A/N: Listened to "Easier Tonight" by Matt Wertz like 40 times while I wrote this. Check it out. I hope you guys enjoy this update!

2 years later

"What about this one?" Rachel asks, indicating an absolutely gaudy diamond ring about four times above my spending limit. Quinn and I are doing pretty well for ourselves considering we're in our early 20's and she's fresh out of college, but we're definitely not rolling in dough.

I raise my eyebrow and bite my tongue to keep from snapping at her. We've been at this for hours and haven't found the right ring yet.

Rachel takes in my expression and immediately starts laughing.

"God, Santana, I was just kidding. Quinn would take one look at that thing and say no. We'll find something, don't worry." She rolls her eyes at me in an affectionate way. I'm dubious, but accept the one armed squeeze she gives me around my waist.

In truth, Rachel was not my first choice for this endeavor. Not through any fault of her own really, it's just that she occasionally gets the random photographer who snaps unwanted photos, and I really don't want pics of us leaving a jewelry store showing up anywhere Quinn might see them. I originally asked Kurt, because he really has a good eye for what works, but he had a previous commitment and I didn't want to put off my search. He'd be able to see a ring and immediately picture it on my beautiful girlfriend, a talent I evidently do not possess. I know Q better than I know anyone on earth, but somehow the right engagement ring as eluded me. I keep wandering around dejectedly. There are so many options.

"We're overthinking this," Rachel says, putting her hands on my slumped shoulders and looking me in the eye. "Quinn is a beautiful girl, she doesn't need a flashy ring. Her style has always been this kind of understated elegance. She's the 'Ghost of Grace Kelly.' We need to think simple."

"Ghost of Grace Kelly?" I ask, confused.

"Yeah, remember Jesse St. James? He called her that the night of our junior prom and it stuck with me. She really is such a pretty girl, well, woman now."

I smile lightly and nudge my friend.

"Easy tiger, she's taken."

Rachel gives me an exaggerated eye roll and then grins brightly.

"Can you imagine if someone told us in high school we'd be shopping together for an engagement ring for Quinn Fabray? We'd have laughed in their face, and then you would've probably torn their soul apart with some precision insults." Rachel laughs at the image in her head, but I wince at the apt description of my high school self. I wish I could go back in time and talk to that girl. She was such a bitch. Funny, but definitely a bitch. Rach doesn't miss my reaction.

"Hey, don't take that wrong. Even back then you were a better friend than you got credit for. And now you're one of my best friends, so don't get all Debbie Downer on yourself."

I shake my head and drape my arm over the shoulders of my miniature friend.

"I'm not sure if I would've been more shocked that I'm with Quinn or that I'm best friends with Broadway's brightest new star, Rachel Berry."

"Oh definitely that we're friends. I mean, you and Brittany had something really significant, but looking back now it actually makes a lot of sense that you ended up with Quinn. Like you and Britt were always meant to be a team, but with Quinn you've always had this intense passion. You could be so brutal to each other, but you also made each other better. It was only a matter of time before you harnessed all of that emotion and turned it into something amazing."

We walk in silence as I absorb everything that she just said. It's nothing we haven't spoken about before, but it still makes my heart flutter when I think about all of the little steps Quinn and I took to uncover the love that we share.

"We are pretty amazing, aren't we?" I ask with a smile.

"Only if you're into gooey, mushy love. I personally find you two rather disgusting."

I laugh, because if anyone appreciates our obvious devotion to one another, it's Rachel. And Kurt, too. Especially Kurt.

"Okay, how about this? Let's go by Tiffany's and if we don't find it there we'll call it a day and get dinner, my treat."

"Deal!"

Quinn is still asleep, her naked body half covered by our comforter. I admire the view for a moment before I quietly dig through my many pairs of shoes to find a pair of seldom used flats buried below a mountain of pumps. Hidden inside is a small blue box containing the most important piece of jewelry I've ever bought. I open it and study the simple platinum band and single princess cut diamond set on it. Rachel was so right. The simplicity fits my unassuming girlfriend, but the 1.5 carat diamond also reflects my flashier tendencies. It's a good fit for a ring meant to display our promise to each other. I can't wait to give it to her.

