Hey guys! So you all really liked the last one shot, huh? Okay this one is like an alternate/extended version of how Dani and Santana started talking and getting to know each other. It felt so rushed on the show, so I wanted to slow it down a bit. Enjoy :)
"Okay Berry, I recommended you for this job so if you screw up it's my ass on the line, got it?"
It was Rachel's first day at the Spotlight Diner. She'd been begging Santana to help her get a job there, and after several days of incessant whining, Santana had finally given in. The Latina looked down at Rachel, who nodded at her.
"Good. I've only been here a week, but I would actually like to keep this job."
"Why? You absolutely hate working," Rachel pointed out. Santana glared at her.
"I just do, alright? Now, our supervisor will be here any minute..." Santana trailed off as she let her eyes drift towards the front door, losing focus on Rachel.
"-llo? Earth to Santana!" Rachel waved her hands in front of Santana's face, effectively snapping her out of her daze. Santana slapped her hands away.
"What the hell, Berry!"
Just as Rachel opened her mouth to say something probably irritating, the front door chimed. Santana's head whipped around and Rachel peered around the taller girl's shoulder, following her gaze. In walked a young woman about Rachel's height, with dyed blonde hair, a white Ramones shirt, and ripped black jeans. Rachel brought her attention back to Santana and tapped on her shoulder.
"Uh, Santana? Who is that?" The Latina turned back around to Rachel, narrowing her eyes.
"First of all Hobbit, do not touch me, or I will-"
"Whoa okay sorry Satan I just-"
"Well don't "just" anymore, got it?" Santana brought her finger up to point in Rachel's face. "And second-"
"Scaring the newbie, Santana?"
Santana froze as she heard a new voice join the conversation. She turned her head to find the blonde next to her, eyebrows raised. She slowly lowered her hand.
"I just...uh...I..."
"Considering you're still technically a newbie as well, I wouldn't get too high and mighty just yet." Santana looked to the ground as she fiddled with the buttons on her uniform top. The blonde turned to face Rachel. "And who might you be?" Rachel stuck her hand out.
"Rachel Berry, new hire." The blonde reached out and shook her hand.
"No need to be so formal around here," the blonde chuckled. "I'm Dani. I'll be showing you the ropes for the next couple days." She glanced over at Santana, who was still looking down. "Do you two know each other?"
Santana opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Rachel quickly took over.
"Yes, we're actually roommates." Dani raised her eyebrows. "We also went to high school together, but that's a story for another day. Satan-I mean Santana-is the one who got me this job." Dani laughed.
"Satan?"
"Long story short, back in high school Santana wasn't the nicest person to be around. A "bitch" if you will. We called her Satan sometimes, but she's most certainly gotten better since then," Rachel explained. Dani looked over at Santana, who was kicking at the ground with her hands behind her back.
"A bitch? Really?" Dani let out a light laugh as she poked Santana's side. "Aw but she's so quiet!" Santana's cheeks flushed and Rachel couldn't stop her laugh.
"Santana? Quiet? As if!" Santana glared up at Rachel. The smaller brunette immediately shut her mouth, causing Dani to look back and forth between them.
"...Okay, well I'm gonna go get changed into this dreadful uniform," she pulled lightly on the fabric covering Santana's shoulder, "then we can get started!" She gave them both a smile and walked towards the back room, but not before managing to hear Santana growl at Rachel.
"Oh you are sooo dead, manhands..."
"-and that's how you deal with rude customers."
Rachel laughed at the man stomping out of the diner and slow clapped. Dani took an over-exaggerated bow and started speaking in an Elvis Presley voice.
"Thank you, thank you very much. I'll be here all week. Remember to tip your waitresses." She looked around at a couple customers who laughed and shot them one of her most winning smiles. "I'm serious about them tips, folks."
Santana glanced over at the two women from her spot filling salt shakers. She wished she had the courage to just talk to Dani. Something about the blonde made her nervous, and she couldn't understand why. Nobody has made her nervous like that before. Ever.
