"So, let me get this straight… You broke up with Anna and you still haven't talked to Santana about it?" The brunette eyes the other girl suspiciously as they sit across a table from each other, working on tutoring schedules.
"Amy, I can't. No matter what happens between us from this point on, it kinda feels like this is our last chance to get it right. Santana needs to be ready to be with me before anything else can happen with us. I'll wait."
"This feels like it's taking forever and I'm not even involved in the relationship."
"It'll be worth it though if things can finally work out."
Amy smiles at that. "Aw, Q. You're such a sap sometimes."
The blonde rolls her eyes. "Not exceedingly so. When you're little though you think there'll always be this one person that can make everything better-that you can tell everything to and as you grow older, you realize that this person doesn't exist. So, instead you try to find that one person that can see you for who you really are and love you in spite of everything. They're supposed to make you feel like all the shit you went through to find them is worth it. And here's the tricky part because sometimes people don't find this person, or sometimes you do and you realize that you two just aren't meant to be together. Occasionally though and this is the most rewarding thing you'll ever have or do in life; you'll find that person and it will feel like everything you've ever done has led you to them. They won't be able to erase the pain entirely but they'll make it that much more bearable, they'll make you feel like your scars are okay. And I'm not saying this is always true or even true fifty percent of the time. I'm saying that it should be true because everyone deserves it. Everyone deserves this kind of love. So, if you ever have the chance to take it, you fucking take it. It's yours."
"Like, I said. You're such a sap sometimes." She gives her a teasing grin and gently squeezes her arm. "You do deserve it though… When are you gonna see her again?"
"Well, she's working in the boutique Monday through Wednesday until she bartends that night… So, Wednesday?"
"That's two days away." The brunette frowns a bit.
"Well, I don't really have an excuse to visit her at the boutique."
"You know… I was thinking I could use a new pair of boots." She says with a sly grin on her face.
The blonde smiles back at her. "You're such a good friend."
"Oh, I know."
[\\]
During their lunch break, the girls make their way down to the boutique. The little door chime goes off as they enter. They hear Santana and Brittany bickering about which pop star is the hottest as they walk in but they quiet down immediately when they recognize Quinn.
"Hey!" Brittany says in a warm voice.
"Hey," Quinn says as she gives her a small smile and Amy waves to them from behind her. "This is my friend Amy."
"Hi, you guys, Quinn has told me a lot about you… I'm actually looking for a new pair of boots—"
"Oh, I can help you with that!" The blonde behind the counter quickly adds. Santana glares at her but she pretends not to notice, which makes Quinn snicker.
As Amy and Brittany make their way to one of the shelves farther toward the back, Quinn and Santana are left standing in the front of the store, staring at each other in awkward silence.
"So…" The Latina starts.
"How've you been?" The blonde asks, trying to get the conversation rolling.
"Fine… Can't complain I guess… You?"
"About the same… Anna and I—"
"We don't really need to talk about that. Her mom was a total bitch though. Good luck with that."
Quinn laughs lightly. "Yeah, she wasn't the most pleasant person I've ever met."
"That'd be me, right?" The brunette teases, not able to help herself.
The blonde rolls her eyes. "You must be joking. You're a pain in my ass."
The remark makes Santana grin. "Good. You shouldn't always be let off the hook so easily."
"You must have me confused with someone else. I don't think I ever get off the hook easily."
"Please, Anna is a total sucker when it comes to you. I have no idea how she puts up with your craziness."
Quinn pauses and looks away. "Actually… we kind of broke up."
A confused look plays across the Latina's features before she becomes hardened. "What happened? Did she hurt you?"
"No, nothing like that. Actually, I hurt her."
The brunette nods slowly, trying to make sense of everything. "Oh… So, what happened?"
"It just didn't feel right I guess… I don't think she likes penguins as much as I thought she did."
For once Santana doesn't bite, her expression still serious. "Quinn."
The other girl shrugs. "I guess her parents kind of scared me off."
She thinks about it before giving a nod as if the answer is satisfactory. "I can understand that… I warned you—"
"Yeah, yeah. I knew you would gloat. You're so insufferable sometimes."
"I'm also worth it sometimes."
"Which times would those be?"
"You tell me… You're the one who keeps me around."
The blonde quirks an eyebrow at her as the two of them exchange playful smiles. At this time, Brittany and Amy rejoin them carrying a pair of boots.
