Chapter Six: 8 Weeks
The weekend had passed too quickly for the trio. Puck had spent most of it at the Lopez house, and on Saturday the three teenagers had a serious discussion about their relationships and their feelings, deciding not to make anything official, but to keep going as they had been for the past few days, just to see how things panned out naturally.
Maribel and Carlos had invited Ruth Puckerman over for dinner on Saturday night, the adults observing the teenagers over dinner, then discussing them once the three had gone upstairs to watch a movie together. It had been agreed that there wasn't much that could be done about the situation, everyone's lives had been changed by the pregnancies, but they would make the most of a difficult situation, allowing the teenagers to spend time together, in the hopes there would be some kind of happy relationship when the babies were born.
But now it was Monday morning, and Santana and Quinn were getting ready for the day in silence, both consumed by their own thoughts about the upcoming day that they barely noticed the other as they went about their routines.
It wasn't until they were sitting across from each other eating their breakfast that Santana finally spoke.
"Today is going to be horrible."
Quinn nodded, thinking about everyone's reactions to her still badly bruised face. There were going to be rumours everywhere, and Quinn was trying her hardest to channel her inner bitch to deal with them, after having a weekend where she was able to completely let down her guard.
"The rumour mill will be on fire," Quinn nodded but Santana shook her head, smiling across the table at Quinn.
"Let me rephrase that to 'today is going to be horrible, not being able to hold your hand and kiss you whenever I want' I don't give two fucks what those idiots at school make up about us," Santana corrected Quinn, her smile growing as Quinn's own smile crept across her face.
"This weekend has been perfect, San," Quinn said sincerely. "This little bubble we've been in has been just what I've needed, what we've needed, but sadly, it's not going to last once we hit school."
"Then we suffer through six hours and when we come back home after Cheerios it can just be me, you and well maybe Puckerman," Santana knew she was dealing with this better than Quinn was, she just had to convince the blonde that school wasn't going to be that bad, knowing they got to come home to each other at the end of the day.
A short while later the doorbell rung and Santana answered it, since Quinn was throwing up her breakfast.
"Hey gorgeous," Puck greeted, kissing Santana softly. "Ready?"
"Q is just emptying her stomach," Santana told Puck as she walked inside, leaving him to follow her as she gathered up her and Quinn's backpacks.
"Gross," Puck screwed up his nose, he had seen the two girls throw up more times over the weekend than he had thought possible, and though he acted repulsed by it, he was secretly worried about how much food was actually getting to his babies since everything Quinn and Santana seemed to eat, came back up almost instantly.
"Quinn's worried about school," Santana confessed to Puck. "She's been putting on her Head Bitch in Charge face all morning."
"We both know Quinn well enough to know her true personality, though she tries to act just as hard-ass as the two of us, she worries about everything, and the only way she knows how to deal is to shut down and put on her HBIC face and tell the world to fuck itself," Puck pointed out, and Santana nodded in agreement, that was exactly how Quinn dealt with life.
"I'm just worried about her, worried she won't let me protect her," Santana declared.
Puck raised his eyebrow at Santana's words. "Would you let her protect you?"
Santana scoffed, rolling her eyes before she comprehended what Puck was trying to tell her. There was no way Quinn would let Santana protect her at school right now, not when she was still Head Cheerleader and Queen of the School. All Santana could do was give Quinn a safe place to go home to each night, and endless love, something the young teenager had never had before.
"Alright, I'm done rejecting my breakfast now," Quinn announced as she came down the stairs, her Cheerios uniform as perfect as usual, her hair as flawless as always, the only thing different about Quinn was the bruising visible under her makeup. "Let's go."
When Quinn reached the bottom of the stairs Santana grabbed her waist, pulling the blonde flush against her own body as she crashed their lips together, trying to convey to Quinn all of the love she felt, reminding the blonde she was Quinn's safe place, no matter what went down at school that day.
"I love you," Santana breathed as they finally broke apart. "Don't forget that, okay?"