"Santana!" Her head snapped up to find Dani waving her over. "Come help Rachel bus these tables while I clean up a bit in back."
"O-okay." Santana stood up, mentally berating herself for stuttering, and walked over to Rachel. They worked in silence for a couple of minutes before Rachel spoke.
"So...Dani-"
"What about her?" Santana snapped. Rachel smiled knowingly. Santana hated that.
"Relax, Santana. She's really fun. You should talk to her more." Santana sat down with a huff in the booth they were cleaning.
"I can't." Rachel sat down across from her.
"Why not?"
"I don't know!" Santana lifted her elbows to the table and put her head in her hands. "Every time I think I can do it I chicken out, or I open my stupid mouth and nothing comes out. I don't even know if she's gay," she groaned.
"Aw you like her!" Rachel squealed. "That's so cute!" Santana raised her head to glare at her.
"Berry would you be quiet! Don't make me regret-"
"Hey guys!" Santana stopped mid sentence. Dani sat down next to her in the booth, smiling at the two. "Slacking already?" she teased.
"We were just...uh..." Santana made a move to get up, but Dani pulled her arm to sit her back down.
"Chill out, I was just kidding," she laughed.
"Oh, r-right." Santana let out a small awkward laugh, causing Rachel to bring her hands to cover her mouth, hiding her own laughter.
The three women sat in silence for a minute before Rachel cleared her throat.
"So Dani," she looked pointedly at Santana before turning towards the blonde, "I like your tattoos."
"Thanks!" Dani grinned.
"H-how many do you have?" Santana was shocked at her own courage. Dani faced her, smiling gently.
"Depends on how you count them, but the way I count them I have five." Santana glanced at Rachel, who gave her a small nod.
"And how do you count them?" she asked, slowly gaining confidence.
"Well," Dani held out her arms, "Let's see. The cross here," she pointed to the outside of her right palm, "is number one. The Stay and Strong," she flipped her hands over to show the insides of her wrists, "count as number two. The lips under Stay is number three." She folded her right arm in towards herself, exposing her forearm. "The birds and faith I count as one, even though I got them at different times." She put her hands on the table and slightly nodded back to her left. "The last one is on my left shoulder blade, and it says "now i'm a warrior". I want to get more, but they're kind of expensive," she chuckled. Santana studied the birds on her arm, then looked up at Dani, gesturing towards them.
"...may I?" Dani nodded, and Santana gently picked up her arm to look at them closer.
"Don't they hurt though?" Rachel asked. Dani kept her arm in Santana's hands as she turned to Rachel.
"A lot, but it's a hundred and fifty percent worth it."
"I don't know if I could ever do that."
"I honestly didn't think I could either, but after some things happened I realized that it was worth standing the momentary pain for an outcome I knew I would treasure forever."
"They're so beautiful..." Both Dani and Rachel turned to look at Santana, who couldn't seem to take her eyes off of Dani's arm. The blonde smiled softly.
"Thank you." Santana looked up at Dani and smiled, putting the blonde's arm back on the table.
"What other ones do you want?" Santana asked as she propped her arm up on the table and rested her chin in her hand, looking at Dani.
"Well I-"
"Oh shoot," Rachel interrupted. "I just remembered that I'm supposed to help Kurt with some NYADA thing..." She stood up and walked to the back to grab her things.
"What thing?" Santana yelled at her as she narrowed her eyes. Rachel came back out with her coat and purse, ready to leave.
"A project I think. "Future Broadway stars and their paths to fame", or something like that." She almost couldn't contain her giggle at the look of "that's bullshit" on Santana's face. "Anyways, gotta go. Santana, I'll see you at home later," she turned to face Dani, "and Dani it was so lovely to meet you. I look forward to working with you more." Dani chuckled at her formality.
"Right back at ya." Rachel nodded and made her way to the door, but before she could leave Dani called out to her.
"Hey Rachel!" The small brunette stopped and turned around. "I forgot to mention earlier, all newbies are required to perform a solo during a shift within the first two weeks of working here." Rachel beamed and nodded enthusiastically.