Quinn gives them a once over before remarking, "Those are cute. I'm glad you found what you were looking for."
"That'll be $68.95." Brittany tells the brunette from behind the counter.
"For $68.95 you better have, too." Amy mutters under her breath.
The blonde elbows her in the side and the brunette mouths her protestation while Brittany and Santana work on packaging her boots for her. As if in retaliation, she raises an eyebrow at Quinn before speaking up. The other girl shakes her head at her with wide eyes but Amy pretends not to notice.
"Quinn and I have our first official day of tutoring tomorrow so we were thinking about going out afterward if you guys wanted to join us."
The green-eyed girl is about to elbow her again but Santana's eyes are on them now. "Sure. What are we doing?"
The girls exchanged panicked glances, trying to think of a story.
"We're—"
A nervous Amy interrupts. "Going to get ice cream… with some of the kids… after their tutoring session."
"…Not with the kids, I don't think their parents would agree to that." The blonde says giving Amy a 'wtf' look. "But, uh, we're just going to…"
"Oh… That sounds fun. What do you think, Britt?"
"Since we can't both leave the boutique at the same time, you can go, San. I'll cover for you."
"Are you sure?"
Her friend nods. "Yeah, no prob."
"Okay. I'm in then."
"Cool. I'll text you about it tomorrow."
The two of them leave the store with Amy's boots in hand. As soon as they're out of sight of the store window the blonde playfully attacks her friend.
"Oh my god! You never told me that you're the worst liar in the whole world!"
"I panicked!"
"Obviously. Thank god no one else was in there, they would've thought that we were pedophiles. There you go, ruining our reputations in one fell swoop."
They both giggle as they continue walking down the sidewalk.
Quinn pauses somewhat perplexed. "Now we have to find an ice cream place. Who eats ice cream anymore? I don't think I've eaten ice cream in forever."
"Liar!" Amy shouts causing a few people to look their way.
"No, really. I'm serious. Whenever I crave ice cream, I get frozen yogurt instead." They continue their walk toward the subway.
The other girl nods. "Oh, yeah. Frozen yogurt is really good, and healthier… I wonder if we could change the plans."
Quinn glares at her. "We're not changing the plans after we already made fools of ourselves. You'll just have to run the calories off later."
"Or sex them off."
"Over share."
"Not even close! And I would just like to let you know that you are allowed to over share about your sex life any day of the week."
"You're so bad."
"Just curious."
"Not that curious."
"For you and Santana, I might make an exception."
"I'm deleting you from my phone contacts as we speak."
[\\]
The afternoon is sunny and warm as Santana makes her way to the school's location that Quinn texted her earlier in the day. She smiles to herself, enjoying the weather. She sees a small playground in the back of the school and she waits by the fence for the girls to emerge from the building.
After texting Quinn to let her know of her arrival, she decides to browse the web and check her Twitter. The sound of the school bell causes her to jump a bit; she had almost forgotten how loud they were. Slow streams of children exit the front doors of the school as they talk loudly amongst themselves. She realizes it must be an after school program or else they'd all come running out at once.
It's not hard for her to pick out Amy and Quinn in the crowd as they stand at least a foot taller than the rest of kids. She smiles and waves them over. As they make their way toward her, one of the littler girls calls out to Quinn and she stops in her tracks to address her. She kneels down as the girl seems upset about something and she can tell by the way the blonde puts a hand on her shoulder and strokes her pigtail that she's trying to calm her down. After talking to her for a minute, the girl nods and runs off back inside.
"Hey," Santana says as they approach her.
"Hey, yourself." The blonde says with a smile.
"Hi, again. Look, I'm wearing the boots." Amy points to her feet.
Santana chuckles. "Well, they look good on you. Guess it was worth the trip… So, where is this place?"
"Not too far from here so we can walk. Just a couple of blocks over." Quinn informs her.
"Works for me."
Amy's phone starts buzzing all of a sudden. "Oh… I have to get this… It'll just be a second." She stops and takes the call. She nods every so often sometimes adding an "Mmm," or "Okay" every few seconds. The brunette shakes her head as she hangs up. "Well that was my… brother… I have to go home… to feed the fish."
The blonde buries her face in her hand looking mortified.
"Oh, ok?" Santana says not sure how to respond. She looks over at Quinn to see what's going on but she can't see her face.
