My head pounds deafeningly and I scowl as I wake from a dull, foggy sleep. I dare to peek open one eye, but the white light creeping around the curtain forces me to snap my eyes closed again, and I bury my face to hide from the light. As I bow my head, my forehead makes contact with a hard shoulder, and I open one eye to see the back of a familiar blonde head.
My scowl dissipates as I recall the last night's events, and I smile contentedly as I realize my arm is trapped under Quinn's neck, her back pressed flat against my stomach. I wrap my other arm around the blonde's waist, but pull away again with a wince as she begins to stir. She groans loudly and I try to stifle a pitying giggle.
"Why are you laughing?" She asks in a gravelly voice, "How dare you headbutt me awake and then laugh about it?"
"I wasn't, sorry." She turns her head to look at me over her shoulder, and I lift my head off the pillow to see her properly, "I'm just glad that you clearly feel as awful as I do."
She pouts with a self-pitying frown, "I do. And I'm not altogether sure where I am. Or if this is real. Or if there's a tiny troll jumping up and down on my skull."
I grimace apologetically, "You're in my house, you stayed over last night."
"I thought so."
"And this is real. And there is no troll." I shake my head seriously and she nods.
"Oh, phew. That means I'm stuck with this feeling in my head, then." She deadpans and I shrug.
"I have aspirin?" I suggest with a raised eyebrow, and she nods sluggishly.
"Yes, please." She smiles sweetly and I grin back,
"Well, I'd go get you one now, but...you're on my arm." I point out, feeling rather self-conscious, and she turns to face the other way once again, moving to hold the hand of the arm under her head.
"We'll just get aspirin later." She answers quietly, "I feel fine."
A grin spreads across my face as I nod slowly, dropping my head back onto the pillow with a content sigh, "Me, too." I reply, as my head pounds once again.
-oOo-
"Hey, mami." I drawl as I pad into the kitchen, "Happy new year."
I've left Quinn showering upstairs, safe in the knowledge that everyone else is downstairs and so she won't accidentally run into a stray child whilst in a towel. Okay no, no think of Quinn in a towel. Stop it now.
Mami raises a skeptical eyebrow, and I see her refrain from rolling her eyes at my current condition. I appreciate the gesture.
"Hey, chica. How was your night?" She's measuring various ingredients for breakfast, bustling around the kitchen as I slump down in a chair at the kitchen table.
"It was good. Um, Blaine stayed over." I try to smile as she beams at me, brimming with excitement.
"Oh, good! It'll be so nice to see him again!" She pauses in her measuring for a moment to reflect on all the wonders of Blaine, and I roll my eyes as she continues, "Well there's enough for everybody, and more. I'm making bacon, eggs and pancakes for everybody."
I can hear Sophie and Luke playing in the living room and smile indulgently as my mother says 'bacon', "Cool, sounds good to me. So, there's enough for Blaine, that's good. But uh, he also brought a friend home, is that okay?"
"Yeah, sure. I can just make a little more mixture and there's some more eggs in the fridge, bacon in the freezer that I can defrost." She nods enthusiastically and I smile gratefully. "So who did Blaine come home with?" She raises an eyebrow, excited at the idea of gossip, and I can't resist smiling.
"Do you remember when he was dating that guy, Kurt?" I ask with a small frown, "I never met him when they were dating, but he was at Ol' St. Nick's last night and Blaine was going to go home with him. So I asked if they both wanted to stay here; it's closer and there's enough room, you wanted to see Blaine anyway. I figured you wouldn't mind." I shrug and she shakes her head.
"Not at all. So why did they break up? I hope there's not going to be any hungover break-up drama over breakfast." She stares me down disapprovingly and I roll my eyes with a sigh.
"I have no idea, but they were getting along last night, and I don't think they broke up on bad terms or anything." I shrug, "Like you'd care anyway, you love the drama." She frowns, affronted, and I roll my eyes before I continure, "Yeah, um, and I also brought someone home."