I carefully tuck the ring away again and head back to my sleeping hopefully soon-to-be fiancé. She stirs slightly as the mattress dips beneath me. I climb over her and begin placing feather light kisses along her spine, slowly working my way up. Goosebumps appear in the wake of my light caresses and Quinn lets out a soft sigh.

My lips take a short detour to ghost along the faded scars on her left side. It took me a long time and an abundance of persistence to earn the right to touch those scars without Quinn immediately reacting to distract my attention from them. Some might say the scars mar her otherwise perfect canvas of silky soft skin, but I don't see them that way at all. To me they are a symbol of a battle hard won. Quinn could easily still be in a wheelchair or using crutches. Really, Quinn could have easily been killed in that accident. Instead she is flourishing, ever the achiever. As much as I wish she'd never been through the struggle, I love those scars. Dead people don't heal, they don't have scars. She survived. She overcame. She's so very alive, and she brings me to life every single day.

Quinn brings her shoulders to her ears when my light kisses tickle at her neck.

"Baaabyyy" she whines, her eyes still closed.

"Good morning, my love. I was gonna make us breakfast. You want some eggs? Or I can go out and get us bagels, your choice."

Quinn nods sleepily, "Mmm, okay. But can you just lay with me for a little bit first?"

I smile inwardly at her non-answer and settle myself down next to her. She immediately turns herself into my arms and snuggles up against me. I kiss the top of her head and close my eyes.

I could definitely do this for the rest of my life.

"What if I like, somehow arrange for us to go back to where we first met and I ask her there?"

Rachel makes a face.

"You want to ask Quinn to marry you on the McKinley High football field? I'm going to vote no for that because a) Blaine pretty much did that idea with Kurt, except at Dalton, and b)..." my friend pauses and looks at me, "Finn asked me to marry him at McKinley..it's like this symbol of our collective past. You and Quinn are moving into an amazing future, and you weren't even involved there. If anything high school drove you two apart because you competed at everything. I really think you need something more about your story."

I sigh deeply. I can't believe how difficult this is. Some part of me knows that Quinn won't care where we are or how I ask. But then there's this part of me that wants to give her something so unforgettably perfect that she never forgets a single detail.

"I told her I loved her for the first time at the train station..." I say weakly, knowing the hot, putrid underground of New York City is not what I'm looking for.

Rachel's head snaps up, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Yeah, but there did you actually fall in love with her?"

I give her a look, because the story of mine and Quinn's relationship has been told and re-told so many times at this point that it's kind of ridiculous.

"You know where, in the back of that cop-" I suddenly catch up to where Rachel is going. "Holy shit that's totally it. You're a genius, Berry."

Quinn and I have spent a lazy Sunday morning languidly making love. I love these days, when it's not about torrid passion (which is always extremely hot, don't get me wrong), but simply about taking our time loving each other and exploring each other's bodies again.

Quinn is flushed from the orgasm that she just came down from, and she looks absolutely radiant. I place light kisses up her stomach, between her soft breasts, and along her neck and jaw before reaching her lips. I'm kissing her slowly when she suddenly smiles against my mouth and rolls us so that she's half on top of me. She places her hands on top of one another on my chest and rests her chin on her hands, her eyes on mine and a smirk on her face.

"What babe?" I inquire quietly.

"Nothing, sometimes I just need to look at you and remind myself that you're really mine. You're so beautiful, Santana Lopez."

I blush and look away for a second.

"I don't hold a candle to you, Fabray. You're the prettiest girl in the whole world…'the ghost of Grace Kelly,'" I respond with a smile at Rachel's words.

Quinn tilts her head and looks at me curiously.

"Where did you get that from? Been catching up with Jesse St. James lately?"

I laugh lightly and pick my head up to give her a swift peck.

"No, Rachel said it recently and explained that he called you that. Pretty accurate though."

My gorgeous girlfriend shakes her head at me and buries her face against my chest for a second.

"You're crazy, hot stuff."

"Sure am, crazy 'bout you," I reply like a huge dork.

"You're such a dork, I love it," she confirms before kissing me slowly, deeply. I know we'll be ready to go again soon, so I jump in quickly before we get any further, testing the waters.

