A/N: So apparently I can't stop writing this story, no matter how little sleep I get. Thank you guys for the follows, favorites, and reviews. Each one definitely spurs me on to keep writing, and your feedback is much appreciated. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
QUINN
I'm lying in Santana's arms, listening to her soft snoring behind me. Her legs are entangled with mine, and she has her arm around my waist, her hand protectively covering my belly. I have an immediate feeling of déjà vu, this is almost exactly how I had woken up on Thursday morning after we went back to sleep.
Thursday morning? No way.
It's amazing how much has changed for us since Wednesday. One moment we could barely speak to each other, and now here I am, wrapped in the arms of this beautiful creature, surrounded by her love and affection. It's so easy to see now how much this amazing love played a part in her seeming malice towards me during these past few months. Santana was hurting. She protected herself with callousness. And yet, some of the things I thought were her most vicious were evidently meant to help me. She sexted with Puck for the sole purpose of showing me what I was refusing to see, but didn't want me to know that she was protecting me. It makes me wonder what else she did secretly on my behalf. Now that the curiosity has struck me, I have half a mind to wake her up and ask. I won't, because I know she needs her sleep after yesterday, but this is definitely a conversation we need to have. One of many conversations we need to have.
For now, I am content to just lie here with her, basking in the feeling of her skin against mine.
SANTANA
Quinn's hair is in my mouth. I bring my hand up and start trying to clear it out, but Quinn reacts to my hand moving and turns around, effectively solving my problem. She laughs at the look on my face, my tongue hanging out awkwardly.
"That's attractive," she snorts.
"Your hair was in my mouth, Chewbacca."
Quinn's mouth opens in horror at being called a Wookiee, and I'm moderately surprised she even gets the reference.
"Whatever, you're the one who wants to sleep with me," she snarks.
"Oh please, you've been begging for it, Lucy Q," I shoot back at her.
"I don't deny that at all. Except I'm begging for it from an extremely attractive Latina girl with a smart tongue and a smokin' bod," she answers, raising her eyebrow like the smartass she is.
I am turned on and more than a little impressed with her comeback game this morning, and I've got nothing good to answer her with. When in doubt, agree.
"Yeah you are," I tell her with a touch of cockiness, adding a little wink for good measure, "And for the record, Chewie, my tongue is good for a lot more than just vicious wordplay."
She lets out a single "HA!" and then closes the gap to give me a swift closed-mouth kiss.
"Shameless, Lopez. You are completely shameless."
I grin widely and hop up to my knees on the bed, singing loudly in a ridiculous Garth Brooks imitation:
Well I'm SHAMELESS
When it comes to LOOOOOVING YOUUUUUU
"Santana! Shhhh!" Quinn is blushing, wide eyed, trying to quiet me down. Of course, this only spurs me on further.
I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT ME TOOOOO
I'LL DO ANYTHING AT ALLLLLL
AND I'M STAND-hmphh
Quinn rises to her knees and grabs my face with both hands, capturing my mouth fully with hers and silencing my singing quickly. She's actually laughing into my mouth as she kisses me and it strikes me as the most adorable thing ever. I recover after a second and pull her closer to me, slowing down the kiss into a sensual, soft caress. When I break away, I tilt my forehead against hers and gently peck the tip of her nose.
"You don't like my singing, pretty lady?"
"You're awful. I don't know what would ever possess you to sing at all," she tells me, her head shaking back and forth against mine.
"Well then I guess we'd better quit Glee, huh?" I honestly love her sarcastic shit talk; she's such a teasingly mean bitch.
"We? No, sweetheart, I don't suck. Just you."
"You wound me, Quinn Fabray."
"I'm sorry, baby. How can I make it better?"
She doesn't wait for me to answer, just dips her head to suck my bottom lip between hers, softly caressing it with her tongue and then letting it go with a soft pop.
"All better," I breathe out. This girl does things to me…
"Good," she says brightly, "because we need to get ready so we can catch the bus to sectionals."
