this bitch deeper than a choir
It's lookin' like your first time, baby, are you sure you wanna try it?
Are you sure you wanna try it? Are you sure you wanna try it?
The blonde grinned and winked at Blaine, who was also in on the plan, and made her way in between Santana's Supra and Rory's Saleen, the two drivers rolling down their windows. "I have something for the both of you..." Santana couldn't help but blush slightly at the sound of Brittany's drawn out husky voice, trying hard to ignore the rush of heat it sent downwards between her legs.
"Whoever wins...gets me. Whoever loses...goes home alone to a cold empty bed knowing that if they tried just that little bit harder they'd be coming home with me..."
She bit her lip and smirked at both Rory and Santana's expressions and turned around, strutting back to where she needed to be. As she walked she knew Santana's gaze was on her, the blonde making sure to put an extra sway in her hips before she stopped and turned around. Looking over to Cassandra she smirked before pulling the white bandanna from the back pocket of her skin-tight jeans.
Faster, faster, faster, faster
Say you wanna live faster, faster, I got what you asked for
All around the world, baby, hope you got your passports
Goin' outta town, gotta leave in the early morn'
I ain't even pack, all I need is a carry-on
Brittany raised her arms, all four cars engines roaring as they itched to begin. Unbeknownst to Rory he missed the wink Brittany sent Santana's way and began her countdown.
"Four...three...two...one...GO!"
She dropped to the ground and despite wearing high heels she spun to see all four racers speeding down the road. She knew exactly who would win, not that she wouldn't be going home with her anyway.
I know this sound very strong
But I might just bring my Mary on
Leave your friends, so depressing like a marriage song
Still impressed by the suites at the Marriott
Come and let me upgrade you
Bad bitch sniffin' round, and she hit the nasal
Girls gone wild, takin' shots from the navel
Somewhere overseas, man, my name's Mr. Navel
Marley laughed over the radio as they hit the first corner, the two of them falling into second and third behind Mercedes in her Lamborghini whilst Rory was pushed back to a non-surprising fourth place.
"Santana! That was so not an act!"
"Shut up Rose." She mumbled, focusing on staying right behind Mercedes.
"You should have seen the look on your face!"
"Marley!"
"What? I'm so gonna tell Brittany!"
"I'm pretty sure she already knows. Anyway enough!"
"But it's funny!"
"Just race Marley!" She groaned, more than done with this conversation. Right now they had a race to focus on.
This race was a simple point-to-point and back again. It made it that much more longer but it wasn't something that either Marley or Santana couldn't handle. As for their opponents on the other hand that was a whole different story. Their cars reflected the entire transformation of their crew and just like their crew mates they had upgraded to supercars. Rory, despite the fact that he was now in a much better car than ever before, drove like he always had – sloppily. That's why Santana had no problems pitting her Supra up against his bright yellow Saleen S7. It had a twin turbo like her own car but she was sure that even if the stakes were high i.e. the fact that he thought he was racing for Brittany, her car could outmatch him, if not her driving skills. Marley had no problem either. She knew Mercedes would be greedy, she always was, and Marley wouldn't mind sharing paint with her precious new Lamborghini Aventador. It was such a common supercar that she had to resist the urge to gag. It's bright neon purple paintwork didn't help. God it made her cringe. But it didn't phase her. Like Santana she was confident and if nudging the other woman meant it helped Santana get ahead and win Marley would do it.
The first leg of the race was going to be relatively easy. There weren't that many complicated turns and they were much wider which meant that both Santana and Marley could equally gain an early lead and the opportunity to put some space between them and Mercedes and Rory before they hit the more complex corners that signalled they were nearing halfway.
As expected around the first few turns both Rory and Mercedes floored their cars, pushing them to show off whilst Marley and Santana took it easy. They knew they had to win, sure, but they wouldn't win if they pushed it now. They soon came up to a straight and Santana shifted up a gear as she pushed down on the accelerator, bringing the Supra a few feet behind the bright yellow Saleen. Rory looked up into his rear view mirror and growled, already swerving from right to left to try and stop her from overtaking.
It worked, much to Santana's disappointment, but if she'd tried overtaking him going into a turn she surely would have ended up wrapped around a street lamp or something much worse. That's why she pulled back a little, seeing Marley in her rear-view mirror not that far behind her. Looking back at the road in front of her she swerved easily around a Lexus before catching sight of Rory's car once again. Seeing the map on her GPS and the highlighted course she flickered her eyes back up to the road and continued to close the gap between her and Rory.
"Mar? You seeing this road?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You see the next two turns?"