"Excellent! I'll get right on that. Goodbye, ladies." And with that, she was out the door, leaving Santana and Dani in the booth together. Dani turned back around to face Santana.
"You know, you still haven't done your song yet, and your two weeks are almost up," she said, nudging Santana's shoulder.
"I know, I just...haven't found the right one yet, I guess," the Latina shrugged. She lifted her eyes to meet Dani's, and her breath caught in her throat.
"Well you better hurry up. I'm kind of looking forward to it," the blonde smiled. Santana blushed and looked down to her hands folded on the table, nearly touching Dani's. "Now, where were we?" Santana let out a giggle.
"Which tattoos you want next."
"Right! Well, I would tell you, but then I'd have to kill you..." Santana looked up at Dani with a mock expression of hurt, but couldn't keep a straight face for long as Dani gave her a wide grin. "No I'm just kidding. Okay well the first one I want is gonna go on my ribcage..."
Santana looked up as she saw Dani rush into the busy diner, trying to make it to the back to change before-
"Dani!" The blonde stopped and groaned, turning to face the small, angry man coming towards her. "You're late! Explain!"
"Gunther I'm sorry. I left on time, but the subway got stuck at the station for some reason and I ran all the way here when I got to my stop. I'm only five minutes late please don't fire me," she pleaded.
Santana was listening from her spot behind the counter, and for some reason she couldn't help but feel...protective? If Gunther didn't give her a break, there'd be hell to pay.
"Dani," Santana calmed down slightly as she heard the man's voice become softer and watched his face loosen. "I'm not going to fire you. You're one of my best employees. Just, don't be late again!" he warned, before making his way to the back. Santana let out a sigh of relief as Dani made her way over to the counter.
"Well that was close, huh?" Santana joked. "At least it wasn't your fault." Dani looked around, then motioned for Santana to come closer.
"It was totally my fault," the blonde said quietly. "I was at lunch around the corner and completely forgot to check the time," she revealed as she flashed Santana a mischievous grin.
"You little sneak!" Santana gasped, impressed. Dani winked at her as she readjusted the red beanie on her head.
"Well I better change and get to work before he gets pissed." She stood up and started to walk towards the back.
"I like the hat, D," Santana called out to the blonde. Dani turned around and started walking backwards, looking at Santana.
"I'm pretty cute, huh," she teased. Santana shook her head and laughed.
"You're trouble is what you are!" Dani stuck her tongue out at Santana and disappeared into the back.
Santana and Dani didn't have much time to talk as the diner got busier. Santana spent a lot of time thinking about how much closer she and Dani had gotten over the last few days. She still stuttered sometimes and her words still got stuck in her throat, but she was having fun talking to the blonde and getting to know her.
The diner may have been busy, but that didn't stop Santana from looking at Dani every chance she got. Maybe she wasn't as secretive about it as she thought, because Rachel noticed not five minutes after starting her own shift.
"Santana stop staring!" she hissed as she walked by with a tray of food, shaking Santana out of her daze. She glared at Rachel when she walked by again.
"I was not staring, Hobbit!"
"Yeah, and I'm a bad singer," Rachel retorted, placing her hands on her hips. "You should just ask her out already." Santana shook her head.
"No I can't do that. I don't even know if she's gay."
"Well then why don't you go find out? You two would be so cute together!" Santana let out a sigh.
"Maybe later."
"If you keep saying that, you're never going to do it," Rachel pointed out, raising her eyebrows. Santana rolled her eyes.
"Oh shut it, Berry. I'll do it when I'm good and ready."
"Fine. In the meantime, let's get back to work, shall we?" Rachel nodded to herself as she turned and left, leaving Santana to look at Dani as she chatted with some customers.
"And Santana?" The Latina whipped her head around to look at Rachel. "Stop staring!"