Quinn nodded, breathing heavily as she struggled to put her standoff look back on her face, which was near impossible after the kiss and Santana's words.
"And I'd kiss you both and declare my love as well, but we're really going to be late for school," Puck added in, making both girls laugh.
"Whoever thought they would see the day that Noah Puckerman himself was worried about being late for school," Santana teased, linking her fingers with Quinn's as she tugged the blonde out the door and although Quinn smiled back at her best friend, Santana could see her walls had come back up because Quinn's smile didn't reach her eyes.
Quinn rolled her eyes as Rachel stormed out of Glee Club, having just rambled something about a character in West Side story that Tina was singing the solo for. If Quinn was being honest, she hadn't paid attention in school all day, all of her classes had passed in a blur, the whole day had been full of whispers and stares and Quinn had managed to stay composed all day, now she just had to get through the last few minutes of Glee, followed by Cheerio's practice and then she was free to go home and be with Santana and Puck.
Quinn could feel Santana's presence behind her, sitting with Brittany, laughing about Rachel's diva-moment, and Quinn wanted nothing more than to let the brunette hug her so that she could relax for a moment, so she could let down her guards. More than that though, Quinn wished she could see Puck, while she shared three classes, and Cheerios with Santana, she only shared English with Puck, and after the weekend of having him around, Quinn was missing the sight of the mohawked boy.
It wasn't until they got to the field for Cheerio's that Quinn was able to see Puck, practicing with the football team. Quinn felt her heart beat faster as he looked up and winked at her, and when Santana brushed against her ever so slightly, Quinn felt her whole body tense up.
"Alright there, Q?" Santana asked quietly, stretching her body and watching as Quinn did the same.
"I'm... managing," Quinn replied, doing her best to keep her face emotionless as she struggled with the need to be closer to Santana.
"We'll be home soon," Santana promised, just as the sound of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" filled the field. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch as Kurt Hummel - one of the boys from Glee Club - danced to the song before kicking the football over the posts.
While everyone else on the field was distracted, Santana took a step to the side, closer to Quinn. She let her uninjured hand drop down to brush gently against Quinn's fingers, feeling the blonde clench her hand in response, her head turning to meet Santana's eyes which were watching her carefully.
"Don't forget, Kitten," Santana said so quietly that Quinn almost couldn't hear her, but the words reminded Quinn of what Santana had said just before they left the house that morning.
Santana could sense Quinn's body relaxing a little bit and she stepped away as everyone's attention left the football team and their new kicker, Kurt.
After a harsh training, Quinn and Santana showered and then sat together in the bleachers while they waited for Puck to finish up his football practice so he could take them home.
Santana angled her body so she could take Quinn's hand in her own, linking their fingers together tightly.
"God I've missed you today," Santana sighed, her eyes moving up to meet the green of Quinn's gaze, noticing something was off in the blonde's eyes. "Are you okay, Kitten?"
"I have the worst headache," Quinn explained. "And I've missed you all day, and Puck too. That was worse than all the whispers and stares in the hallways."
"Did you hear that we apparently got into a fight over Finn?" Santana smirked as Quinn rolled her eyes.
"Heard that, and I also heard you attacked me so you could become head cheerleader," Quinn informed Santana. "Shame you broke your wrist and can't do half the routine, Captain."
"People suck," Santana announced. "Their stories are lame."
"Obviously we were attacked by zombies," Quinn giggled, remembering the night in the hospital and the stories they made up about the other patients.
"You and zombies!" Santana exclaimed, glad to see Quinn looking happier than she had the whole day. "That's better."
"Hey girls," Puck approached the pair, glad to see they were both looking happy, he had been worried about the two after hearing all the rumours during the day.
"Hey," Santana and Quinn chimed in together, dropping their hands as they stood up.
"Ready to go home?" Puck asked, and the girls nodded, more than ready to be home where they could relax and enjoy each other. "Come on then."