"Of course."
"Good, go in fast and snap straight into the next. You got it?"
"I'll follow your lead."
"Then you'd better hold on tight."
Gripping the steering wheel tightly Santana ignored the pain in her arm and shifted up a gear nearly bumper to bumper with Rory. As expected he did what anybody else would do and started nervously swerving to try and shake her. Santana wasn't having any of it though. She just steeled her gaze and shifted up again, resisting the urge to cry out in amusement when Rory suddenly and violently swerved to the right clearing her path. Immediately she pressed her foot down on the gas pedal, weaving through traffic as she threw herself into the turn. Momentarily she looked up to see Marley right behind her as she did, the woman in the bright orange muscle handling her car surprisingly well.
It only continued to surprise her as she snapped her car from one turn to the next, the long sort-of straight allowing both her and Marley the room to accelerate more without having to worry too much about their speed around the tight turns. Santana watched ahead as the familiar tail lights of the Lamborghini weaved through traffic and entered the next turn.
"One down, one to go."
"Stay on her-OW!"
"Rose, you ok?"
Marley looked up and quickly rubbed the back of her head, seeing Rory in her rear-view mirror. He was right behind her and if looks could kill she'd have multiple daggers sticking out of her back. He had come up from behind whilst she hadn't been looking and rammed her rear bumper, the speed and force behind his hit giving her whiplash as her head hit the top of the bucket seat she was sat in. Pressing her foot down she made sure she put another few feet of space between them before answering Santana.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"What happened?"
"Rory rear-ended me. Hit me right up the back."
"You good to keep going?"
"It's nothing Q can't fix, plus I'll get over the pain. You got eyes on Mercedes?"
"Yep, hard to miss."
"Stay on her S. I'll deal with Rory whilst you gun for first."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, now floor it!"
Santana nodded even though she knew Marley couldn't see it and gripped the wheel just that little bit tighter. She shifted her gaze momentarily from the Lamborghini's rear lights to her map and saw one more turn before it opened into the longest straight of the entire race. When she looked back up however Mercedes was gone, literally.
"Rose, I've lost eyes on Mercedes."
"To the right!"
"What?"
"Look before you miss it!"
Santana looked to the right and sure enough there was a small opening. In a matter of moments she violently swung the steering wheel in it's direction and was being thrown into a narrow but clear alleyway.
"Mar where does this lead?"
"It cuts out all the traffic and ends on the turn coming off the straight. If you can catch up to her and overtake you can be in first for all the technical turns coming up. That way you can be the first to the halfway point. I'll keep Rory in fourth, you just need to get the lead so I can go after Mercedes."
"Done, I've got eyes back on her now."
"Then go for it."
Her eyebrows furrowing Santana ignored the throb of pain in from her stitches from gripping the steering wheel tighter and pressed her foot down. Her and Mercedes eyes met through the rear-view mirror of the Lamborghini and Mercedes scowled, Santana knowing that she had pissed her off by finding out she'd taken the short-cut. This however didn't phase her and she continued to push the Supra forward until it was a foot or two behind the Aventador. She had to admit that for a supercar her car was doing a pretty good job at keeping up with it. Then again the person driving it probably didn't know shit about how to push it to it's limits.
She used that to her advantage when they came to the slight bend in the alleyway that opened up and Santana steered to the right, immediately shifting up a gear the moment she was clear of Mercedes' back end. She snapped the car forwards and used the remaining space to speed ahead, taking first place as the alleyway narrowed once again.
"Bitch!"
Santana laughed as she watched Mercedes curse in her rear-view mirror. She focused back on the remaining section of alleyway and when she looked down at the GPS map she knew that the exit she had to make had to be perfect. That meant avoiding traffic. She'd rather not be a victim of a car accident tonight. Not when she was enjoying herself and definitely not when she knew that her girlfriend was waiting at the finish line. Scary Brittany terrified the living crap out of her.
She counted down the seconds and held her breath momentarily as she came to the exit of the alleyway. Mercedes was hot on her tail as she reached it and all she could do was pray to God that she didn't end up hitting someone. There was a slight ramp and as she hit it she felt the car gain air, her hands in a death grip on the wheel as she came out at speed. Mercedes flew out behind her moments later and as soon as the Supra hit the road with force she had no time to think as she focused on avoiding being hit by the heavy traffic. Luckily though the rear wheel drive on the car came in handy and she used the way it slid to her advantage, letting it slide out wide around an estate car before pulling back the control. Marley watched up ahead as Santana drifted in and out of traffic, Mercedes doing a much worse job at keeping up with the fluidity of it. She was all over the place as she fought to get her control back and Marley was pretty sure that the other woman had been so focused on keeping up with Santana that she hadn't gauged the effects of what she was doing like the Latina had and in turn just lost second place.