"Yeah… So… I'll catch up with you guys later!" The blue-eyed girl waves at them in an exaggerated manner but before the Latina can wave back, the blonde grabs her arm and they start walking down the sidewalk.
"What was that about?" Santana asks curiously.
"I think she might have an alcohol problem, there's a possibility it could also be drugs."
The brunette chuckles, "You two are too much sometimes."
"Tell me about it."
"So, how was your first day?"
"Hm? Oh… It was pretty good. A little bit hectic since things weren't too organized but it'll get better as the days go on."
"I saw you with that little girl… I didn't know you were so good with kids."
This seems to amuse the blonde as she raises an eyebrow. "Does that surprise you?"
"I don't know. I mean, I never thought about it… But I think that it's cute… I wouldn't be able to do it."
"What? I think you would be good with kids."
"Not really. I don't like most of them. If it's a cool kid then okay but I will not tolerate little brats."
They reach the ice cream shop and go inside together.
"Wow… I forgot half these flavors even existed," Quinn says with a laugh. "What kind are you going to get?"
"Cookies n' cream I guess. You can't really mess that up, right? What about you?"
"Hmm… I think I'm in the mood for sherbet."
After they get their treats, they make their way outside again to sit down at one of the petite table and chair sets.
"Wow, I feel like we're twelve," The blonde says amusedly as she licks her spoon.
"You're such a deb. Who goes to an ice cream shop and doesn't get a cone?"
Quinn scrunches her face up. "I don't like cones with sherbet. Sometimes I just prefer eating it out of a cup."
"Sounds like something a deb would say."
"Okay, now I really feel like we're twelve. And what the heck is a deb?"
"You know, a Debbie Downer."
"Ohhhhh. Makes sense… How is work today?"
"We go from being twelve to eighty in 2.5 seconds… And it's fine, it's just work."
"Eighty year olds don't have jobs… Maybe it won't be so bad to be an old person after all."
Quinn cracks up when she sees the look on Santana's face. "Never."
"Speaking of which, I'm obsessed with this old couple that lives in my new apartment building. They're the cutest. They invite me over every once in a while to eat with them or play cards, or watch Wheel of Fortune."
"That sounds… depressing."
"It's not!" The blonde says as she laughs and slaps the other girl on the arm. "I'm going to take you to meet them when you come visit me. I think you'd like them."
"Why's that?"
"They're so nice, and it's kind of amazing to see that two people can be in love after being together for so many years. Makes me hope that I'll be that lucky."
The Latina smirks at her. "We're not really the growing old type, Quinn."
"Maybe we could be."
"Not me."
"I think I could convince you to stick around if I made it worth your while."
"Sex is not always the answer, Q."
The other girl gawks at her as the Latina cracks up. "Do you ever behave?"
When she manages to regain control of herself, she realizes she's beginning to get nervous. "Not really…" She fidgets with her hands for a bit before getting the courage to look Quinn in the eyes again. "Hey, so, do you wanna hang out sometime?"
The girl's eyes seem to light up as she nods. "Sure, sounds fun…" She giggles to herself.
"What?"
"I don't know. I just imagined you'd be so much smoother when it comes to asking girls out."
Santana glares at her.
"Aw, don't be that way," Quinn says as she scoots her chair closer to her, giving her a peck on the cheek.
Feeling the closeness of her body, the Latina regains her confidence almost immediately. She pulls her chair closer and fixates on her lips, moving in closer to kiss them and watching as they smile at her before they pull away.
"Ms. Lopez, I think I deserve a proper date first."
Santana groans. "Just don't make me wait too long. I have needs you know."
"God, Santana. Be good." The girl reaches over to spank her lightly on the side of her thigh causing the Latina to raise an eyebrow at her suggestively.
"Not really my thing." Even though the girl's lips are out of her reach, the blonde's neck is easily accessible. She moves her lips closer to it, enjoying watching the girl squirm a bit as she whispers in her ear, "Do it again." She kisses her at her pulse point and smirks when she hears the soft moan the girl elicits. Sighing contentedly, the brunette leans back in her chair.
"Not fair."
Santana shrugs nonchalantly and places her hands behind her head. "You wanted smooth." She chuckles as the other girl shakes her head, making her feel like a teenager all over again.
Quinn's phone buzzes and so she goes to check it. It's a text from Betty.
Call me ASAP. Have more info about Korea.