Santana grumbled incoherently as she flipped Rachel off and went back to work. She spent a long time thinking about how to find out if Dani was a lesbian or not. "She's never mentioned a boyfriend or guy interest, and she does seem pretty flirty around me," she reasoned to herself. The longer she spent analyzing everything, the more her confidence grew. Before she knew it, the diner had calmed down and was relatively quiet. She was cleaning off a table when Rachel walked over, startling her.
"God Berry, don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry," Rachel raised her hands in defense.
"What do you want?" The smaller girl leaned in closer.
"Now's your chance." Santana looked at her, confused.
"To do what?"
"To talk to Dani!" Rachel nodded to where the blonde was seated at a table, filling ketchup bottles. "We only have a few minutes left of work anyways."
"No I couldn't, she's busy, I'm busy, I-" Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Oh for the love of-" she grabbed the towel out of Santana's hands and gave her a small shove towards Dani. "Go help her!"
Santana gave Rachel a half-hearted glare as she slowly walked over to Dani. She stopped just behind the blonde, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Finding the courage she needed, she moved to the other side of the table and cleared her throat, causing Dani to look up at her.
"Need some help?" Dani smiled.
"I'd prefer company, but help is good too." Santana returned the smile and pulled out the chair across from Dani, grabbing bottles to fill. "So correct me if I'm wrong, but your last day to perform the required solo is tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah," Santana nodded.
"You better get on that," Dani lightly warned, raising her eyebrows.
"I know, I know. It's just," Santana let out a breath, "I can't seem to find the right song. I've tried, but nothing feels right."
"Rachel found hers pretty quickly," Dani pointed out. Santana laughed.
"Don't Rain On My Parade? Dani, Berry has had that song memorized since she was still in the womb." Dani chuckled. "Plus, I'm not much of a Broadway person."
"Well then it's a good thing you don't have to sing a Broadway song."
"That doesn't make it any easier."
"Doesn't make it any harder though, does it?" Santana smiled as she reached for more bottles.
"No, I suppose it doesn't." Dani nodded, satisfied.
They sat in silence for a couple minutes. Santana took the time to try and psych herself up into asking Dani if she was gay. She was about as ready as she'd ever be, but how to start? With a girl like Dani, she figured she could just be forward about it.
"I dig your name." The blonde smiled. "So do you think your parents knew you were going to grow up to be a lesbian, giving you a boy name?" Dani's face fell, and Santana knew it was the wrong thing to say. Time seemed to slow down as Dani stared at her blankly.
"I'm not a lesbian." Santana felt her heart stop. Her eyes widened as she stared back at Dani.
"Oh...uh...you just...I...gotta go," she stumbled over her words as she moved to get up. She had to get away from Dani.
"Santana wait I-" Dani called after her, but she didn't stop. She made her way to the back room, and grabbed her things, passing Rachel.
"Santana where are-"
"Home," the Latina said quietly, trying to hold back her tears. "See you later." And with that she left out the back door and headed to the loft, trying to keep herself together.
The next shift was awkward. Dani kept trying to talk to Santana, but she was pretty good at avoiding the blonde. After a few hours, Dani stopped trying and went about her duties almost robotically. Santana stood slumped at the counter with Rachel, attempting to stop looking at Dani and failing miserably.
"I don't get why you won't just talk to her! She came in looking for you after you left last night." Santana groaned.
"I know, you already told me a hundred times, Dwarf. I can't talk to her yet, I'm way too embarrassed. You should have seen the look on her face. God how could I have been so stupid!" She dropped her head to the counter. Rachel put a hand on her shoulder, and was shocked to receive no reaction from the Latina.
"Okay, we don't have to talk about that anymore." Santana turned her head on the counter to face Rachel, laying on her cheek.
"Thank you."
"Aren't you doing your song near the end of the shift?" Santana sighed and stood up straight.
"Yeah. Since Warbler's in for the weekend I asked him to play the piano for me."
"Why won't you tell me what song you're singing?" Rachel pouted. Santana gave her a small smile.
"You'll see soon enough."