Marley saw this opportunity and with one last glance in her mirror seeing Rory two car lengths behind her she looked back ahead and shifted up a gear, smiling when she heard the familiar roar of her Camaro's classic engine kick into action.
"Santana, I'm going for second! Push forward and I'll keep Mercedes behind!"
"You sure you got it under control?" Santana asked as she entered the wide but rounded turn.
"Yes. Go!"
"Roger that!"
Santana did just that and made sure to put some space between her and everybody else as she tackled the next few turns. After she'd managed to pull herself around a tight ninety degree corner without losing too much speed she shifted right back up into a higher gear and pushed into the next straight. It wasn't long before she had hit the next few remaining turns and come to the wide one that led to the turn around point. Seeing as she didn't have anybody behind her, at least not in sight, she threw the car into a drift, the car easily sliding thanks to it's rear wheel drive. She smiled to herself as she came out of it, knowing that she was making Brittany, the crew's resident drift queen, proud. The blonde was probably watching and it only served to make her grin go wider.
Looking up ahead she could see that the road split into two so thinking logically she went right, seeing the bright yellow Toyota 86 up ahead exactly where Blaine said it would be. Construction work around it, this road was perfect for a halfway point meaning that they could get around it without too much trouble. The area around the car was clear as Santana approached it and once again knowing that this would probably require a well executed snap or slide she put all of her drifting knowledge into play. The only person she knew could pull off a perfect snap like that was Brittany but since she wasn't quiet as good as her when it came to things like that she decided to use the fact that she was quite a way ahead of the others and what knowledge she did have and slide around the car relatively wide.
She smirked at the two flirtatious Asian women who were hanging out the windows and grinned as she came out of the turn, already seeing Marley fast approaching, Mercedes and Rory undoubtedly not far behind.
"Good looking S."
"Thanks Rose. You ok to keep Puck's minions behind?"
"Without a doubt!"
Santana grinned as she watched Mercedes and Rory pass her going in the opposite direction. Marley wasn't far behind, Santana now seeing her in her rear-view mirror signalling that she'd cleared the car and had started the second half of the race, the two of them holding steady at first and second.
She continued to push forwards but she knew that the complexity of the turns would slow her down along with everybody else. That didn't discourage her though. Instead she continued to keep her speed and control in balance as she maintained first place and as soon as she came out of the wide turn Marley was urgently shouting through the ear piece in her ear.
"Santana, watch out!"
"For what?" She asked, narrowly avoiding an oncoming bus.
"Rory got the drop on me. He went tight into the corner and got past me. He's heading right for the alleyway short cut!"
"I'm not gonna make it! I had to dodge a bus. I'm right on the other side!" There was a brief pause as she contemplated what to do next before she was speaking again. "Keep Mercedes back, I'll deal with Rory!"
"Are you sure?"
"I've got this."
And she knew she did. Even though she knew that Brittany would definitely not be going home with Rory she knew that he was more determined than ever thinking that he actually had a chance with her. That meant he was reckless and being behind the wheel of such a powerful car only made it that much worse, not to mention much more lethal. In a way it was like her first race back going up against Brody. A stupid driver had been put behind the wheel of a Koenigsegg Agrera and in turn it could have not only killed him but Santana and innocent civilians. It was the same here.
Knowing that she had no choice she had to swerve in and out of traffic as Rory took the short-cut which had probably put her into second place. She'd have to admit it did make her a little nervous but then again this was Rory they were talking about. Sometimes she really wondered why on Earth Puck picked him to race against her and Letty's crew. He couldn't win for shit.
As she came to the end of the straight she knew that there wasn't that much of the track remaining before the finish line was in sight so steeling her gaze she shifted her car into a higher gear and pushed the Supra around the first corner. Up ahead she could see Rory hitting the next one so she pressed her foot down almost to the floor and slid at high speed around it to make up some ground. Now about three car lengths behind she knew that this was a good straight to overtake him. She came around the corner onto it and saw an opening not that far ahead, the traffic busy on both sides of the road. Up ahead cars blared their horns as Rory swerved in front of them and around throwing them all off. Santana was left to deal with his aftermath as he floored it, the car speeding ahead and putting more space in between them as she was slowed down trying to get around the mix match of vehicles he'd left in his wake.
