Santana groaned and rubbed her eyes; it had been about a week since Quinn had helped her when she was completely incapable of looking after herself, the pair had not seen each other since. It wasn't an intentional thing, with graduation being close and finals occupying their minds. Sure, Quinn had hung out with Sam and Mercedes a few times, and Santana had spent some time with Brittany and Rachel. They were both seemingly avoiding each other, but were really just busy.
Santana Rolled over and picked up her phone, scrolling through the messages on the screen when she saw Quinn's name at the top of an image and a quick caption.
On the screen was Quinn with a happy smirk on her face. She was grinning over the top of a martini, her long blonde hair twirled above her head in a bun, with strands of hair falling down by the sides of her face. Her eyes were framed with a fine line of black eyeliner and light grey eyeshadow blended to the edge of her brow bone. Her face was contoured to highlight her cheekbones and eyes. Her delicate lips were filled in with dark purple. The red dress she was wearing hugged her feminine form and the cream stilettos made her legs look even longer than they were. The air fizzled from Santana's lungs as three words tumbled from her lips "She looks gorgeous." When what she had said dawned on her, her eyes widened and she shook her head, letting her eyes flicker down to read the caption, it read: "Out with Frannie and her husband, we should hang soon."
0ooOOoo0
Quinn cursed loudly and grumbled, before rolling over and smacking the button on her alarm clock, then sitting up and stretching, smiling as her back popped back into a relaxed position. She swung her legs out of the bed and stood, running her fingers through her messy hair and rifling through her draws for underwear and sport socks. After finding the clothing she needed, she grabbed her uniform off her wardrobe door and wandered in the direction of her bathroom, continuing to yawn and attempt to wake herself up somewhat.
After a brief shower, she zipped up her uniform and stepped out again, sinking into her desk chair and pulling out her makeup. After fifteen minutes, she stood up, satisfied. She tied her hair back in it's usual ponytail, picked up her shoes and bag, making her way downstairs.
The sight that greeted her wasn't unsurprising, her mother curled in a ball, tear tracks on her face, a few vodka bottles strewn around and her father's car god knows gently manoeuvred her mother into a standing position, wiping the smeared makeup from her cheeks and gently placing her in an armchair, before getting advil and some water from the kitchen and putting them gently on the side. She gathered up the cigarette ends and bottles from the carpet and checking her mothers arms for cuts and burns. Surprisingly enough, the older woman's skin wasn't marred by the usual alcohol-induced violence from her various conquests.
She quickly made her way out of the door, slipping into the comfortable seats of her small red car and turning on the radio, turning it up and smiling when the familiar melody of Ed Sheeran's Thinking out loud started playing. She sung along as she drove, matching the lyrics in her own glorious dulcet tones. The rive was peaceful, for once, her phone was turned off and in her bag. The soft strum of the guitar prepared her for what she assumed would be a stupidly long day. She pulled into the parking lot, her eyes looking at the clock on her dashboard. "Six am, check. Now to try those routines. We better have our shit together for the football championship." She sighed and stumbled out of her car, still feeling tired from not having her coffee. After signing into the school's pre-morning registration, she made her way into the gym and waited for Santana, who usually was also there by that time. For the fifteen minutes before Santana arrived, Quinn sat and rolled cigarette's.
She had been smoking for a while now, it had become a vice to ell deal with all the shit going on in her teen years. She knew it was unhealthy, but the rest of her lifestyle was anything but. She worked out every other day, ate ridiculously healthy and did everything healthy except smoke a few times a day.
After the time passed, the sound of white tennis shoes squeaking along the linoleum rang through the empty hall. Quinn immediately looked up, directly into the gorgeous mocha eyes of her best friend. She never really meant to look at Santana the way she did. But she couldn't control it. Her eyes couldn't help but rake over her companion's form. It wasn't lust though, it was pure love, adoration and admiration. Because fuck, Quinn Fabray was in love with her best friend.
0ooOOoo0
After an hour of cheerio practice, which went unusually smoothly, the pair made their way into the locker room, Brittany in hot pursuit. The trio exchanged hugs and the Blonde dancer went off to the cafeteria to find some food, whilst the other two pulled wash bags out of their lockers and went to the shower room.
Santana immediately stripped off her clothing, brazenly showing her miles of tan, lithe legs and taut abs, her long dark hair cascading down her back, whereas Quinn was somewhat the opposite, covering her chest with crossed arms and reluctantly letting her hair fall to her porcelain skin. The pair entered the respective shower block and turned on the water. Santana bent down to pick up her shampoo, speaking in soft tones "Don't be afraid of showing your body, Q. You're gorgeous." The compliment made the blonde's cheeks burn, turning almost fuchsia in a matter of seconds.
Not long after that, Quinn was rinsing Shampoo from her hair when it ran into her eyes "Holy Fuck!" She cried out, sinking to her knees and looking for her washcloth. She reached out blindly to the side and got a handful of soft, wet skin. She heard a gasp, followed by a chuckle and she yanked her hand away, finally grasping the cloth and wiping her eyes. She shut off the shower and dashed out, covering herself with a towel.
