sorry for the delay. i've been so busy and when i'm not busy i've just been so damn tired. but finally here is chapter 18:)
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An annoying ringing coming from the right side of the bed, Santana's side, bursts into the silence of the early morning. The Latina shifts in her sleep, turns her head away from the noise and throws her arm over to the other side of the bed gripping Brittany's hip through the blanket possessively in the process. Brittany's legs move under the sheets, becoming tangled with tanned legs and black colored bedding as she groans in displeasure and her body shuffles closer into Santana's.
"Santana." Brittany mumbles against Santana's chest trying to get her to do something about the incessant noise piercing her eardrums. But when her girlfriend doesn't budge she moves her body further into Santana's in hopes of rousing her. "Phone." She groans against the naked flesh of Santana's chest.
"Mmm." She grunts in response, pulling Brittany closer against her body and wrapping their legs around one another's in a desperate attempt to further ignore the buzzing and ringing beside them. Santana groans when Brittany kicks her in the shin with the heel of her foot and shuffles away reaching down to rub away the ache. "Dammit Britt." She whines and reaches behind her and over her head blindly to retrieve her phone.
She brings the phone in front of her face, the light so bright it shines through her eyelids and forces her to peek them open. Her eyebrows scrunch together and she huffs, not at the name flashing across the screen but more at the time.
"Hello?" Santana answers, the grogginess apparent from the scratch in her voice.
"I don't know why you feel the need to act like you don't know who it is every phone in America has caller ID." Mrs. Lopez replies in slight early morning irritation that comes with being a Lopez. Santana grumbles some form of response and turns her body again into Brittany's, nudging her forehead into her back gently. "I wanted to check in about Christmas." Behind her eyelids, Santana's eyes roll and she makes a throaty sound once more without using actual words. "Santana, just because you're living in the big city with your girlfriend does not mean I'm just going to let you get away with not coming home."
"I already told you, the restaurant is open on holidays and since I got off for Thanksgiving my chances are pretty slim." She explains in a hushed tone after receiving another kick from Brittany.
"So what?" Mrs. Lopez scoffs and Santana can just picture her mother standing in the kitchen leaning on the counter with one hand on her hip. "You and Brittany are just going to play house for Christmas vacation and forget all about your families?" She huffs and the added sigh at the end is what makes Santana bolt up in bed and her eyes pop open with annoyance.
"First of all, it's like," She glances over at her clock. "6:15 in the morning and you're calling us on our day off when we can actually get the chance to sleep in." Santana shouts into the phone causing Brittany to turn onto her side quickly to face her girlfriend eyes slowly opening and adjusting to the light peering in from the curtain. "Second of all, I know you're getting forgetful in your old age but let me remind you that because I decided to move to the city to live with my girlfriend who I am having a relationship with, not playing house with, you guys cut me off and I have to work to pay for shit around here."
"Santana." Brittany hisses through a yawn and sits up against the headboard of their bed and reaches forward to grab the phone from her girlfriend's hand. "Hey Mrs. Lo." The blonde says sweetly into the receiver. "Sorry about that," She kicks Santana for the third time which prompts the Latina to get out of bed completely and stand defiantly by the window. "You know how she gets when she doesn't get her beauty sleep." Santana glares at her girlfriend as she crosses her arms.
"It's okay dear." Mrs. Lopez chuckles on the other end getting a sympathetic grin from Brittany. "You know I mean nothing by it when I say 'playing house', I just needed to get her attention that's all." Brittany shakes her head as she chuckles sparing a quick glance at her brooding girlfriend.
"Trust me, I know all about that." She informs the older Latina and all of the joking and laughter melts Santana's icy anger for a moment and she leans to take a seat at the foot of the bed.
"Is there any way you can talk her into getting out of work?" Mrs. Lopez inquires and Brittany twists her lips as though taking it into consideration. She would love it if Santana didn't have to work and could come to Lima with her for Christmas, but it's simply not in the cards.