I avert my eyes to the table-top, fidgeting with a place-mat as she slowly turns to scrutinize me. "A girl?" I nod quickly, "That girl from the Christmas party? The Fabray girl?" I nod again, refusing to meet her eye, and she gives me a small nod, "I see."
"Yeah, so...there's enough then?" I stand up, avoiding her gaze, and she nods quietly, "Cool, we'll be down soon then."
"Okay." she answers mildly, "I look forward to meeting her." She gives me a small smile and I head for the stairs, pausing at the doorway to the kitchen.
"Just for the record, nothing...happened." I add, staring straight ahead at the stairs, my face burning. I don't know why I feel the need to tell her this, but otherwise she'll probably think I've turned her home into an overnight den of moral iniquity.
"Oh, okay." My mother replies, and I leave the room, jogging up the stairs and getting as far away from my mother as I can, as quickly as possible.
-oOo-
"Oh, hey Blaine." Papi smiles welcomingly as he enters the kitchen and sees Blaine sat at the kitchen table, before his eyes travel around the rest of the small group and his smile falters into a puzzled half-frown, "Hey...people I don't know who are sat at my kitchen table."
"Sorry, Papi. This is Quinn, and Kurt. They're just some friends who came back with us last night." I smile sweetly and he nods, his smile returning to it's former cheer.
"Okay. Nice to meet you all." He nods at them in turn, before turning to my mother and accepting his plate of breakfast, "Oh, am I allowed in the den yet? Or is it still in use?" He asks, slightly awkwardly, but Kurt smiles, shaking his head.
"Oh, no it's all yours. We tidied it all away. Sorry for the inconvenience." He beams and my Dad gives him a nod and a polite smile. Poor man. The things he has to live with. He turns and leaves the kitchen to hide away in the den for the day, and Blaine sniggers at Kurt.
"'Sorry for the inconvenience.'" He mocks in a playfully high voice, "Suck-up." Kurt's jaw drops in offence and he slaps Blaine's hand lightly.
"Well, you're rude." He counters, and my mother frown disapprovingly as she sets down two plates in front of the boys.
"How dare you!" She snaps, and Kurt looks startled for a moment as she puts her arm around Blaine's shoulders, "My Blainey is never rude!" She pinches Blaine's cheek between her thumb and forefinger and taps his other cheek lightly with her hand, "He's just the sweetest and handsomest!"
Blaine grimaces and pulls away, attempting to wrestle out of her tight grip as she begins to smothers his head in kisses, and I roll my eyes as Quinn and Kurt begin to giggle. Blaine eventually wriggles free, exhausted from struggling and laughing, and my mother ruffles his messy hair patronizingly before returning to the stove.
"Some things never change." I remark as Blaine attempts to recover his cool after being thoroughly embarrassed by my mother.
"See, the ladies just can't keep their hands off me." He boasts with a smug grin, and my mami turns to raise an eyebrow at him, and he shrinks a little, taking a sip of his coffee and picking up his knife and fork.
"It's ridiculous how excited I am for food." Quinn admits shyly, and I shake my head passionately.
"No, I completely understand. I am starving." I groan and mami frowns at me.
"What, did you ladies work up an appetite?" Blaine whispers across the table with a sneer. Quinn blushes furiously while I glare at him, and he gives a self-satisfied chuckle before shovelling a large forkful of pancake in his mouth. Mami brings another two plates over and sets them down in front of us, and we both tuck in immediately. Silence falls around the table as we all stuff our faces for the next few minutes.
Quinn swallows thickly before smiling shyly at my mother, who is still stood looming over the table, "This is delicious, Mrs Lopez."
"It's no worry, dear." My mother grins at Quinn for a few seconds, and Quinn shifts awkwardly under the scrutiny until I stick my foot out under the table to give my mother a hard nudge with my foot. She glances down at me and I scowl warningly until she leaves us in peace again, taking her own breakfast through the living room to eat with the rest of the family.
"So Mrs Lopez really loves you, huh?" Quinn raises her eyebrows at Blaine with a smile and he shrugs.
"Yeah. Santana and I have been friends for a really long time, I kind of kept her on the straight and narrow throughout her turbulent teenage years." He replies sincerely and I shake my head, rolling my eyes.