Her eyes flickered down to the map and it only took her a few moments to gauge that she had very little time at the speed they were both going to regain first place.
"Mar, I need you."
"What for?"
"Rory. You wanna do some blocking?"
"It would be my pleasure. Mercedes is way too far behind anyway."
"Then get your butt up here!"
"Done!"
Not that long later as Santana entered the first turn after the straight Marley was right by her side. The two cars sped up as they gained on Rory and as they entered the next turn Marley was screaming out.
"Watch out S, this is gonna get a bit bumpy!"
Santana immediately looked to her left and let Marley overtake, the bright orange Camaro coming into contact with the left wheel arch of Rory's Saleen thanks to the fact that he had gone wide.
"Go go go!"
Santana took Marley's words to heart as soon as she heard them and stayed tight on the inside line of the turn. She shifted up a gear as her grip grew tighter and the car sped up, knowing that she didn't have that much left in the way of track. Glancing up into her rear-view as she came out of the turn she could see Marley not that far behind her. She saw a thumbs up and focused back onto the road, turning the Supra onto the final stretch and seeing the crowd up ahead. Smiling she sped up just a little and crossed the line with ease, Marley passing over it moments later, and hit the brakes, letting the car slide to a stop as smoke bellowed from the burning rubber of the tires. Her breathing was ragged as she watched Rory cross the line in third followed by Mercedes in last but she couldn't help the grin that plastered itself across her face as she spotted Brittany following behind the crew as they made their way to her car.
She unbuckled the race harness and slid out, smiling over at Marley as the brunette approached her. The two shared a bro hug before Blaine walked up with a smile of his own plastered across his face. "I do believe this belongs to you." He held out his hands and Santana happily took the cash, in turn giving it all to Marley.
"As part of our deal. All of tonight's winnings."
Marley smiled from the money in her hands and up to Santana, nodding. "Thank you."
Santana shrugged. "No problem. Good race."
"Yeah, you too."
They shared another smile with one another before they heard a few murmurs. Santana looked up and tried her hardest to remain calm and collected, internally jumping for joy at the sight of her girlfriend. Brittany continued to walk through the crowd and soon broke free and came to a stop in front of her.
"Looks like I found my winner. You wanna take me home tonight?"
Ignoring the rush of heat that Brittany's seductive voice sent downwards Santana nodded. "It would be my pleasure."
Unable to keep up the façade Brittany's grin grew ten fold and ignoring everybody around them she gripped hold of Santana's neck with one hand and used the other to clutch at her jacket, smashing their lips together hungrily. Santana happily reciprocated the action, kissing her back, and as her arms came to rest around her waist Brittany smiled and took the snapback from Santana's head, putting it on her own. All Santana could do was smile and pull her in for another kiss.
"Hey!"
The two pulled apart, Brittany standing at Santana's side with the Latina's arm still around her waist as Rory angrily approached them.
"That was my race and you know it!"
Santana laughed. "I can't help you got blocked bro."
"She spun me off the road!"
Marley shrugged from her place beside Santana. "And? I was just doing my job."
"What job?!"
"Well, if you and the rest of the knuckle heads in your crew actually cared about racing you'd have someone who blocks for you. All I did was have Santana's back."
"And I lost Brittany – AGAIN!"
Santana shared a glance with said blonde, receiving a shrug from Brittany before turning back to Rory. "Correction – you never had her in the first place."
"She's right," Brittany agreed, unconsciously moving closer to Santana. "You never had me. Santana had me all along and as much as I hate the idea of people like you considering women as objects to be won like trophies I was never going home with you anyway. I'm Santana's girlfriend so back off."
"So you lied from the start?"
Everybody's heads turned to Cassandra who was stood next to Puck but the venom in the older blonde woman's tone didn't phase Brittany one bit – in fact it only spurred her on. "Yes. Why would I ever wanna go home with Rory of all people when I have a super hot girlfriend like Santana to go home to?"
"But-"
"Look, you can't say much. If you don't like the fact that Santana's my girlfriend you can shove it where the sun doesn't shine for all I care. Come on baby, let's go."
Before anybody had any chance to react Brittany was tugging on Santana's arm, more than done with Cassandra and whatever protests she was no doubt about to voice. Santana shared an understanding look with Letty across the crowd and with a knuckle tap to Marley she was getting back into her Supra, this time with Brittany in the passenger seat. They both pulled on the race harnesses and as soon as the crowd had moved out of the way to give her room to move Santana was pulling away.
"What was all that about? Not that I don't like you getting possessive that is..."