"She's been trying to get out of it. She even offered a hundred bucks to some girl at work to switch shifts but it looks like she's stuck here for Christmas this year." She shrugs as she explains to Mrs. Lopez that it is in fact a lost cause in trying to talk to Santana about not coming home for break. Santana reaches out and wraps her fingers around Brittany's ankle from under the sheet and squeezes it gently garnering a soft smile from the blonde. "But it kind of works out because Quinn is stuck here too." She adds as an afterthought, remembering that her blonde buddy is stuck at work but for different reasons of course.
"I just don't like the thought of my baby so far away on Christmas." The older woman sighs and it makes Brittany's lower lip jut out until she is in full pout mode. "You better be coming by regardless of my daughter's absence young lady." She is quick to add, her voice sounding stern. Brittany giggles and pulls her leg back when Santana tickles the bottom of her foot.
"Of course I'll be there." She assures her girlfriend's mom and after a few more minutes of random gossiping and catching up the phone is finally placed once again on the night stand. "You are so grumpy when you're sleep gets interrupted." Brittany notes, leaning forward to pull Santana back to the top of the bed by her waist. The Latina smirks and lets out a laugh as she breathes through her nose, bringing her body to partially lie on top of the blonde's.
"It depends how I get woken up." She wriggles her eyebrows suggestively getting a giggle and a smile from Brittany who wraps her arms up and around her neck. Santana lowers her lips to press them to Brittany's in a chaste, early morning kiss.
Santana nuzzles her face into the crook of Brittany's neck, places a small kiss to the skin there and lets out a sigh as she closes her eyes. The blonde wraps her arms around her girlfriend, pulling her close against her and kiss her forehead before closing her own eyes once more and they slowly fall back into a deep sleep that they were pulled from.
Around nine o'clock an alarm starts sounding off, stirring the room's occupants from a cozy sleep. Quinn grumbles and turns away from the offending sound and pulls the covers up and over her head while slightly nudging Rachel in the side. Rachel mumbles something incoherent into her pillow as she tries to move her body away from the limb poking her in the side.
"Shut it off." Quinn groans, lifting the covers only enough for her words to travel to Rachel's ears. Grudgingly Rachel turns onto her side to face the side table her alarm clock is on and flips the little switch into the off position. She closes her eyes once again and shuffles further under the covers to find the spot she had just been in.
"Quinn get up." She tells the blonde because even with her eyes closed and the sound of herself moving on the bed, she knows that Quinn has not made any move to get up and start getting ready for work.
"I don't wanna." Quinn whines, tightening the blanket around her own body and stealing it away from the brunette. Rachel chuckles in amusement and slight annoyance and pushes into Quinn's shoulder to shake her out of her morning daze.
"You have work in an hour and a half." Rachel reminds her, leaning over towards her girlfriend, lowering the blanket and pressing her lips to the blonde's cheek. Quinn can't help the small smile that comes to her lips at the feeling but tries to cover that up by ducking her head bringing her chin to her chest. "And I was thinking that we can meet up for lunch." The brunette informs her, kissing her once again by the jaw. Quinn's eyes slowly open up, blinking the sleep from her eyes and searching for Rachel's brown ones staring back at her. They stare at one another for a few moments, smiling sweetly back at the other as Rachel lifts her hand and tucks some stray hairs that she can tame, behind Quinn's ear.
"I love you, you know that right?" Quinn lets out in her scratchy early morning voice. Rachel's smile widens and she nods once before leaning back down to press her lips to the blonde's.
"I know." Rachel whispers before one last kiss and then starts to pull Quinn up by her hands and leads her out of their bedroom.
They make their way to the kitchen where Quinn pours herself some cereal and Rachel gets them both juice while grabbing a small bowl of fruit for herself from the refrigerator. They sit comfortably in silence for a few moments until Rachel finally breaks it as she ruffles some papers in front of her and lets out a sigh.
"What are you going to do about school?" She asks kind of quietly. Quinn's eyes dart up from the back of the cereal box she has been staring at more than she'd been reading it.
"Can we not right now." Quinn rolls her eyes trying to get lost in the maze her eyes cannot seem to figure out. Rachel raises an eyebrow curiously at how quick Quinn is to end a conversation that they have both been dancing around.