Three Days Later
Puck had been wanting to join the Glee Club, namely to see Quinn and Santana more, but also because he knew he was a good singer, but he had been giving Finn so much grief over it, he couldn't back down. So when Finn and Mr Shue stood in the locker room, informing the team that they would be learning to dance, Puck was acting like he was outraged, when he was actually secretly excited.
Friday came around quickly, though the school days dragged by, the nights were spent together in Santana's bedroom, doing homework, watching TV and talking about the babies.
The football game was almost at the end, the Titans were down by 6 points with only a few seconds left in the game, Puck had taken a few hard hits throughout the game, making Quinn and Santana cringe from their place on the sideline.
With 1 second left on the clock, Finn called a timeout and pulled Puck over to the side.
"Dude, we gotta do it," Finn told Puck, referencing to the song they had been learning with Kurt and Mr Shue.
"We will be jokes for the rest of our high school lives," Puck argued, knowing it was true, but making it sound like he cared more than he did about this fact.
"We're already jokes! I don't want to be a Lima Loser for the rest of my life," Finn pointed out, and Puck looked over to the sideline where Santana and Quinn stood. He wanted them to be proud of him, for his babies to be proud of their Daddy, so if dancing was what it took to win football games, Puck knew he would dance at every football game he ever played.
As the opposing team yelled insults at the Titans, Puck turned around to them, glaring at the bigger players and resisting the urge to insult them back before he turned to Finn.
"Let's do it, Captain."
As the Titans broke from their huddle, Puck looked back over at the cheerleaders, winking at his two girls, wondering how long they were going to tease him for this.
Quinn and Santana, along with the whole crowd fell into a stunned silence as "Single Ladies" flooded the field and the boys started dancing. Quinn looked over at Santana and they burst into laughter as they both turned back to watch, keeping a keen eye on the boy in the number 20 jersey.
Quinn hid her laughter in her pompom, this was a side of Puck she never imagined she would see, and she was surprised to see that despite the song and the dance moves, Puck was easily one of the best dancers out there.
The crowd was getting into the dance when Finn took the ball and passed it long to Puck who ran the last few feet to make a touchdown.
Santana and Quinn went crazy, along with the rest of the crowd, calling out Puck's name as he did a little dance, pointing over to the cheerleaders seconds before his team reached him, engulfing him.
After Kurt kicked the field goal, winning the Titans the game, Puck jogged over to the cheerleaders, grinning at Santana and Quinn before turning his attention to Brittany.
The tall blonde girl was the only one at the school who knew about the pregnancies and the budding relationship between the three teenagers, because she was Quinn and Santana's best friend. Brittany was thrilled for her friends, knowing how much the two girls cared for each other, as well as for Puck. To her there was nothing wrong with being with the person or people you loved, it just made sense.
"A kiss for that awesome touchdown?" He asked, pointing to his cheek and letting the tall blonde place a kiss to his cheek.
"San?" Puck moved to the brunette, bending down so she could place a kiss too, hers lingering for longer than Brittany's had.
"Wait til we get home, Puckerman," Santana promised, making Puck use all of his self control to avoid kissing her.
"A kiss for the star player?" Puck asked Quinn, winking at the brunette who brushed her lips against his cheek, further back than Santana had, near his ear.
"We'll make sure you get your reward later, star player," Quinn breathed, holding Puck tightly to her for a few seconds longer before she released him, slipping her arm into Santana's and smirking up at the boy.
"You two," Puck warned, shaking his head. "I'll see you soon."
As the team headed off the field, Santana and Quinn hung around with the cheerleaders who were talking about a party to celebrate the win.
"Are you guys coming?" One of the older girls asked, but Santana shook her head.
"Not me, I have a family thing early tomorrow," Santana groaned. "But have fun!"
"Wicked headache," Quinn lied. "Sucks that I'll miss the fun!"
"I hope Puckerman is coming," the older girl grinned. "I'd love to congratulate him on the win."
Santana and Quinn's eyes met, somehow they thought the star player would be taking them home for their own private celebration instead of heading to the party.