a/n: Bonus Chapter!
[7/6]
"One dude was definitely paying attention to me." Finn said, a small smile playing on his lips.
They had just performed Empire State of Mind in front of everyone that was in the courtyard and Finn was confident that it would definitely get them the new members they needed. Sure, the had lost Regionals the year before, but the whole experience had only strengthen them as a group. Now, their second year as New Directions would run a lot more smoothly.
Or so he hoped.
"Wanky."
"To us. Blonde. Big mouth." He quickly corrected, after the comment his observation had garnered.
"Okay, wankier."
"Santana!" Rachel snapped at the girl. She was in no mood for Santana's shenanigans. This was serious business. This was show choir!
"What?" Santana asked, not even a little surprised at Rachel's hostility.
"I saw a short girl also paying attention. We should make a move." Rachel said, ignoring Santana's question completely
"Okay, now you're seriously doing it on purpose." Because, seriously, could they not hear themselves?
"Find someone to join and leave the dirty jokes aside!" Rachel said as the stormed out of the Choir Room.
Guess some things never change.
"I saw you checking out the Glee Club." Apparently, no one other that Finn and Rachel had seen people interested in their performance – and as much as it pained her to admit it – she cared about the future of the Glee Club. They needed at least one new member to take over Matt's spot this year. Having seen a gorgeous blonde (and she only noticed her appearance because they couldn't afford to have anymore unattractive members in Glee, okay? they had enough already) bopping along to the performance earlier, Santana knew that it would probably be down to her to solve their little problem.
"Who says I was checking out the club?" The blonde answered smirking at Santana. She had just finished putting away her books in her locker and Santana could have sworn the girl had just checked her out when she turned to look at her.
No, she didn't. Not that it matters. What went on with Brittany stopped in the Summer. It was a phase. Some fun, best friends and all that.
"You knew all the words to the song." Santana replied carefully.
"I like Jay Z."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"And?"
"And maybe I like what I see." The girl replied, her smirk still firmly in place.
"Great then. This will definitely get Finchel off my back. Glee practice is at –"
"Who said I was taking about the Glee Club?"
Santana swallowed. She had not imagined it after all.
It still doesn't matter, because you're not – you're just not.
"You just said – "
"I know what I just said. Do you?" When no answer came from Santana, the girl just giggled and walked away.
That was not how this was supposed to go down.
"I'm not gay." There. She had said the word. Now, hopefully, Dani would stop flirting with her during Glee Club or in class or at lunch – or really, all the places that the blonde felt the need to do so. Now, Santana could just let her know and have her move on and not lead her on. Because Santana wasn't interested. She just wasn't.
"You don't have to pretend with me." Dani said with a soft smile, while sitting on a couch under the bleachers outside.
"Why are you hanging out with the Skanks?" Santana asked, genuinely curious. With the voice she had, she'd made all the Glee kids simultaneously want to be her best friend and want to kill her. She really had no reason to have to seek out friends elsewhere.
"They like my tattoos." Dani replied simply, like that was a good enough answer.
"Heard you got slushied."
"Yup. It was delicious."
"Come again?" Santana really did not understand this girl. Here she was new and looking for all the world like a rebel without a cause. She joins Glee Club, flirts with her constantly, hangs out with the Skanks, and now apparently doesn't care about being slushied?
How was everything so simple to her? How did she not care what anyone though? And why do I care so much?
"Sam got slushied too."
"Then why are you both still around?"
"Santana..." Dani said softly, as she got up from the couch. She gently took one of Santana's hands and laced their fingers together. Santana didn't pull away. "..We like what we see."
"Sing the duet with me."
"You know damn well that it's not just singing together." Santana said, trying her hardest to not let her frustration turn completely into anger. Ever since that duets competition got announced by Schue, Dani insisted they sing together, like that wasn't going to sent out some sort of message. Like the whole school hadn't already found out that Dani was gay.
"Sam is signing with Kurt."
"I heard Sam wasn't gay."
"He's bisexual, because contrary to popular belief, you can be attracted to both sexes." Dani replied with an eyeroll.
"If you're trying to tell me something just say it." Santana said, barely keeping the anger out of her voice. She doesn't want to fight with Dani, she just needs for the girl to let this go.
"I'm not trying to tell you anything. All I'm saying is I want to sing a duet with you. And it doesn't have to mean anything more than that if you don't want it to. Okay?" And that's the honest truth to Dani.