"But," The diva starts again, reaching across the table to move the box out from between them. "I mean, you have to do something." She explains in confusion. "Quinn, if you don't call your school and withdraw you're going to fail and that is going to screw up your GPA and that's something that sticks with your entire college career." Rachel informs her girlfriend whose spoon hangs out of her mouth and her eyebrow arched up. "And if you fail your first semester of college what school is going to let you transfer with a 0.0 GPA?" She challenges, leaning back in her chair as she takes a bite of fruit. Quinn slowly pulls the spoon from her lips, chews her cereal, swallows and clears her throat.
"Maybe college isn't for me." She mumbles and pulls the cereal box back in between her and Rachel. She has not wanted to have this conversation with herself let alone Rachel.
"What?" Rachel bites back reaching forward once again to move the box. "That's ridiculous Quinn. You're a smart girl but not only that, in this day and age no one can get a job without at least an associate's degree." She reminds her girlfriend trying her hardest not to let her frustration come out in her words. "I know you've been working hard not only for yourself but to help around here." She smiles kindly at the blonde but Quinn's hardened jaw makes her cower back in her chair a little bit. "But just because you're mother and you…" Quinn's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline and she lifts her hand to stop Rachel from speaking. She pushes her chair back, grabs her cereal bowl and the box.
"Seriously Rachel just, don't." She shakes her head as she walks to the sink to toss her bowl into and then places the box back on top of the refrigerator.
"Quinn I'm just trying to help here." Rachel tells her, turning in her chair as Quinn heads towards the hallway.
"I'm going to go take a shower." The blonde says quietly and leaves Rachel alone in the kitchen.
Rachel turns back to face her bowl of fruit, confusion among other emotions etched across her face as she replays everything that just happened. She contemplates following the blonde into the bathroom to confront her about things she is so painfully and obviously avoiding but, she decides against it. Quinn has gone through a lot the past few weeks and she figures that pressuring her is not going to do anyone any good.
The restaurant is steady, not busy, but good enough to make her normal amount for a day shift. Quinn has been walking around the place like a robot, greeting tables kindly and getting their refills, taking perfect orders and she even got a compliment from one of the guests to her manager. The day is looking up but she can't shake the guilty feeling in her gut as the clock moves closer and closer to two o'clock, Rachel should be showing up any minute for their scheduled lunch.
Her last table has just paid and is on their way out so she swings by the table to pick up her tip and after closing the check out at the computer she makes her way to the back taking a seat just outside the kitchen. She pulls her cell phone out of her apron, puts her password in and opens her voicemail up. She has two unheard messages and she's been fighting with herself on whether to play them or not since she'd received them two weeks ago.
"This is getting repetitive and bordering on ridiculous." Quinn mumbled in frustration, her arms flying up in the air only to come down hard against her thighs and the smack that erupted from the contact echoes throughout the room. Judy jerked her head back and her eyebrows furrowed.
"Who are you?" The older blonde questioned in confusion and in exhaustion. They had been going at it all day, well really all week but it only keeps getting worse. "I think you spend a little too much time with that Lopez girl." She shook her head and sighed out in defeat.
"Santana!" Quinn yelled across the room and stomped her foot. "Her name is Santana, you've known her for as long as you've known me mother." She pointed out to the woman who for some reason or another refused to act like she knew anyone in her daughter's life that did not follow the 'norm' life style. "I don't understand…" She trailed off, looked off to the side and closed her eyes tightly.
"I don't understand what happened to my little girl." Judy explained vaguely and Quinn rolled her eyes beneath her eyelids. It had become a statement that kept losing its meaning over the years.
She'd heard it when she got pregnant, she heard it when she decided to keep the baby, she heard it when she decided to have the baby but give her up for adoption and she just keeps on hearing it with everything she does.
"I'm not a little girl anymore that's the problem here mom." Quinn let out in exasperation. "Little girls don't get knocked up from a one night stand." She spit out causing Judy Fabray to gawk at her in semi disgust and in shock. "Little girls don't go to college and little girls don't wish they could leave home and never come back." The fire set beneath her is so big there was no way anything could extinguish it.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Mrs. Fabray took a small step forward, her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side. "What, are you just going to pack your things up and skip town?" She challenged with amusement. "Where are you going to go? Hitchhike your way to go and live with your 'girlfriend'?" She chuckled darkly and turned her back to her daughter acting like the shelf in the living room needed to be cleaned up.