"She needed to know that you're my girlfriend and that her plan didn't work. Now she knows that even though I didn't say it out loud in front of her I still love you. She just needed a wake up call."
"Ok but please don't say anything else to her, ok? She's already dangerous enough as it is. I don't want her hurting you over me Britt." She said, reaching over and taking the blonde's hand into her own as she pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles.
Brittany looked over at her and nodded, sending her a smile as her body deflated. "I know. Thank you."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"Now...about my snapback..."
Marley and Kurt backed the truck up into the yard careful to avoid hitting any of the crews cars. Santana followed Letty out and stood next to Brittany as the two painters hopped down out of the truck.
"Hey. You guys wanna see the finished products?"
"Less talking Rose, more showing." Letty grinned, getting a playful slap to the arm from Mia.
Marley rolled her eyes as she and Kurt made their way to the end of the truck, both of them gripping hold of the blue tarp that was covering it. The two of them nodded at one another and then pulled it back revealing the first car – Mia's NSX.
Tina whistled in appreciation. "Damn girl, that's nice."
Mia smiled. "I know. Marley, Kurt, you did such a great job. Thank you."
"What can we say? Black isn't exactly the greatest colour to make look good." Kurt grinned. "Although, this car seemed to just suck it up like a second skin. Good match Santana."
"Thank you Kurt." The Latina smiled.
"Yeah, it looks good. Not many cars can pull off a look like 'black diamond' but everything visually turned out good. It's gonna look like a beast out on the streets, especially at night." Marley grinned.
"I agree. That's why I've gotta get her racing. My baby girl needs to make some money!"
"Hey, I just choose not to race." Mia pouted, earning a kiss on the cheek from Letty.
"I know babe but maybe now you can get out on the road. This car is sure to crush any car going up against it. Who knows, maybe you could ask Lopez to ride with you sometime."
Santana nodded at the crew leader and smiled reassuringly at Mia. "I'd love to."
"And that brings us to the second car – the RX7. Now, I have to admit that I thought you were a little crazy at first picking out a colour like 'cinder red' but wow was I wrong." Kurt said, already moving to the second tarp which was on the top tier of the truck.
Rachel rolled her eyes at her friend and moments later he and Marley were pulling the tarp off. Rachel's jaw dropped. "Oh wow."
"Yeah – oh wow." Quinn agreed, taken aback by the bright colour of her girlfriend's car and how good it looked on it.
"Do you like it?" Marley asked, seeing Rachel's still-shocked expression.
It took a few moments but eventually Rachel nodded. "It's amazing! I didn't think it could look so good."
"Me either. I seriously thought you'd pick purple like you always do but this is unbelievable."
"Thank you Dani."
"Why did you pick this colour anyway? It was red already." Brittany asked from her place beside Santana.
Rachel shrugged. "Well, when me and Santana were looking we decided to keep it true to the Bomex stock colour, i.e. what the company paint their cars when they show off their body kits. Seeing how it was orange and bright much like my girlfriend's yellow Skyline we decided to tone it down just a little and came somewhere halfway between orange and red. Then you get this, voilà."
Brittany nodded. "It's an interesting colour. You both did a great job."
"Yeah, they all did." Rachel smiled. "Both Kurt and Marley and Santana who helped us pick out the colours. Come here!" Rachel held out her arms and walked over to Santana. Mia followed her lead and both women embraced the Latina in a hug, soon joined by Kurt and Marley. "Thank you Santana."
Mia agreed. "Yeah, thank you."
"No problem ladies. I just helped."
"Yeah, and all we need to do now is permanently fix in the parts. Everybody ready to get to work?" When Letty received a round of nods she continued. "Ok then. Quinn, get on the roll bars and the rear wings. Santana, Dani, you're on brake and suspension duty. Tina, you're on ECU and transmission with Mia. Rachel, Britt, you're on interior detail. As for Marley you're on engine and turbo duty with me. Everybody clear on what they have to do? Ok then, let's move it ladies."
Rachel looked up from what she was doing and nudged Brittany.
"Britt, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Have you noticed Quinn and Santana?"
Looking up Brittany followed Rachel's gaze over to the two women who seemed to be joking about something. "What about them?"
"It's like nothing ever happened."
"How so?"
Rachel shrugged as she turned back to her best friend. "It's like they never stopped being best friends."
"Is that a bad thing?" Brittany asked with a raised eyebrow.
Rachel shook her head in response. "No, I was just pointing it out. It's good. I thought Quinn was never going to talk to her again."
"She just needed time – like you did. You needed some space but eventually you forgave her, same with Quinn. She's almost there but she hasn't quiet reached that point yet."