"You're sure you want to go?" I ask. I'm willing to skip it and stay with her, but she seems determined.
"San, I'm fine. I am not missing this. I don't have Cheerios anymore, this is the only place I belong now."
God, sometimes I forget how much she's going through. She's a tough cookie, though. I know she's not complaining, and doesn't want me commiserating with her, so I don't make an issue of it.
"Okay, but I hope I don't cost us the competition with my terrible singing voice," I sigh in fake dejection.
"It'll be fine, your hotness makes up for it," she jokes cheekily and plants a wet peck on my cheek before jumping off the bed before I can grab her.
"You're gonna get it, Lucy Q!"
I hop down and chase after her, grabbing her from behind when she tries to escape. I wrap my arms around her and pick her up playfully, but carefully. I drop her back on the bed and tickle her furiously, giggling as she squirms and laughs.
"San!...Stop!...Please!...I was…just…teasing!" She begs in between squeals of laughter.
I still my hands and look at her in mock seriousness.
"So you don't think I'm the worst singer ever?"
"I mean, you're no me, but-"
She squeals again as I tickle her once more.
"Okay!...okay!" She finally relents. "You know you're amazing, Santana. I just can't let your head get any bigger," she tells me as if it's obvious.
"Uh huh, and don't you forget it, Fabray."
She rolls her eyes at me.
"Go take a shower, we need to hurry up and get going."
"As you wish, princess." I hop up and bow deeply as I respond.
I head for the bathroom, blowing her a kiss before I disappear inside the door.
QUINN
It is no small miracle that we've made it out the door on time. Santana and I are very easily distracted by one another, and we had several false starts before we actually made it out of her room. I must've fixed my lipstick three or four times, and removed San's lipstick from my face, neck, hands, pretty much every inch of exposed skin on my body. Seriously, the girl is walking sex appeal. It's impossible to deny her.
Mrs. Lopez gives us both a hug on the way out and tells us to "kick some ass today." She waves to Britt, who's volunteered to drive us, as we run down the driveway, and I can see Brittany enthusiastically returning a wave of her own.
I get a huge smile from our bubbly blonde friend when I sit in the front seat, and she grabs my hand to give it a quick squeeze. As soon as we're closed into the car, the questions start.
"So when did all of this actually happen?" she asks, indicating between Santana and me.
"I mean, it's kind of always been happening, you know that Britt," Santana says evasively.
I look at Brittany and roll my eyes at Santana's non-answer, then follow it with a legitimate answer. She kept Santana together while I figured out my shit and, more than anyone, deserves to know everything.
"Wednesday night I kissed her. Thursday we stayed home and talked and figured some stuff out, and kissed some more, of course, and yesterday…well, yesterday I fell in love with her all over again."
"AWWWWW!" Brittany squeals elatedly. "I knew it, I've been telling Santana for months. She didn't believe me that you were totes in love with her, too. In fact, just Wednesday afternoon I told her that you two would figure out your equation. Honestly, I didn't think you'd get that math right for a while though," Britt huffs out a little sigh and adds, "I'm going to miss my sweet lady kisses, though."
I'm kind of speechless, trying to decipher everything Brittany just said. Equation? Math? I think I should be jealous of her comment about the lady kisses, but I'm strangely not bothered at all. She's basically surrendering Santana over to me as if she knows we're just right for each other.
"Equation?" I ask.
I peek back at Santana to get a read on her expression. She looks back at me with her head cocked, as if she's trying to read my reaction before she answers.
"Brittany explained to me that relationships are kind of like long division. While we were separated our equation didn't come out to a whole answer, so I had a remainder that completed my answer—Brittany. But, as she so brilliantly explained to me, you are my answer. Now that we've figured out how our equation works, my answer is perfect, so I don't need a remainder anymore."
I look at Brittany, struck once again by her ability to see so much deeper than most people.