"Why is my relationship a joke to you?" Quinn cried out, her tears betraying her and slowly rolled down her cheeks.
"Because it's not who you are." Judy yelled back, her frustration growing more and more right along with her temper. Quinn's eyebrows scrunch together and she stares at her mother for a few long seconds.
"I am dating Rachel, she is my girlfriend." The younger blonde did her best to stay calm and collected as she explained her mother the woman she is.
"Quinn, you are not a lesbian." She informed her as fact.
"Why does it have to be a label with you?" Quinn bit back, her first bunched up at her sides and her knees locked in place.
"You're 'dating' a girl Quinnie, I don't know how else to put it." Judy responded almost immediately.
"Not everyone fits into the boxes that society makes mom, I'm your child." Quinn shook her head, disappointment evident on both faces of the Fabray women.
"Exactly." Judy sighed out heavily.
"So then why does it matter who I'm dating, who I'm with or who I end up with?" Quinn fired back viscously.
"Because that's not how I raised you." She replied.
"What to be open minded?" Quinn challenged her but only received silence. "I don't understand the big deal with me being with another girl. I thought you were okay with this." She shook her head, the steam slowly seeped from her ears as she let out a deep breath.
"It's not how I raised you." Judy repeated herself.
"Well, I love her and I'm loved in return I don't get how that can't make you at least a bit happy for me." Quinn takes in another breath.
"Because you're not a lesbian Quinn." Judy's irritation could be heard with every word she spoke.
"Do you hear yourself?" The younger blonde stepped forward, shaking her head in annoyance and her voice grew lower. "I tell you I love and am loved and all you can say is that?" She stood just a few feet from her mother and they stared at one another for a few moments. "All you have to say to me is that I am not a lesbian and that this is not how you raised me. Not even caring that I have someone who loves me so openly and fully and the only thing you can focus on is the fact that this person happens to be a girl."
"It's not what I want!" Mrs. Fabray finally yelled out at the top of her lungs catching herself and her daughter completely off guard, two sets of eyes wide and mouths hung open.
Quinn's thumb hovers over the 'play message' button then moves to the 'delete message' button and gnaws on her lower lip as she tries to make a decision. She knew that night she had made a rash decision and that not getting in touch with anyone didn't help her anxiety much but she had been given no other choice.
With a deep breath and a press of her thumb she slowly brought the phone to her ear and heard the automated voice lady tell her she has two unheard messages.
It was raining out and Quinn had just taken the last bit of cash out from her bank account at an ATM at some trashy gas station. If she knew her mother as well as she thought she did then it was completely possible that Judy Fabray, in her fit of anger and feeling all kinds of betrayed would without a doubt clean out her daughters account to leave her with absolutely nothing.
So with the final withdraw of the day leaving her with three thousand dollars in her purse, Quinn walked up the stretch of highway far from a Chicago gas station and towards a tiny Motel she had seen on her way in. Her car was still parked perfectly in the spot she had taken when she got into the city and she went in to the office to get herself a room
The boy behind the desk was just that. He couldn't have been any older than Quinn herself and when she asked for a room he gave her a questioning look but the smirk on his face told her he most likely thought she was meeting some middle aged married man for a quickie while his wife and kids were asleep. Inwardly she chuckled because the thought of doing just that was not only disgusting but just a typical thought she reasoned, young girl getting a room and paying in cash for said room.
Room 31 was gross but she figured she couldn't expect much more in the bad side of Chicago. The bed looked like it was at least cleaned this week but at that point she didn't really mind, she'd even sleep on the floor if need be. She was too exhausted to think about the gross things that probably happened in that room, she was still highly grossed out at the way her mother had treated her.
She locked the door as securely as she could and tossed her bag to the side of the bed. She contemplated her next move as she took a spot on the bed, leaned against the head board and grabbed the remote control. She'd heard from Kurt a while ago about them taking a Grey Hound to visit the girls in New York and that it only cost about forty to sixty bucks. Glancing out the window she spotted her car and wondered how much she could get for it, she'd bought it with the money her father had given her for her sixteenth birthday.