"I know, and I'm happy for them. Quinn was miserable."
"I'm not surprised. I have noticed that she's happier, Dani too."
"Yeah, it looks like Santana really is here."
"What do you mean?"
The brunette shrugged. "Well, there's just something about her."
Brittany followed Rachel's gaze once more, this time to Santana specifically, and back again. "You see it."
"See what?" Rachel inquired turning back to the blonde woman.
"What I see every day. You're seeing Santana exactly as she is – her. Quinn isn't quite there yet but she's getting there. Marley too."
Rachel nodded and there was a slight pause as she mulled over Brittany's words. She turned back to her best friend and smiled. "How is that?"
"How's what?" The blonde frowned.
"You know, you and Santana. How are you two?"
"What? Now that we're back together?" Rachel nodded. "It's better. She's much freer than she was before that day."
"And you're ok?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be? I'm happier than I've ever been."
"I know, I'm your best friend Britt, but I didn't get a chance to ask if you were ok after the other night when they got the Shelby."
"Oh..."
"It's not like that, I just wanted to check in with you. I know it mustn't have been easy seeing her hurt again, especially considering she got shot."
Brittany shrugged as she looked over at her girlfriend who was playfully punching Quinn in the arm. "I'm fine. Santana's still here breathing and that's all I need. I will admit that it hurt me when she came back hurt but she's ok. I'll get over it."
"How is her arm?"
"It's ok, it's getting better but she'll probably have another gunshot scar."
"Pft, you probably think it's sexy all these scars on her."
"Rach...that's got nothing to do with it!"
Rachel bit her lip trying to to hold back the smile. She knew instantly that Brittany was trying to deny it. "I have to admit though, you did stop her in her tracks when you told her not to throw the dog treat. I would have loved to have seen her face. I bet she loves dominant Brittany behind closed doors."
Brittany blushed at Rachel's wiggling eyebrows, her cheeks tinting a bright red. "Shut up. You're such a dork!" She replied with a chuckle, shoving Rachel in the shoulder.
"Hey, just stating the obvious!"
Ignoring Rachel's laugh Brittany rolled her eyes at her best friend and threw the nearest thing available to her – a parts catalogue. "Shut up!"
"Ladies, less play and more work." Burt chastised in passing, a small smile tugging at his lips as Brittany and Rachel both replied with sweet replies of 'yes'.
As soon as he was out of sight Brittany playfully slapped Rachel over the back of the head. "You heard the man, more work Berry!"
Brittany laughed when all she got in return was Rachel sticking out her tongue.
Quinn pulled up into Santana's driveway later that night, putting the black Skyline into park and pulling out her phone from her pocket. Tapping away at the screen she sent off a quick text.
-To: Santana-
I'm waiting in the driveway.
It didn't take long before the phone was buzzing in her her hand with a reply.
-Santana-
Good. On my away out now.
Quinn looked up a minute later to see Santana walking out, closing the gate behind her dressed in a pair of jeans, a black hoodie and black sneakers, her hair up in the perfect ponytail.
"Ok Q, you know where we're going?" She asked as soon as she was in the car.
The blonde nodded. "Of course. You good?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She frowned, slipping on her race harness.
Quinn shrugged as she turned around in the driveway and pulled out onto the road. "I was just curious. I didn't know whether your arm was good or not."
"It's fine. Well, as good as it can be considering I got shot again. I'll be fine – I can still boost a car with it."
"How's Britt?"
"She's good, or at least I think she is..."
Quinn glanced over at her friend. "You think?"
"Yeah, I don't really know."
"How? What's wrong?"
"I don't know how she feels about this Q. I've asked her on occasion but every time she tells me she's fine with it. I know she's not completely ok with it."
"Well, Rachel would be the same with me. It's most probably just the shock. I mean, even though last time she was angry with you you almost died. Now you're back together and you got shot again but this time she's there with you in the aftermath."
"What are you getting at?"
Quinn shrugged. "I don't know but maybe the shock of being around you after you got shot again is kinda taking a toll on her. Maybe you should try something to get through to her."
"Ok, you have any suggestions?" She asked as the blonde turned onto another street.
"Just reassure her that you're ok, that you're still here and not going anywhere and if I know Brittany like I think I do, she'll open up. She just needs time."
"You sure about that?"
"I've known Brittany for a long time Santana and even though we may have our differences considering what happened with the whole 'undercover' thing I'm not gonna tell you a lie. So, just give Brittany time and she'll eventually open up."