"That actually makes perfect sense," I say. "You're like a love genius, Britt. You figured us out so much sooner than we did. And…I just want to say thank you. You've been really cool about all of this, and you took such good care of San while I was busy being an idiot. You were definitely the link that kept this unholy trinity together until we figured out that equation."
Brittany's eyes light up and she looks at me quickly.
"Oh my GOD, Quinn that's brilliant!" I give her a questioning look, unsure what was so brilliant.
"THE UNHOLY TRINITY, we are the Unholy Trinity! That's really just too perfect!"
Santana laughs in the back and I turn to smile at her.
"I agree with Britt, I think that's possibly the most apt nickname of all time."
"It's decided then, we are the Unholy Trinity," I say with an emphatic nod.
I hear Santana's seatbelt click open and suddenly she's leaning forward between the seats, planting a kiss on Britt's cheek and then turning to fully kiss me.
"One more before I have to pretend like this isn't all I want to do for the rest of the day," she whispers after our lips separate.
I reach my right hand up and grip the back of her neck, pulling her mouth to mine for a passionate kiss that's slightly less than appropriate with a third party present.
"God you guys are going to need a lot of help hiding this. You're lucky you have me. But maybe you should both consider wearing sunglasses all the time from now on," Brittany says teasingly while San and I get lost in our kiss.
Santana's eyes pop open and she pulls back. Her eyes look cautious, as if she's waiting for an explosion. It takes me a second to realize she's waiting for an explosion from me. I shake my head and smile at her, then drop a quick peck on her lips.
"Put your seatbelt back on, love. Sitting like that is dangerous," I say in mock seriousness.
She falls back onto the backseat with an amused expression and I turn back around to realize we're already pulling into the student parking lot at McKinley. The three of us exchange an excited expression, we're all familiar with competition, and we're ready to go. We grab our bags and dresses, and head for the bus.
We bound up the bus stairs enthusiastically…into complete silence. I look at the Glee kids on the bus, and realize they look terrified. At first I figure they are just nervous for the competition, but then it dawns on me that Santana is the root of their fear, and I almost laugh out loud. If only these guys could see scary Santana roll over and pull me closer to her, then plant a big kiss on my face while she's still sleeping. True story, she did that, and it was the cutest freaking thing I've ever seen. I slide into the first open seat and Santana follows. Britt takes the seat across from ours. I stand to face the other kids and realize that Finn isn't here, and I know in my heart he's not coming. I feel a wave of guilt wash over me for what I did to him. I nudge San in the ribs and she gives me a questioning look.
"We need to do something about this awkwardness," I whisper, leaning towards her.
"Why? It's not our fault," she responds.
"Um, yes it is San. I had a meltdown yesterday after Finn discovered that I lied to him about being the father of my child. He punched Puck in the face repeatedly, all because of what I did. They watched me get carted off in an ambulance and I'm pretty sure they're afraid you are going to beat all of them up for it."
She rolls her eyes, but I can see she is going to indulge me. She stands and moves into the aisle.
"New Directions! Hey, yo, eyes over here!"
My eyes widen in nervousness, Lord only knows what she'll say in her attempt to "ease" the awkwardness. All of the kids have their eyes trained on San's inexplicably beautiful face.
"So rumor has it that you guys are feeling a little uncomfortable because of yesterday's events, so let's clear the air, yes?" She sounds a little sarcastic and I hold my breath, but her tone evens out into a firm, steady one. "Mistakes were made, by a lot of different people, for a lot of different reasons. Now I know drama is kind of our thing…" she pauses to allow everyone to chuckle at her truism, "but I say today we just wipe the slate clean and take this competition on as a team. We can win this thing, guys. We can win this thing and show everyone who doubts us that we are legit. So what do you say? Are we ready for this or what?"
There is a beat of silence, and then the New Directions respond, whooping and hollering. Even Puck and Rachel join the cheering and I feel lighter just listening to them all. Santana whips out some speakers from her backpack and turns up the music, and our teammates start singing along and dancing, shaking the bus with their enthusiasm. Miss Pillsbury looks super relieved that the bus is no longer silent.