Even though he was out of the picture by then and that she was still losing baby weight to even think about having an actual sweet sixteen, he sent her a fat check to celebrate. She figured it was to make up for his absence but after she never got any word from him after she cashed it, she assumed he didn't really feel that bad.
It was only a three year old car, she could either sell it for scraps or sell it completely to some stupid fat car salesmen for more than she'd gotten it for. She closed her eyes as the sound of music from the television wafted through the air and she retraced her steps thus far and what it actually was to get her here. Her thoughts however were interrupted by the sound of her cell phone ringing, her eyes snapped open and she looked to the side table where she had placed it when she walked in.
Truth be told she didn't know who's name to expect to see on the screen. Her mother had most definitely not tried to contact her since she flew the coup and she hadn't reached out to anyone for the since last night. When she brought the phone up to her eye level she saw that it was Santana calling her but on instinct she pressed 'decline'. She didn't know why Santana was calling her. It could be something about her and the fallout with her mother but it could be something else and in all honesty Quinn couldn't handle any form of conversation then.
Her heart sunk however when after she dismissed the call she had several text messages. They were from Kurt, Santana, Rachel, Brittany and Mrs. Lopez. It became clear to her why Santana had called her and as she read through the texts her phone alerted her of a new voicemail. As tears began to form in her eyes she shut her phone off. She didn't want to upset anyone, make anyone worry but she had no energy to go through everything all over again. It was all still so fresh and she was still so very angry and slightly broken.
As the memories of that night wash through her she gulps when Santana's small voice comes through the phone and into her ear, nearly breaking her heart all over again.
"Quinn," Santana's voice cracks and the blonde can hear her sniffle a little bit as well as Brittany's soft voice in the background. "I don't know where you are and your mother won't tell anyone anything." She can't help but smirk through her tiny tears forming in the corner of her eyes when she hears Santana mumble 'bitch' a little away from the phone. "I need you to call me, please. Rachel is freaking out and you know I'm no good with making people feel better about shit." She chuckles when she hears Brittany tell her she is perfect at doing such a thing. "At least send someone a text message that you're alive, I love you." She pauses and takes in a deep breath that comes out like a sob. "We love you Q, me and Britt and… obviously Rachel."
The click of an ending phone call sounds off and Quinn pulls her phone from her ear and brings her other hand up to her cheek to wipe away a lone tear that has rolled from her eye. She sniffles, bites her lower lip and shakes her head. Her eyebrows scrunch together and her nose crinkles as she fights back sobs that want desperately to escape. She clears her throat and sits up straighter in her chair and presses to play the second message.
She had decided to take the Grey Hound but only up to Allen Town, Pennsylvania. She doesn't know why she got off there considering she had bought a ticket to take her straight to New York City. But when the bus stopped at a rest stop she gathered her bag and never got back on. There was a small town that had a few stores and she decided to spend another night in a Motel. Selling her car had turned out to be a good deal, Roger, the car dealer back in Chicago handed over a check for nine thousand dollars for her car ultimately making her feel proud for keeping the thing in such good condition.
The Motel in Allen Town was a lot nicer than the Super 8 she'd stayed in back in Chicago. The older woman behind the desk was a light kinder in her eyes and her smile wasn't a smirk of judgment she had gotten from the young man two nights ago. The bed looked cozy and clean and even the floor, she noticed looked like it had been steam cleaned recently.
She walked around in the room, glancing out the window ever few minutes thinking about her next move. Her eyes flickered over to her purse that lay open on the bed and she decided that she needed to open a bank account soon because walking around with over ten thousand dollars in her bag was not a good idea especially since now she was a vagabond. Kneeling at the front of the bed she grabbed a bag of chips she'd gotten back at the rest stop and figured it was time for dinner.
As she was finally about to fall into a deep daze of 'All My Children' her cell phone rang breaking her from her concentration on whether Erica Kane was Erica Kane or her weird twin thing they started going in on. She twisted her lips and slowly lifted her phone to her eyes and her heart sank as she read the name on the screen. Swallowing the small lump in her throat she shut her phone off and tossed her phone back in to her bag.