There was a pause in the conversation as Santana considered everything that Quinn had just told her. Turning to the blonde she smiled and reached out, patting her on the shoulder. "Thank you Quinn."
"No problem." She shrugged. "What are best friends for?"
"Wait – you consider me your best friend?"
Quinn immediately felt herself blush. "Uh...I...yeah." She sighed. "After the day we heard the recording I kinda realised I wasn't angry at you like I had thought – I was angry at Cassandra for everything she had done. As as result I realised that I hadn't lost my best friend, we'd just hit a bump in the road. Well, you can be my best friend if that's what you want...?"
Santana felt herself grin widely. "Of course that's what I want! Bros?"
Looking at the offered clenched fist Quinn smiled and held up her own, knuckle tapping the Latina. "Bros." There was another pause, this one much more pleasant, before Quinn spoke up again. "So, does Brittany know what we're doing?"
"She knows we're out for a girls night."
"Is that all?" Quinn smirked, knowing that Santana wasn't telling her everything.
The Latina sighed in response. "No, she knows we're out looking to boost a car."
"And she actually let you go?"
"She knew I was with you. She just told me to be careful and to not get shot at again. Anyway, she knows Josh is a total tool so she was fine letting me out for the night."
Quinn laughed. "So you had to get permission?"
"I don't see you asking for permission." At the other woman's silence Santana raised an eyebrow. "Hold up, does Berry know what you're out here doing?"
"I told her I was getting my car and that I may or may not have had to break in and steal it."
"And she's fine with that?"
"Surprisingly she is. Believe it or not me, her and Finn used to boost cars all the time. Well, at least before we settled on permanent ones."
"Wow. "Santana whistled. "Whoever would have known Berry was into stealing cars?!"
Quinn rolled her eyes as she pulled up to the curb. "Yeah, yeah, there's a lot about my girlfriend that you don't know but those are stories for another day. We're here."
"Ok, so how do you wanna do this?"
Quinn shrugged. "I don't know. I thought you were the brains of this operation."
"Fine. We hop the fence, find a way to either cut the power to the gate or find a release key to get it open, hot-wire the car and drive it right out the front. Couldn't be simpler."
"Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
Santana nodded. "Ok, once we get out you hand me the keys to this car and you can drive the R35 out whilst I drive this."
"You sure about that?"
"Of course, this is gonna be your car anyway Quinn. Here, take this ear piece in case we get separated. Now come on, let's get this car already."
Quinn grinned as she slipped on her ear piece and got out of the car followed by Santana. She threw the keys to her over the roof and soon they were making their way down the block towards the house.
"Where do we go now?" Quinn asked as they eyed the house.
"Follow me. There's a secluded area around the back. Shrubbery."
"So you really did case this place didn't you?"
"I had to. If there's one thing I remember from boosting cars when I was younger it was that you had to get in through the best route without being seen."
"Is that why we're both wearing all black again?"
Santana nodded as she came to a stop around the back of the house. "Yes. Hold up, this is the spot. We hop this shrub line we come to the end of the pool. Then all we have to do is make our way around to the driveway."
"Sounds good to me."
Both women counted down from three and then hopped the bushes, Santana ignoring the pain in her arm as they landed right where she said they would. The two of them then moved past the illuminated pool and stuck close to the walls so that they weren't caught on camera. Luckily they both had their hoods up.
"Hey, there it is!" Quinn whisper-yelled, pointing a gloved hand over at the charcoal coloured car. "Why does it look like that?"
"Like what?"
"It looks stock but it's not quite."
"That's because it's Nismo tuned. Josh must have bought it instead of the standard version but it doesn't matter though, he can't drive for shit."
Quinn laughed. "Damn right. What now?"
"We break in."
"What about the gate?"
"Check that first. Stay here."
Quinn did as told and waited in the shadows behind a rather large rose bush as she watched Santana search the side of the house. It wasn't long before she was moving to the gate and then back over to her.
"So?"
"So, I can't find the power source. You're gonna have to break into the car and then I'm gonna have to hop the fence and find the release key."
"How do you know there is one?"
"I just managed to get a look through the gate. I recognized it embedded into the concrete."
"How are you gonna get into it?"
"I don't know, I'll figure it out when it's in front of me."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, now let's steal this car."
Quinn grinned and motioned for Santana to lead the way. The two women quickly made their way over to the target car and stood side by side at the driver's side door.
"How do you wanna do this?"
Santana shrugged. "I don't see any other way than breaking the window. I'd usually have some fancy tool to do it with but I couldn't find one in time."