She was dressed by the time Santana came out, who dried off quickly, then got dressed in matter of minutes. The pair dried their hair and headed off to pre-calculus. They met up with Brittany, who had somehow accumulated a stack of four pancakes and a small blue hat. The didn't question, just gently ushered her forward into her class, then dashed to their own. The lesson was simple enough, so the hour ticked by relatively quickly for both of them. The bell rang and the entire class moved off to the next three lessons they had to endure before lunch.
0ooOoo0
Three hours later Quinn practically fell out of biology, an hour of dissecting trout really plays with the stomach. She could smell fish on her hands, her wrists and all up her arms. It was disgusting. She made her way into the cafeteria and picked up a salad, taking a seat on the popular table and eating albeit absentmindedly. Santana was racing though every neurone in her mind. It was frustrating and annoying, but invigorating. She had never loved anyone before, as much as she pretended; falling in love with either boys or girls was seemingly off the cards. She was roused out of her daydream when one of the jocks nudged her and pointed to Santana's face, which was on the monitors "I'd straighten her out." Quinn furrowed her eyebrows and watched the commercial very intently.
"Santana Lopez, Ohio's own Gay cheerleader, why, we ask? Why do we let a lesbian on an all girl squad, irresponsible behaviour, do you not agree? Vote for Reggie and behaviour like this will end." Quinn's jaw had practically fallen onto the floor, and she turned round to the jock, who had a smug smirk on his face. He repeated hat he had said a moment ago, so she cupped his face, bringing her pink lips to his ear, whispering very softly "She's fucking perfect, you leave her alone." She stood, punctuating her statement with a very hard slap to the face. The rugby player, going by the name of Josh Coleman, looked back over his shoulder as the blonde departed, something akin to fear glinting in his eyes. She was jogging down the hall, when she heard a door slam and the faint, raspy sounds of her best friend's inevitable tears. It broke her heart, the idea of Santana being forced out of the closet. Now it was time to do the right thing, and be a knight in a shining cheerios uniform.
She signed the out-book, complaining of a migraine. Dashing out to her car, she checked her phone for any messages and on discovering none, she began to panic. She tugged open the car door and threw herself into the seat, pulling on her seatbelt as she drove onto the main road outside the building. She drove as fast as she could, which resulted in horns honking, inter waving and the blonde jumping two red lights. She swung her little red car into a small, rocky parking lot, which led to an alcove in the trees. She opened the small gate and stepped onto the track. She presumed her friend would be far away, but she could hear her sobs, loud and clear. She rounded the corner and the sight she encountered broke her heart a little and hot tears spring to her eyes.
Santana was sat on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chest and her forehead resting on the top of her kneecaps. Her face was distorted in a seemingly silent screams and gasps erupted from her mouth. Every so often, a crying sob would escape her lungs and her hands would clench into a tight fist, carving crescents on her palms. Quinn descended slowly, kneeling beside the other in the mud and placing a hand gently on her friend's back. Santana immediately tensed, turning to look Quinn the eyes. Her makeup was running down her cheeks and her cheeks were pink fro crying so harshly.
Quinn looked into her eyes and was saddened to see that her usually bright eyes were dark and she could see something behind the dark eyes. It was far away, broken and dusty, but fixable. Quinn hurt so much just looking at her and she couldn't imagine how the Latina must have felt. The aforementioned girl stood up brushing off her uniform and looking down at Quinn. Quinn stood up quickly after, reaching out to place a hand on Santana's shoulder, who flinched away like she had been burnt. "Quinn, please, don't fucking touch me. I haven't even told my parents yet." She broke down again, dashing off to her car and driving into the sunset; leaving a stunned Blonde behind.
0ooOoo0
A few hours later, after Quinn had returned home, showered, eaten and surreptitiously smoking four cigarettes, she changed into some sweats and a WMHS t-shirt and left the house, setting off in the direction of Santana's house, who had been lying on her bed, curled up in the foetal position for the entire time she had been home, refusing anyone entry into her room, avoiding food and only getting up to stare out the window for a while. Honestly, she had no idea what to do about the commercial, she feared what her parents would say, her abuela. She was more scared than ever before.
Quinn had arrived at the house and could see that Santana's window was slightly ajar, so she swung her leg onto the brick wall, then sprawled onto the roof of the conservatory roof, painting for a moment before beginning to clamber up the trellis leading upward toward the fencing of the Latina's balcony. Part of the trellis slipped out from under her sneakers, causing her cuss quietly before throwing herself over the top of Santana's balcony and lying there for a moment, breathing heavily. She hefted her backpack onto her shoulder and climbed in through the window, setting the bag down on the floor. She heard Santana sniffle and sat down on her bed, stroking her friend's hair. The raven haired girl sighed and whispered "Thank you Quinn, but right now, I need to be alone."
Quinn smiled sadly, shaking her head "I'll go, when you sleep, I brought goldfish crackers because I know you haven't eaten."
The aforementioned girl nodded, closing her eyes and after what felt like hours to Santana but was really minutes, her breathing began to even out and she fell into an uneasy, worried sleep. The blonde kissed her gently on the forehead, whispering softly "Things'll get better San, I promise. I love you." She jumped down onto the balcony, then into the hedges near the wall, before ascending said brick wall and running home.