She closes her eyes as the sound of Rachel's voice fly through the ear piece on her cell phone. She sounds sad, scared and lost and it totally breaks Quinn's heart.
"Baby," Rachel greets and Quinn can tell she is trying to be her usual upbeat self but she can hear the tears in the back of her throat as she speaks. "I miss you so much and I wish you would answer someone's call. Santana and Brittany have been sleeping in my room." Quinn furrows her brow and her head jerks back, she had no idea about this. "You'd be so shocked at how kind Santana is being sweetie." She can hear the smile come to Rachel's face as she speaks even though her voice cracks. "She made me a vegan breakfast today and… even though I didn't eat much I guess it's the thought that counts." She giggles but Quinn can tell it's forced. "I need you, I need to know you're okay." She can just picture the tears rolling down her girlfriend's face as she feels her own dripping from her chin. "Kurt's dad went to your mother's and she… she told him what happened. We are here for you Quinn, please call us. I love you."
The message ends the same as Santana's had, with a simple click of a button and Quinn lets out a small sigh. She had been avoiding those messages just as she had avoided their phone calls. She swallows the new lump that has formed in her throat and she shoves her phone back into her apron. Leaning back against the back of the chair she lets out a sigh and closes her eyes and the images of her journey from Lima to New York City rushes past her eyelids. She pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration and from being tired and she realizes that in order to be the woman she claims to be she has to start acting like it.
"Can we get a tree?" Brittany asks as they walk down the street towards the bodega to get some lunch. Santana furrows her eyebrows and shoots her girlfriend a sideways glance.
"Britts, you're not even gonna be here for Christmas." She states factually and the blonde shrugs her shoulders and sways their clasped hands between them, squeezing Santana's in her own with a small smile on her lips.
"I know, but you and Quinn will be and you should celebrate." The blonde explains easily enough and Santana can't help but grin at Brittany's holiday spirit. "Besides, it will be fun to decorate it."
"Baby, I don't think our place is big enough for a tree." The Latina tells her slowly as she envisions them trying to maneuver a Christmas tree into their tiny apartment. "Besides, I don't know where we'd get one in the city." She admits because she has not seen one place around their neighborhood that sells trees. Back home there was a little shop on every corner where the families of Lima sold trees from their land they have out west.
"So," Brittany skips with excitement as an idea comes to mind. "Let's go to the island and pick one up." She beams over in her girlfriend's direction, her eyes sparkling in the afternoon sun. Santana chuckles at the blonde's child like enthusiasm and mulls over the idea in her head. "Come on Santana, it'll be so much fun!" She announces to the entire street, getting strange looks from the rest of the public and this only makes Santana laugh more.
"Okay, okay. I guess we can take the truck out there and get us a tree." She nods complying with her girlfriend's request and Brittany jumps up and down as they continue to walk towards the tiny shop on the corner. "But, it can't be like the one your family gets. We have to get a small one."
"Like in Charlie Brown?" Brittany asks tilting her head to the side and her lower lip jutting out a bit.
"Well, I mean, not that small, we're not exactly poor." Santana shakes her head just imagining the looks of her roommates upon seeing a tree without as much as two pine needles on it. "Just something like… I don't know my height." She shrugs and this makes Brittany smile sweetly back at her.
"Aw, that would be cute. A Santana-size tree." She nuzzles her face into the crook of Santana's neck and places a tiny kiss to her skin getting a grin from the shorter girl. "Can we put a Barbie doll on the top of it instead of a star or an angel?" Brittany inquires as they turn into the bodega making Santana chuckle some more as she walks in before her girlfriend.
"We can decorate it anyway you want babe. It's our tree." She tosses over her shoulder.
They order their lunch and decide to eat on the way to Long Island figuring they'd miss any kind of random traffic earlier in the afternoon. While Santana drives Brittany uses her iPhone to Google any and every place selling Christmas trees out on the island, not wanting to venture to far east to find the perfect one.