"So we're going at it the old school way huh?"
"I guess so."
Quinn grinned. "Then let's do it." Just as Santana raised her arm Quinn grabbed it, stopping her.
"What?"
"Let me. Brittany probably doesn't want you going back home injured again, especially if she knows I let you get hurt on purpose and didn't try to stop you first."
Santana lowered her arm. "Fine."
Quinn couldn't help but smile as she raised her own arm instead, both of them bracing themselves as she used all of her force to shatter the window. It wasn't ideal but the gloves gave her some protection and a little bit more force and just like they had hoped it shattered on impact. Unfortunately the alarm decided to go off at the same time.
"Shit!" Santana cursed. "Get in the car!"
Not wasting any time Quinn opened the now-unlocked door and jumped in. Santana hovered by the open driver's door and frantically snapped her head back and forth checking around for trouble. Dogs started barking in the distance as the alarm continued to go off – loudly.
"Come on, hurry up Quinn!"
"I'm trying! The wire's aren't exactly easy to get to Santana!" Rolling her eyes the Latina sighed and turned, starting to jog away from the car causing Quinn to snap her head up and frown. "Where are you going?!"
"To open the gate!"
Knowing that she had to keep going Quinn lowered her head once more and continued to fumble with the wires. Meanwhile, Santana hopped over the small brick wall and moved towards the release key box. Frowning it took her a few moments to figure out what to do but it wasn't very long before her lock-picking skills were in use and she was holding the key. Once she had it she rushed back over to the gate and slid it into the small inconspicuous lock, pushing the heavy metal gates open wide enough for the R35 to fit through. Taking one last look at the street she turned back to the driveway and made her way back over to Quinn.
"How's it coming?"
"Hold on...there!" The alarm suddenly stopped and the car purred to life, the engine revving as Quinn tested out the accelerator pedal.
"Good work Q." Santana grinned, clapping her on the shoulder.
"Thanks."
"Ok, now we've got the car running let's get it out of here."
"Too late."
Santana followed Quinn's line of sight and saw a black Ferrari pull up at the mouth of the gate. Thinking quickly Santana knew she had to get Josh out of the way if Quinn was going to get out with the car. She turned back to Quinn who raised an eyebrow at her, the blonde knowing exactly what was going to come out of her mouth.
"Santana, no!"
"That's the only way Q! You need to get out! I'll be fine, all you have to do is follow me down the block to the other Skyline."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, and block Josh if he tries to get at me as I get in the car."
"Ok, but be careful."
"I will."
"Good, now you'd better start running."
Santana nodded and turned to the Ferrari, the driver already starting to get out of it. Santana just caught sight of Josh and knew that she had to do this now. Not caring that he saw her face she immediately dashed straight for him.
"Hey Josh, come get me!" She yelled. She rounded the car and laughed at his confused expression before deciding to throw in a little extra bait that she knew was far from true. "I'm single now! Come see if you can take me home!"
As expected she got a devilish grin in response and as soon as he started to get back into his car she turned and started running. She heard the revving of the signature Ferrari engine seconds later and made sure to speed up. She started running for her life as if she were about to get caught by the cops and prayed to God that Quinn got out. Seeing the crew's Skyline up ahead she felt a little relief flood her system and fished the keys out from her back pocket.
Breathing heavily she heard the Ferrari fast approach as she made it to the car. Her fingers fumbled and sweated a little as she tried to get them in the lock but it didn't take long before they were sliding and clicking into place. She heard a loud screech of tires behind her and momentarily stopped what she was doing to see Quinn expertly slide to a stop a few feet away from her, traffic blaring their horns as she blocked the Ferrari's path in the middle of the street.
Looking back down she turned the key in the lock and clicked open the door, immediately sliding in and slamming it shut behind her. In a matter of seconds Santana had clicked the harness into place over herself and was sliding the keys into the ignition, revving the engine before pulling away from the curb.
"Let's go Quinn!"
"Right behind you! We've gotta lose him!"
"No problem!"
A few minutes later Santana could hear Quinn laughing over the radio. "Haha, we did it!"
"Hell yeah we did! Best girls night out ever!"
"Damn right Lopez!"
"Haha, beers on me at my house. But first, let's get back to the garage and drop that baby off so that you can pick up your car and drop me back at my house so I can make good on that promise of drinks."
"Sounds good to me S."
"Sure does doesn't it?"
"Oh, and one more thing?"
"Yeah Quinn?"
"Thank you."
"No problem Q. What are best friends for?"
Song used: Kid Ink – 'Faster'
TBC