"What, is he lying?" Quinn giggles and I curl my lip,
"Of course he's lying! Although my mami does like to think that's true." I reason with myself, "Although I have literally no idea why." I frown, gazing around the room thoughtfully, but Blaine interrupts.
"It's because I am an angel." He says seriously and Kurt scoffs loudly.
"Oh, please! Half the time you were the one dragging me into trouble!" I defend through a mouthful of bacon. Blaine's jaw drops innocently and I address Quinn and Kurt, "This one time, we nearly got suspended for drug abuse!" Their eyebrows shot skywards and Kurt stared incredulously at Blaine.
"It was oregano!" The dark-haired boy defended, "I had home ec. that afternoon! We were baking!"
"Yes. You were." I agree, "And I ate your cookies and could barely find my way home because I kept laughing at the thought of woodland animals wearing shoes!"
Quinn and Kurt burst out laughing and Blaine's mouth twitches as he attempts to keep a straight face, "Well...it's not my fault you're a hard-core drug user."
"It was your fault when Mr Harper sent me to the principle for stalking." I add and Blaine rolls his eyes.
"I had absolutely nothing to do with that."
"What did he do?" Kurt smirks, and I notice Quinn's eyes trained on me.
"He was trying to take photos on his phone in class, and dickwad here forgot to turn the flash off!" I glare at Blaine who's cheeks flush. "So when Mr Harper turned aroudn to see who it was, Blaine threw the phone onto my desk."
"Well Mr Harper wouldn't have believed it could have been you if you weren't such a-" I glare at Blaine and he shuts his open mouth immediately before taking a deep breath and acting casual, "you know, such a...photography fan."
Quinn bows her head, stifling a giggle, and I feel my face burning as I turn back to my pancakes, "Just saying, I don't know why my mom thinks you're such a little darling."
"Neither do I." Kurt chips in and Blaine shrugs happily.
"What can I say? I have her fooled." He grins and I shake my head, glancing over to Quinn as a hand under the table gives my knee a gentle squeeze. She meets my eyes for a second with a shy smile, and I grin back before she averts her eyes back to her breakfast.
-oOo-
"So mami tells me you have a new lady?" my sister asks loudly and she sits down heavily beside me on the sofa, laying her legs across my lap and crossing her ankles over my book.
"Okay what are we doing here? What's this?" I frown at her and wave my finger over her legs.
"What? We both go home again in like, two days. I want to know what's going on in your life before I don't see you for another six months or something." She shrugs and leans forward to close my book. "Now, spill."
"Okay it was never that long, stop exaggerating." I roll my eyes but her gaze remains on me, and I sigh, "Are we really going to do this?" She scowls, "Wow you really need botox, Livvy." I say thoughtfully and she recoils, her lip curling in horror.
"Stop changing the subject!" She slaps my arm and I wince, rubbing it despite not feeling any pain, "Stop avoiding it. So? Her name's Quinn, you met her at Christmas Eve, you banged her on Christmas Day. Tell me the rest."
"Jesus, can't you just ask mami the rest?" I roll my eyes, "She's clearly already todl you half of it! Although did she really say 'banged'?" I grimace and my sister shakes her head.
"No, I added that in."
"Well either way, I didn't 'bang' her." I hold up air quotes and sigh heavily, closing my book and depositing it on the arm of the sofa beside me. "Fine. Yes her name is Quinn. She's very nice, and funny and cute. We kept just meeting up by chance, like at Starbucks on Christmas eve, and then at that party. Then I saw her again on New Year's Eve at Ol' St. Nick's and she stayed over with Blaine and Kurt." I shrug casually and she nods interestedly.
"So what, you just so happened to keep meeting her completely by accident?" She raises a disbelieving eyebrow and I scowl, offended.
"Yes! She just kind of...turned up. Everywhere." I shrug again, trying not to let a huge grin spread across my face at the thought of Quinn.