"I love you. I could easily spend forever with you and feel like it wasn't enough," I hint as lightly as I can. We've talked about getting married many times, the conversations becoming more serious as Quinn neared graduation from Columbia, but before I put the plan in action I just want to make sure one more time.

Quinn smiles and closes her eyes for a moment before fixing me with a loving, satisfied look.

"Me too, Santana. It'll never cease to amaze me that you picked me. I'm the luckiest girl, truly."

Yep, definitely going to marry this woman.

I kiss her gently and whisper against her lips. "I'll always pick you."

I draw a deep breath and prepare myself for my monologue. Many, many pieces have been coordinated to ensure that my plan goes off without a hitch, but I still haven't ironed out exactly what I want to say when I ask Quinn to marry me.

"Quinn. Falling in love with you when I was 17 was never part of the plan, nor did I ever imagine that you could love me back. But since that very first night, right here, so many years ago, I have known deep in my heart that I would always love you. You have pushed me, taught me, and awoken parts of me that I didn't know existed. You make me a better a human being. For as long as I live, I promise to stand by you, support you, rely on you, and love you with all that I have in me. Will you marry me?"

I hold my breath and wait for the verdict, my nerves on edge.

Rachel gives me a broad grin and claps her hands together quickly.

"That was really good, Santana. Like, really good. I totally would have said yes if that were for real."

The air leaves my lungs in a loud whoosh. "You think? I'm afraid that I'll forget half of it when I have to say it for real. Like maybe I should aim for something a little bit shorter and to the point."

"Well, why don't you write it down, just in case? So if you do forget a part you can just show her after."

I give her dubious look.

"You don't think that's kind of…lame?"

Rachel tilts her head back and forth with a shrug and considers it, before finding her answer.

"Honestly, I think that Quinn is in love with you and wants to marry you. I think that she is going to say yes no matter what, speech or no. I think that none of this will be considered lame by her. I think you need to stop stressing yourself out and enjoy all of this, because you'll only do it once." I get a pointed look from my friend and she raises her eyebrows as if to dare me to challenge her statement.

I open my mouth to answer her when someone hits the buzzer downstairs.

"Oh, that'll be Kurt! Good, you can ask him what he thinks," Rachel tells me as she hits the button to let him up.

A frown forms on my face, because Kurt has been really bumming me out. "I don't know, he's been kind of avoiding me lately, he has turned down like, four or five invites to get together. Which, okay, we're all busy, but I know for a fact Quinn has seen him."

Rachel seems stumped by this information. "That's weird, I told him we went ring shopping and you two are all he's been talking about with me since. He's asked me like a thousand times about your plans. He's been so incredibly Kurt about this whole thing. I don't think he's mad at you, San."

I shrug. "Okay, just wait and see."

Kurt walks in a few moments later, knocking as he opens the door.

"Where's my favor- oh, hey Santana." Kurt looks furtively between Rachel and me.

"Well, hello Kurt. Long time, no see," I respond coolly, turning to gather my things. I don't know what his problem is, but I'm not going to sit around here and watch him be all awkward if he won't tell me why.

"I know, I'm so sorry about that. It's just been a crazy couple of weeks."

"Oh? Is that why you've been able to take the time to see my girlfriend, but can't find 20 minutes to grab coffee with me?" I am unsuccessful in my attempt to keep the hurt from my voice, and that bothers me almost as much as the reason I'm hurt in the first place. I snatch up my purse and move past him towards the door.

"Santana, wait!" Rachel calls after me, clearly surprised by this back and forth.

I turn and give her a quick smile, intentionally ignoring Kurt's pleading expression. "Thanks for your help, Rachel, I'll call you later."

With that I'm out the door.

Quinn and I are at my parents' house in Lima, helping my mom with the dishes. I have set up a ruse for our return home that my mom and dad are very much in on. They know that I plan on asking her to marry me tonight, but have done a remarkable job of keeping their excitement in check. Only once has my mom looked around Q to give me an ecstatic smile, which I couldn't help but return.