Quinn tells her manager she is going to take her thirty minute break outside of the restaurant and she makes her way up the street to the small café she and Rachel go to at least once a week. She comes up to the door to find her girlfriend sitting by the window glancing over a few pages that look like a script and she grins to herself at how Rachel is literally living her dream.
The sound of the bell on the door catches the brunette's attention and her head snaps up towards the door and she smiles brightly up at the blonde walking her way. She moves to get up to greet Quinn but she is stopped when the taller girl places a hand on her shoulder and leans down to kiss her lips quickly. They smile at one another as Quinn takes the seat across from her, placing her phone on the table and her apron wrapped up on the other side by the window.
"You're in a better mood this afternoon." Rachel notes as she rearranges her silverware and shifts in her seat, almost regretting the words she just spoke wondering if she just opened up a can of worms again. But Quinn's smile stays in place and she nods.
"Of course, because I'm with you." The blonde informs her and finally catches the brunette's eyes once again. "Look," She looks down at her plate for a moment and leans forward in her chair. "I'm sorry for snapping at you this morning. I didn't mean to be nasty to you I've just…" She lets out a sigh and rests her chin in her hand as she leans on the table. "I've been stressed, obviously." She chuckles while shaking her head at herself. "But you were right, I can't just fail this first semester because it will effect everything and anything I want to do in the future." She nods and Rachel does the same in agreement but chooses to remain silent. "So tomorrow, I'm going to call Lima Community and see what it is I can do." She clears her throat and quietly says thank you to the girl who brings her over water. "I'm thinking if I explain to my advisor or even the dean or somebody that I have been dealing with family issues, they will figure something out for me." She takes a deep breath, a sip of water and glances up at Rachel who is smiling back at her proudly. "What are you thinking?"
"How much I love you." She says softly and reaches across the table to grab Quinn's hand which the blonde offers willingly to her within seconds. "This is the Quinn I know." Rachel tells her. "The girl who doesn't back down and fights."
"I'd like to say I get that from my parents but…" Quinn shakes her head a rolls her eyes at her own statement. "I just don't want to be a Lima loser who winds up working at a restaurant for her whole life because she ran away from home." She shrugs her shoulders and Rachel caresses the back of her hand with her thumb.
"Sweetie, you've never been a Lima loser and you never will become one." She assures her, tilting her head to the side and grinning back at the blonde who blushes from the kind words. Once again, she clears her throat and fidgets in her chair.
"Now, it's gonna be a bitch but I know there are a lot of good community colleges out in Long Island so I was figuring that I could look there." Quinn informs her girlfriend of the ideas she's had swimming around her head for quite a while. "Thing is, I need to be someplace I can afford and even though I work and have some money saved up I have to take tuition into consideration. I'm not about to take out a million loans that I will be paying back till I'm 90 years old." Rachel nods as she giggles at her girlfriend's choice of words. "I'm sure I can get some financial aid and what not but, I don't know… will you help me figure it out." She nervously looks on as Rachel's smile widens and her eyes soften more.
"That's what I'm here for babe." Rachel squeezes Quinn's hand again in her own and finally their waitress comes over to take their order.
"Brittany!" Santana tries to get the blonde's attention but Brittany is far too busy vacuuming up the stray pine needles that have seemed to fall off during their wrestling match with the tree. "Brittany!" She calls out again with slight amusement as Brittany goes over the same spot with the hand held dirt devil. "Brittany Pierce!" She yells louder but this time she is heard because the blonde has shut off the machine. Brittany's eyebrows scrunch together and she turns to face her girlfriend.
"Why are you yelling?" She asks in all seriousness and Santana simply eyes the vacuum in her hand which makes her giggle. "Oh, sorry." She shrugs and places the vacuum back into its holder against the wall and stands beside her girlfriend. "Babe, trees are messy." She notes, pointing to beneath the tree where there are still so many pine needles begging to be cleaned up. Santana chuckles, throwing her head back in the process and nods as she drapes her arm around Brittany's shoulder.
"For realz." She agrees and Brittany leans her head against the side of Santana's.