I glance at my best friend. She's bobbing her head to the music and watching Britt dance in the aisle. It's like seeing her anew once again. She's an incredibly natural leader; it looks so effortless for her. I mean, I've seen her tear down just about everyone on this bus, but with just a few words she has them rallied behind her in the charge to win a competition as if this team didn't just experience a major upheaval the day before. Santana's charisma is undeniable, and I'm in absolute awe of her. How did I not see this?
When we finally turn around and sit down, I slide my hand between us and hold it open. San looks at me in surprise, and then weaves her fingers between mine.
"That was awesome, thank you for doing that," I tell her earnestly.
She shrugs and smiles at me.
"You know how I feel about losing."
I just give her hand a squeeze.
We can't lose with you on our team. I can't lose with you by my side. I love you.
SANTANA
These motherfuckers are singing our songs. This is some bullshit of the highest order and I can't just let this mess go on without some type of response. I'm not afraid of these delinquent bitches. I just gotta pick the right target to make my point.
Who's it gonna be?
Wait, forget the juvie hoes. They didn't do this. It's gotta be their ghetto coach with the unconvincing weave. She gave them this set list.
Game on.
I'm out of my chair as soon as their set ends. I guarantee I'll find this bitch in the bathroom, and it's the perfect place to, at the very least, tear this bitch a new one. I'm going to own her pathetic, cheating ass. I think of like 50 brilliant insults as I stalk up the aisle and yank the door of the auditorium open. I look around until I spot the bathroom. I feel the sneer spread across my lips when I spot my intended target walking in.
You're so done.
I take two steps and feel a hand slide into mine, but it doesn't pull me back. I stop of my own accord and look to my right to see Brittany looking straight ahead. She shakes her head slightly, and I know what she's telling me. I squeeze her hand quickly in response. Again, she shakes her head. I squeeze once more, a little longer this time. Her chin drops, and I think I've won this argument, but then I see her head shake almost imperceptibly. I glare at her, but she doesn't look back at me. When a second hand slips into my empty one, I know I'm done. My heart aches, because I don't know how to fix this. I want to be let off the leash to tear that bitch up I don't know how else to help my team right now.
"Let's go to the Green Room," Quinn says firmly.
I close my eyes for a second and look down before nodding. We walk, hand in hand, to join our teammates. My mind is racing the entire time. We need to a solution, and we need one fast.
Rachel. We need Rachel to live up to the hype, right now.
As soon as we cross the threshold I'm in "go" mode.
"Rachel, you're doing the solo. Sorry Mercedes, but right now we need to go next level. Berry, you're gonna lead us off, and you've got to go big. Pick your number one, go-to song and sing the shit out of it. Think you can do that?"
Rachel stiffens and nods intensely. I fight the urge to roll my eyes at her typical dramatics. I still want to punch her in the face, so it's harder than usual. Next order of business.
"Mike, Matt, you guys need to start text bombing Finn like there is no tomorrow. He needs to know what's going on here. I don't care what you have to say to him, but you need to get him to call my cell number. I know he won't answer if I just call him. Let me know when he starts responding."
"What if he doesn't?" Mike asks.
"He will. Just don't let up."
I catch Quinn's eye for a second and she mouths "so hot" and then grins at me. I can't help the smile that spreads across my face, but I do my damnedest to bite it back.
"Everyone else, gather in, nice and tight now. That's it, everyone get your asses in here."
I look from face to face in this small group. Part of me still can't believe I'm here, calling these weirdoes my teammates. I feel a swell of affection for them all, and I know now is the moment. We're going to fucking WIN, so help me God. I feel a slow grin spread across my face, because I know exactly what I need to say.
"Santana, Finn is calling you right now!"
Yes. I accept the call.