Their support has meant so much to me, and to Quinn, considering her father has been so contemptuous towards us. I couldn't care less what that asshole thinks of me, but I know that it hurts my girlfriend that he has made a point of insulting me and my family because I, as he puts it, "made his daughter into a dyke." Judy has at least had the backbone to maintain a relationship with Quinn despite Russell's disapproval. I can't really understand how she can stay with a man who is so obviously emotionally abusive towards her youngest daughter, but I guess it's just one of those things. I called Judy before we left New York to ask her permission to marry Quinn, and she actually granted it. I would've asked Q to marry me even if she'd said no, but it's nice to know that she wants us to be happy.

I take a deep breath and prepare myself to put the final part of the plan in action.

"Hey Mom, is it okay if I borrow Dad's truck for a few hours?"

She nods, clearly fighting a grin, "Sure, honey. Where are you headed?"

"Nowhere special, just figured Q and I could go for a ride around town, since we don't come back very often," I reply, fighting not to roll my eyes at my mother's terrible acting. It's really a wonder that I have any acting talent at all.

"Oh, okay. His keys are on the hook next to the door. Just don't leave it on empty, okay?"

Much better, Mom. "No problem, I'll fill it up before we get back. Come on, babe. Let's go for a drive."

Quinn gives my mom a light kiss on the cheek.

"See you later, Maribel."

"Bye girls!"

Our path around Lima has been seemingly quite random, but it's not. We've stopped at some of our favorite places along the way, but I'm slowly getting us closer to our final location. I make one more turn and swallow down my nerves.

"I know where we should go next." My voice is somewhere between a croak and a rasp as a result of my bone-dry mouth.

Quinn is looking for a good song on the radio, suitably distracted from my clear awkwardness. "Where's that, babe?"

"I wanna show you something," I say simply.

We're thankfully pretty close to where we're going by now, and my girlfriend is distracted by her phone. She stops texting and looks up when I turn off the road, turning to give me a big smile.

"Trying to get us arrested again, Lopez?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

I smile in response and keep driving until I find our spot and park the truck.

"Come on," I tell her, hopping out of the truck and grabbing a blanket and a mini speaker.

I've decided to wait until after the first plane flies overhead to pop the question, but my nerves are definitely catching up with me when Quinn lies down next to me in the bed of the truck. She cozies up to me and we snuggle against the cool fall air, listening to the soft music in silence.

My phone buzzes with a text message.

Kurt: Good luck tonight. All of our love to you both. –Kurtchel

I stare at the text for a long moment, but a loud rumbling distracts me from responding. When the plane finally passes over us, Quinn squeezes me tightly, the same brilliant smile on her face as she wore when we were 17 in this very spot. The butterflies in my stomach as I watch her are familiar as well.

Here goes nothing.

I sit up and turn the music off, then turn to my girlfriend.

"Quinn, I-"

The flash of blue lights stops me short. My mouth drops open in shock.

No fucking way. This is not part of the plan.

When I turn to look at her, Quinn starts laughing at my expression. She stops when I give her an exasperated look and instead bites her lip cutely.

I sigh when I recognize the same older cop from our last visit 5 years ago. His portly body and sullen expression are unmistakable, even in the dim light of the evening.

"Well good evening, ladies. Please step down from the back of the truck." His tone is almost gleeful, and I wonder if he doesn't recognize us as well.

We both hop down and lean against the truck. I can actually feel the attitude rolling off Quinn, and I'm almost afraid of what she's about to do.

"You two are trespassing. I'm going to have to ask you to turn around and place your hands behind your back."

Quinn sighs and pushes herself off the truck. "Is that really necessary?"

"I'm afraid so, young lady."

"Well I'm afraid I have to disagree. We're just watching the planes take off, we're not hurting anyone."

My eyes snap back and forth between the cop and my girlfriend. Her features are calm in the face of defying authority, but her eyes are dancing with mirth. She's enjoying this.

The cop narrows his eyes in a comically overdone expression of disapproval. I almost laugh out loud, but instead just shake my head.

"Be that as it may, you are breaking the law. Please turn around."

I comply, shouldering Quinn as I turn around. She stands insolently for a moment in refusal, but then slowly turns towards the truck. We glance at each other while he handcuffs me, but I don't hold her gaze when he pulls her hands back and clicks cuffs on her as well. My engagement plan is officially completely fucked.

In short order we are walked over to the police car. Quinn is put in the back seat first, but the cop stops me before I can follow her in.