Rachel sensed that Santana was done talking for now and decided to leave it. They both went back to work, but Santana still couldn't stop herself from looking at Dani. Even after everything that happened, she still liked the blonde way more than she should. She didn't understand what it was about Dani that drew her in, she didn't understand how she could spend so much time thinking about one person, she didn't understand why she felt this way. Santana was thinking so hard she didn't notice Blaine come in and walk up to her.
"Hey Santana." The Latina lifted her head.
"Evening, Bow-Tie. You ready?" Blaine nodded.
Santana took a deep breath and made her way to the stage. She pulled out a mic stand and turned the mic on as Blaine got settled at the piano. The noise around the diner got quieter as people noticed her on the stage. Dani even stopped what she was doing and sat at an empty booth. Rachel slid in next to her.
"Hi." Santana paused, annoyed with the shakiness in her voice. "My name is Santana. As some of you know, new hires are required to sing a solo soon after starting. And of course I decided to wait until the last minute..." She rolled her eyes at herself as people laughed, including Dani. Focus.
"The reason I waited so long was because I just couldn't find the right song to sing. But I finally found it, and asked my friend Blaine here to help me out." Blaine gave a small wave. She looked back out at her audience and took a deep breath. "Okay here we go." She nodded at Blaine and he started playing the intro to the song. Santana gripped the mic stand and closed her eyes.
Tight jeans, with a rip on the knee
So close, but it ain't where I wanna be
And I'm loving every minute of your company
But have I read this all wrong
She opened her eyes and scanned the audience, letting all of her emotions out.
Maybe I move too fast
Or maybe I missed a sign
But baby this could last
You are the one thing on my mind
Santana let go of the mic stand and brought her hands to rest over her abdomen.
You are my one and only
My blue skies and grey
You are the only one for me
Her eyes stopped on Dani.
Brown eyes, with your old wooly hat
Five tattoos, from your shoulder to your hands
You could give me what I have never had
Oh keep leading me on
Rachel looked over to find Dani watching Santana with a huge smile on her face.
But maybe I move too fast
Or maybe I missed a sign
But baby this could last
You are the one thing on my mind
You are my one and only
My blue skies and grey
You are the only one for me
Santana closed her eyes again as she ran through a couple of vocal riffs, but looked right back at Dani as the song came to an end.
Tight jeans, with a rip on the knee
Dani was the first to stand and clap for Santana, followed by Rachel and the rest of the diner. Santana bowed and left the stage with a quiet "Thank you." She made her way into the back room and Dani followed.
"Santana-" The Latina spun around to face Dani.
"I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. I shouldn't have assumed and now I made everything awkward." Dani stepped closer and laughed. "Why are you laughing? This isn't funny! I-"
"Santana, just shut up for a second, will you?" Santana closed her mouth and nodded. "I have something I need to say." Dani looked into Santana's eyes as a smile broke out on her face. "I was kidding yesterday, but you left so fast I didn't get a chance to take my foot out of my mouth." Santana's eyes widened.
"What?"
"I was just joking when I said I wasn't a lesbian. I don't really know what the purpose of that was, I guess I just wanted to freak you out for a second, but you left faster than I could react." Dani's smile faded. "I'm sorry." Santana felt a small grin begin to creep up on her face.
"You little shit." Dani laughed, grabbing Santana's hand.
"You said it yourself, I'm trouble," she teased, pulling Santana towards their things.
"What are we doing?" Santana asked as Dani handed the brunette her jacket and bag.
"We're leaving, duh," the blonde smirked. She picked up her own things and reached for Santana's hand again, lacing their fingers.
"I gathered that," Santana rolled her eyes as she followed Dani out the back door and down the street. "I meant what are we doing now that we're leaving?" Dani stopped at the street corner and leaned up to give the Latina a kiss on the cheek. She stepped back to look in Santana's eyes and smiled.
"We're going on a date."
Ta-da! So I hope you liked that :)
Please review and stuff, let me know what you think
Song is Five Tattoos by Ella Henderson. Seriously. Go listen to it. It's amazing