The door to their apartment opens up and they are greeted by the laughter of their friends and roommates. Rachel's eyebrows knit together and Quinn stops laughing slowly as they eye up the tree in their living room. The blonde points to it and sends a questioning glare to the couple standing in front of it.
"Why is there a tree in here?" She asks and Santana shoots her a glare.
"Umm, because it's almost Christmas." Santana spits out. Rachel nods in understanding and walks further into the living room with Quinn right behind her, closing the door first and then sidling up next to the brunette to get a good look at the tree.
"Is that a…?" Rachel points to the top of the tree and Quinn follows her line of vision and lets out a laugh.
"Is that a Barbie doll?" Quinn chuckles as she points to the top of the tree as well and Brittany nods proudly at the fact that yes, it is a Barbie doll. "Fancy."
"We just got finished decorating it." Brittany explains as she turns to stand behind Santana and wrap her arms around her girlfriend's waist, resting her chin on the shorter girl's shoulder. "You missed it, I just had Santana on my shoulders to tape her up there." She motions to the top of the tree once more and the other couple laughs at the image of Santana on Brittany's shoulders trying to tape a Barbie doll to the top of a tree.
"We just ordered some dinner, should be here soon." Santana informs their friends who stop at the coat rack to hang up their jackets.
"I seriously hope its pizza." Quinn sighs out, drool practically sliding down her chin. "I have been craving."
"We got a pie and a salad and a liter of Coke." Brittany tells her friends as she lifts Santana up by the waist and carries her over to the couch, the whole while the Latina wriggles in her embrace giggling at being lifted. "And two veggie slices for Rach." She adds before nuzzling her face into Santana's neck and tickling her skin with kisses.
"I wish you didn't have to go home for Hanukah." Quinn mutters but it's loud enough for everyone to hear. "I wish the four of us could just spend the holiday here." She takes a seat on the couch pulling Rachel down with her and wrapping her arms around her as she settles against her. Santana nods her head and taps her hand against Brittany's forearm when the blonde finally puts her feet back to the ground. "You guys are my family." She admits quietly, her eyes staring down at her hands that are playing with Rachel's fingers.
"Well, we'll have New Year's." Santana announces to the room, glancing back at Brittany with a wide smile. "I mean, you guys are coming back for that right?" She asks tilting her head in her girlfriend's direction.
"I'm coming back, Rach?" Brittany says and looks over at the brunette who nods with a smile.
"Yeah, my dad's usually only celebrate hard the first four nights. We decided it has gotten a little too repetitive as I've gotten older." She bites her lower lip and looks at the tree. "That and my request of gifts have gotten way to expensive so we made a deal when I was eleven that I get four big gifts." She grins widely at her friends, Brittany beams back at her, Quinn snuggles into her cheek and Santana rolls her eyes.
"Good, so New Year's." Quinn gently taps Rachel's arm with her hand and bounces her on her lap a few times.
"We can do something crazy." Brittany cheers rocking her and Santana back and forth on the couch getting amped up for the upcoming holiday.
"Last time we did something 'crazy' I wound up waking up on the coffee table." Rachel points out and gets a strange look from her girlfriend. "And you," She points to Santana, "Looked like you just woke up somewhere at the Playboy Mansion and Brittany…" She shakes her head and leans further in to Quinn. "Nobody knows what the hell you were doing." Santana nods and shakes her head remembering bits and pieces of that night she, Brittany and Rachel celebrated but then she smirks.
"But now Quinn's here." Santana points out catching all of the other girl's attention. "And I seriously can't wait to see where she wakes up."
"I'm betting the kitchen table." Quinn lets out in thought getting chuckles from her friends and girlfriend.
"No way." Brittany raises her hands waving them to completely erase that idea. "Definitely in front of the refrigerator." They howl at this image.
"Oh my God!" Santana cries out, wiping away some tears of laughter from her eyes. "With bacon like, hanging out of her mouth or stuck to her face."
The laughter continues to roar in the tiny apartment as they toss out possible outcomes of a 'crazy' night out for the four of them. They barely hear the knock on the door with their food they are laughing so hard. The night continues with making plans for New Year's Eve and where the night will take them and just enjoying the company of close friends, girlfriend's and family.