"I appreciate your cooperation," he tells me as he removes my handcuffs, "so I'm gonna take these handcuffs off of you, but I'm still going to need to put you in the car, okay?"

I nod and lower myself into the backseat, regarding my girlfriend warily. She looks pissed.

"That guy is a total asshole, Q. It's my fault, I shouldn't have brought us here again. I promise I'll get us out of this somehow, I'll call my mom and she'll-"

"Santana-"

"She'll have her firm defend-"

"SANTANA."

I stop rambling and look at my girlfriend, only to find her smiling ear to ear.

"I'm not upset at all. We'll be fine, just like last time," she says, leaning forward to give me a light kiss.

"I just can't believe the cops came again! Where were they to keep me from hooking up with Puckerman? Seriously!"

Quinn makes a face and shakes her head.

"I'm ignoring that, because I'd rather you be in a police car in trouble with me than doing anything with Puck, and because I need you to listen to me for a couple of minutes, okay?"

I nod and try to quell my frustration. Quinn takes a deep breath and looks at me seriously.

"Okay…so for a really long time I stopped believing in happy endings. I stopped believing in love. It took one night with you, and one beautiful, incredible song to convince me otherwise, and all of that started right where we are now. Santana, you have been the brightest light in my life for two and a half years. For so long I felt like a ship lost at sea, but you have been the wind in my sails that keeps me going, the anchor that keeps me steady, and the lighthouse that leads me home. I love you, so much more than I could ever express in words."

She smiles at me as she pulls her hands out from behind her and presents a diamond ring to me.

"Will you please spend forever with me?"

I'm dumbstruck, staring blankly at the ring in front of me. And then it hits me.

She planned this. She hijacked my proposal. She just asked me to marry her. Say yes, you idiot. Speak.

"Yes! Oh my God, Quinn, yes, of course I will!"

I slide across the seat and meet her halfway for a long, intense kiss before she pulls back and grabs my hand to put the ring on my finger. I look at it for a moment and remember that I have hers in my jacket pocket. I pull out the box and hold it up, my eyebrow raised.

"Before I give you yours, I want to know how you knew."

Quinn smirks and gives me a light kiss before answering.

"I asked Kurt to help me pick a ring, and then we started planning the proposal. When you asked him to help you like a week or two later he ended up having to tell me that you were going to beat me to it so that I didn't book all of these plans I was making. So I begged him to find out what you were planning on doing so that I could make a new plan. That's why he was acting weird with you, too. He felt awful about it, actually."

I shake my head and laugh a little. "So the cop? Clearly you weren't really handcuffed…?"

"Oh Puck is a Lima cop now, believe it or not. So I asked him to find Officer MacMillan from the first time this happened to us, and it turned out that the angry older cop, Officer Hardy, was available for the job of arresting us. He put the cuffs on me really loosely so that I could slide them off once we got in. So here we are, in the back of a cop car." Her smile is so broad and self-satisfied as she holds up her removed handcuffs that I can't help but grin back.

I look down at the box in my hand for a second and then open it and present it to my future wife. I've forgotten my carefully planned, sweet, touching speech and just give her my typical off the cuff snark.

"Quinn Fabray, even though you totally jacked my proposal, I want to spend the rest of my life being yours, growing with you, and learning from you. I promise to compromise, even when I know I'm right; I promise to do the dishes, even when it's your turn; I promise to watch awful foreign films with you, even though I don't understand any of them. Mostly, I promise to love you, whether we're happy or sad, making love or fighting, together or apart. I've already agreed to marry you, but would you please agree to be mine too?"

Quinn whispers "yes" and then follows it with a kiss, a soft unhurried kiss that shoots tingles throughout my whole body and transfers some of the tears on her cheeks to mine. I wipe hers away with a smile and then clear my own face. We're getting married.

"Seriously how did you just come up with a better speech than mine on the fly like that? So not fair!" Quinn is smiling as she sniffs and wipes at her eyes.

"You're ridiculous, I came up with this whole really good speech, but I totally lost it when you just had to beat me to the proposal," I respond with a laugh.

My fiancée kisses me once more and then knocks on the window.

"Let's get out of here and get naked," she says, a smirk playing at her lips.

I nod emphatically.

"Yes, let's do that."