"Finn, I'm sure you've got plenty you wanna say, but I need you to just listen right now. I'm putting you on speaker. Okay, listen up. We need a song, guys. We need a big song that we can throw down in defiance of the shitty hand we just got dealt. We need a song to let all our chips ride on. We need to be perfect. Now, don't get me wrong, being perfect is not about what the judges say today. It's not even about winning. Being perfect is about being able to look each other in the eye and know that we didn't let one another down because we told the truth. And that truth is that we did everything we could. There wasn't one more thing we could've done. So I'm asking you guys now, can we live in this moment as best we can, with clear eyes, and joy in our hearts? Because if we can do that, guys—then we're perfect. We need to find the song that represents us in this moment and we'll find our perfection. And Finn, we need you. We need you to step into the gap and be the guy who gets us the win. I hope we'll see you soon."
I end the call and look at my teammates for a moment. Their eyes are clear, they look ready to take this shit on. My phone beeps and I look down. It's a text from Finn, and it's perfect. I smile confidently and hold it up to the circle of faces surrounding me.
FINN: U cant always get what u want. Rolling stones. Omw.
"Let's get to work. Britt, the song is on my iPod. Turn that bad boy up and start working on some choreography with Mike and Matt. Mercedes, Kurt, Tina—you guys start thinking of ways we can arrange it to best highlight our talent. And Jacob, you need to leave Berry the fuck alone. I'm serious. Leave her alone. Don't even look at her." I catch Rachel's shocked expression, but ignore it.
Everyone breaks off to get to work, and Quinn sidles up next to me.
"How the hell did you come up with all that on the fly? Don't get me wrong, that was amazing, but…"
I smirk at her question and decide I love having Quinn to tell all of my truths.
"I didn't. A lot of it was from Friday Night Lights. You should know that, I made you watch it like ten times."
I suppress a laugh when I see Quinn's face, and put a finger up to my lips, raising my eyebrow.
"You're so bad," she says in a low voice.
"Uh huh, you'll find out just how bad I can be soon."
QUINN
They announce our win and we go absolutely crazy. Everyone is jumping all over each other and hugging one another, and I can't think of a time when this team has felt more like one. Even Finn hugs me, and I am amazed to see Rachel and Santana embrace briefly. We ride a joyful high all the way to the bus, and we sing impromptu songs on the drive home. I feel like a normal teenager, and it is glorious.
I am completely captivated by Santana. Once Finn had arrived, she'd stepped back surreptitiously and allowed him to take the lead. She knew he needed it, and she didn't seem to care about taking the credit. I could see her moving behind the scenes, propping people up in the final moments, injecting self-confidence with her steady handed composure and absolute certainty. She believed, so they did too. When we arranged the song, she didn't fight for a lead or do anything but encourage the people who had them. The girl has an amazing voice, and she quietly took a background role. Every single thing she did today seemed almost pre-ordained to be exactly what this group needed. Well, save for her wanting to beat the crap out of the juvie show choir director. That would've been stupid. But other than that, Santana is easily the MVP of the day. She bridged the awkward silence when we got on the bus, and then brought the team back from the brink of disaster at the competition. I am utterly smitten.
When we arrive back at the school, I practically drag San off the bus and over to Brittany's car. We wave goodbye to our other teammates as Britt strolls up, giving me a knowing smirk and unlocking the doors.
"At least wait until we're out of the parking lot before you jump her bones," Britt orders me.
I turn a fairly bright shade of pink, because she's basically read my mind.
"There will be no jumping of any bones in the car," Santana answers Britt while looking at me.
I frown at her.
"Why not?" I'm nothing short of petulant.
"Because you and I need to have an important conversation first, and we need to have that conversation in private. No offense, Britt."
"Definitely none taken, Sanny," Britt responds brightly.
Now I frown at Britt.
"I don't think one kiss will ruin our conversation." I tell them both.
Santana snorts.
"When was the last time we managed to have just one kiss, Q?"
I'm silent. Point, Santana.
"That's what I thought," she laughs from the backseat before leaning forward to whisper in my ear, "Don't worry, I'll make this conversation worth your while. Promise."
HELL YES. FINALLY.