Hey! Got a lot of Story Alerts for this story, which makes me happy! This didn't go quite as planned, but please enjoy!
At 2:17 Santana and Amy arrived at the hostel. They hadn't spoken for almost the entire car ride. Amy had slept for a bit, and Santana had cried. Until a few days prior, Santana had rarely cried while sober. Now it was all day, every day.
They walked into the hostel, which was much cleaner than they had expected. In the air-lock Santana immediately spied some gay-rights group newspaper. It was the kind of thing she'd never seen in Lima. The girls walked to the front desk, which was occupied by an over-weight middle aged woman with a sweet face. Her name tag read "Martha" She was a bit surprised to see two young girls walk in that late, especially one wearing a bright blue dress.
"Hello, girls, it's a late night for young things like you to be about! What can I do for you?" Martha said cheerfully, although the exhaustion was clear in her eyes.
"We'd just like somewhere to stay, please" replied Santana, as she felt her eyelids threatening to close over her eyes, which were still swollen from crying.
"Of course dears, just fill out this form, and I'll find you an empty room in a jiffy."
Santana filled out the basic information, listed her age as 20 and Amy's as 15. It was less than believable, but Martha could sense that all they needed in that moment was a place to stay and get away from their problems. She saw dozens like them in a week.
"Ok girls, thank you so much, here's your room key. Would you like to rent a locker for your larger luggage items?" Martha asked.
Amy and Santana looked at each other, the only thing they had was Santana's purse, which contained a little money, some lip-gloss, and a few tampons. There was also a crinkled picture of Brittany.
Amy smiled back at Martha and shook her head no. They walked over to the elevator and went to their room, number 231. Santana opened the door and looked around. It was tiny, but clean. Immediately on her left was a sink, then a room with a toilet and tiny shower. Then there were two bunk beds and a four-locker complex. The room was musty, but all around clean. They walked in and closed the door behind them, not even bothering to turn on the lights.
Santana walked to the bed on the right, took off her shoes and laid down. She was still wearing her uncomfortable dress and tights from Regional's, it was the only thing she had. She heard Amy begin to cry silently, and she did the same. The next thing she knew, it was morning.
In front of her was a plate with a muffin, a buttered bagel, and a huge cup of coffee. Amy sat on the top bunk on her side, eating the last few pieces of cereal. "Free breakfast here." she explained.
Santana sat up in bed, a feeling similar to a hangover washing over her. The only difference was it didn't take her any time at all to remember the events of the previous night, or what caused them. She took a large sip of coffee and started in on the blueberry muffin.
"Santana, one question."
Santana stared into the Styrofoam cup of coffee and nodded slightly.
"Are we here to wallow or forget?"
It sounded like an honest question. It was an honest question.
"Let's forget. For now." she replied. Amy nodded and began to climb down the ladder from the top bunk. "New clothes?" she asked, eyeing the Latina's twisted dress. Santana smiled for the first time and nodded.
Santana didn't feel the need to go to a fancy store and buy nice clothes. Instead the girls stopped at Target and she grabbed some black sweatpants and a large pink t-shirt from the juniors section. She didn't bother trying them on, she didn't want to have to be alone. If she was in the dressing room she would be in private, and she'd start to cry. Crying is the last thing she wanted to do.
The girls made their way over to the food section, grabbing a box of Cheeze-Its and Oreos. Santana was focused solely on trying to block out every thought of Brittany. Amy was focused on analyzing Santana, trying to decipher what everything was about.
She knew Santana was in love with her sister, and it was likely related to that. She wondered if she had finally got sick of seeing Artie all the time. Amy knew she had. He smelled like cheese, and quite honestly, made weird noises during sex. Not that Santana's ear piercing screams were music to her ears, but she'd learned to block it out from years of practice.
They made their way to the check out, where a young cashier, nametag reading Devin, flirted obviously while he eyed Santana's cleavage. He was cute, with golden-brown curls, piercing brown eyes and a straight white smile. The old Santana would have flirted back, while sucking in her stomach and pushing out her chest. But she didn't even try to fix her messy hair. Devin was just a stupid boy. And Santana could never love a stupid boy. Santana couldn't ever love a boy, she realized, and she walked out of Target.
After a few hours of wandering around the hostel and taking brief naps, Amy decided it was time she and Santana actually did something. She opened the door carrying a small portable radio. Santana, who had been curled up on the bed eating Oreos since they'd gotten back from Target, looked up.
"Where the hell did you get that?" Santana asked, which was one of the first things she'd said all day.
"Some people I met in the lounge, they're writers. They told me I could borrow it." Amy replied, as she fumbled with the dial, trying to find a good station. She locked eyes with Santana, the thing she always did when she wanted to say something important. "We need to dance and forget for a little, San. I don't know what possessed you to come here, but you know that I have a general idea. And you know you have to face your problems, but for tonight, lets just forget, ok?"
Santana nodded but didn't get up from the bed. Amy squealed as she heard "Song Away" coming from the radio. She went to Santana and grabbed her hands, pulling them along with the time of the music while she sang.
"See what your man has done to the world
see what the world has done to your man
You know im leaving you, you dont need me
Lovin you wasnt always so easy"
"Loving you wasn't always so easy. Got that right" Santana thought bitterly. Then she got out of bed and danced with Amy to the chorus, pushing all thoughts of Brittany out of her mind, to the best of her ability.
"Tomorrows just a song away, a song away"
They danced for hours, to upbeat songs that helped them forget their problems, if only for a little bit. A few of the lyrics hit a little close to home, but Santana managed to forget it after a few seconds. Song after song, they danced, laughed and sang. On the commercials they'd make fun of the products or the announcers voice, which was especially entreating during the male-enhancement pill ad.
After the songs started to get slower, they switched the radio off and popped some Cheeze-its and Oreos in before laying down with each other on Amy's bed. Amy looked at Santana's face, which was extremely close to hers. She laughed randomly, which wasn't typical of her.
"What, Amy?"
"Its just weird having my face be so close to yours. I'm not used to it" Amy replied
"Virgin" Santana said mockingly. Then she realized her mistake, she didn't exactly want Amy giving it up to get rid of her v-card. "But, you know, don't give it up to just anyone"
"Who was your first?" Amy asked quietly, stepping over a boundary she hadn't before.
"Some guy, he's not important. Which is why it sucks. But the second time I ever had sex was the time that felt like the first."
"What?" Amy replied, not at all following what Santana had just said.
"The second time I had sex meant way more than the first." Santana replied, her eyes becoming swollen again, the memories of that night, of the person flooding her mind.
"Because of the person it was with?" Amy said cautiously, knowing that over-reacting would stop Santana from sharing.
"Yeah." Santana replied, wiping her eyes as they were on the brink of spilling over.
"Was it Brittany?" Amy whispered, almost inaudibly.
Santana's tears fell down the side of her face as she nodded.
"Santana." Amy said, looking straight into the girl's crying eyes "Tell me why we're here. From the start."
And so Santana began telling Amy the long, amazing story.