She likes Santana, has made no secret of it. She thought the girl was gorgeous from the moment she saw her on the courtyard and has flirted constantly with her since then. At first she thought it was just one-sided, but the look in Santana's eyes, the blushing, the teasing from her friends about her "thing" with Brittany – it was all adding up.
"What if I want it to?" Santana asked in the quietest voice Dani had ever heard her speak in.
They were alone in the Choir Room. No one else was coming. Dani held Santana's hand again.
"Then that's okay too."
"We so got this in the bag, we were amazing and Schue would have to be blind, deaf, and stupid to not see that." Santana was over the moon. Dani and her had killed it. There was just no way any of the other duets would even come close to them – not even Rachel and Finn.
"We were so good." Dani answered with a huge smile on her face.
They were in the hallway, standing in front of the vending machine. Having walked out to get some water, they had ended up lingering, excitedly gushing about the performance they just gave.
Santana was so happy, so excited. Dani looked so beautiful, and she was so talented, and so supportive, and really, Santana just wanted to –
Kiss her. Shit.
"Shit." Santana said as she pulled away from Dani, her lips tingling.
No, no, no. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was just on a performance high, and this was friendly, and no she didn't, they weren't, I mean –
"Santana – " Dani's voice cut through the jumbled mess that Santana's head had become.
"I have to go."
"You shouldn't be afraid." Dani said softly.
It was three in the morning and Santana couldn't sleep. She called the girl expecting to get no answer. Dani had picked up after the second ring.
"What if everyone hates me?" Santana asked, letting herself be completely open and vulnerable with the other girl.
"I'll never hate you. And neither will anyone else in Glee Club. I promise."
"You make it look so easy." Santana said, sitting on her bed.
"What? Playing guitar?" Dani asked from her place in Santana's desk chair. Her fingers quietly strumming to some song or another.
"Being out." Because she did, didn't she? Dani made just existing seem like the easiest thing in the world and if Santana was having such a hard time with it, well then that meant she was doing something wrong – didn't it?
"Well, much like playing guitar, you have to take it slow. You don't just come out playing a whole song. You have to learn." Dani explained with a small smile. "Along the way a few strings will snap, but hey..." With that she stood up and moved over to sit next to Santana on the bed. "...Guess what?"
"What?" Santana asked, looking deeply into the eyes of the girl who had showed up and completely turned her whole world upside down.
"That doesn't mean the guitar is broken. You get new strings. Better ones. More accepting ones."
"Okay."
"What are you doing?" Dani asked barely able to keep the smile off her face.
Santana had just kissed her (Kissed her!) in front of the whole Glee Club. She had just walked in, walked straight to the girl who was talking to the band, grabbed her face, and kissed her.
"I don't have the patience to learn little by little. I go all in." Santana explained. Her voice loud enough that all the Glee Club members who weren't having ridiculous reactions to their kiss (Did Quinn and Mercedes really have a bet on it? Was that a tear in Sam's eye? Was Artie sporting a bo – no, not going there...What was up with Rachel's whale noises?)
"Guess you'll never learn how to play guitar, huh?" Dani asked cheekily.
"Who says? I've got one whole song waiting for you." Santana answered, letting a smile take completely over her face.
"You are such an idiot." Dani laughed, pulling in the girl for another kiss.
"Yeah." Santana answered against Dani's lips.
"Thanks." Santana said, as Dani handed her the sheet music that was being passed out.
"No problem, babe." She answered, looking down at the papers in her hands. Dani could feel Santana staring at her. "What?" She asked, turning to look at her girlfriend.
"Nothing I just –" Santana said, trying to come up for an excuse as to why she was staring at her girlfriend like she had just handed her a puppy or something and not some photocopies of this week's lame song.
"What? Just realized how much you love me?" Dani teased. They hadn't said the words yet, but Dani loved to tease Santana with it. The girl would blush and mutter a whatever or something as she adverted her eyes. Dani thought it was the cutest thing.
"Yes." Santana answered. And that was it, wasn't it? That's why Santana couldn't help but stare, because she was, without a doubt, in love with this gorgeous girl. And the most mundane of actions had made her realize it.
A beat passed before Dani was able to answer.
"Good." She said, clearing her throat afterward. "'Cause I love you just as much."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Inspired by Glee Season 2. :)
a/n: Aaand that's it! Thank you so much for all those who read/reviewed/favorited/followed/etc this story. Much love!