"Oh my God." She softens, clasping a fist to her chest, her voice dropping to a whisper, "It's like fate!" She grins and I can't help giggling, my face flushing as I avert my eyes from her gaze. Leaning forwards, her eyes widen, "So you like her?"
"Of course I like her, Liv! Have you seen me?" I throw my arms up in exasperation, "I'm giddy!" She laughs mockingly and I scowl at her, "But yes, I like her. She's just...really awesome." I grin gingerly and she claps her hands together with excitement, her face screwed up tight in a wide smile.
"Oh my God, my little sister is in love! This has never happened!" She stares at me in awe, "I thought you were just a cold, hard shell with a vagina! This is so sweet."
My lip curls in a disgusted grimace, and I stare at her for a few seconds, "You are disgusting. And no I'm not a shell." I roll my eyes, "I have real feelings. For a real person. Called Quinn." I nod decisively and she smiles her again, her eyebrows creasing together with affection.
"What are you going to do? Have you seen her since New Year's?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
"No. We've spoken on the phone and texted a lot, but she's been working since then." I shrug disappointedly and Livvy frowns.
"So is she like, your girlfriend?"
"No. I mean. I don't think so." I bite my lip and she raises an eyebrow.
"You should maybe find that out." She says sarcastically, "Do you want her to be?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, why not? I really like her, and she makes me laugh all the time. In every phone call. She's really sweet, and so smart. And we have lots of shared interests. Plus she's totally gorgeous. Why wouldn't I want that?" I gaze around the room as I talk, my heart rate slowly increasing as I think more and more about the blonde. About the way she laughs, and how she makes body contact in the tiniest of ways, but still makes my stomach do flips. And the way she looks at me sometimes, like we have a secret. And the way her hand fit in mine so perfectly. I like that, too.
"Well, does she know that? Are you going to make her your girlfriend?" Wow, my sister really just goes straight for the bullseye.
"I don't know. Can I?" I frown, biting my lip.
"Of course you can. Just ask her." She looks at me like I'm simple-minded and I roll my eyes, "Although," She frowns suddenly, "Aren't you going back to the city?"
"Well, yeah but, I might not be staying there?" I shrug and she raises an eyebrow, "I mean, my job ends in like a month or something. I could just come home."
"Really?" Her eyes widen incredulously and I nod, unsure, "You'd really want to come and live here again after living in New York? Why?"
"Because," I start confidently but suddenly lose faith in the idea, "I don't know. Pretty soon I won't have a job there, and if I don't have a job then no way can I afford to live there."
"So you're just going to come back here?" She frowns with concern, "Santana you know what people are like round here. Isn't that why you left in the first place?"
I sigh quietly, staring down at her legs on my lap, "Yeah. I know...but that was a long time ago, and Blaine's still here. He's doing fine." I shrug and she tilts her head thoughtfully.
"I suppose. But...it's not like living here is a picnic for him." She says pointedly and I frown,
"What do you mean?" I turn back to her with a look of concern.
"Apparently Blaine was kind of attacked the other day, didn't he tell you?" Her mouth twists in confusion and my mouth drops open slightly, a heavy weight settling in my chest.
"No. He, he didn't. He was just asking about me." I stare wide-eyed, stunned, before my face contorts into an expression of confusion, "Hang on, Liv, how do you know all this?"
"Mami told me. Unlike some people," she stares pointedly at me, "I actually call her and she tells me things. He was walking home from the store or something and some guys started following him and calling him names and stuff. I think one of them tried to hit him but he ran off and they let him go. Nothing really bad happened but he was pretty shaken, I think." She frowns sympathetically and I gaze around the room in horrified awe.
"Why, why didn't he tell me all this?" I can't help but feeling a little annoyed with him, despite myself. Stuff like this used to happen all the time when we were kids, but I thought people would have grown out of it.
"I don't know." She shrugs and I sigh heavily, "Did you tell him about coming home?" I nod and she shrugs again, "Maybe he didn't want to tell you how awful it is because he misses you and wants you home?"
"Ugh, stop being so intuitive." I scowl petulantly, "You're being too wise, it's hurting my head."
"Sorry," She laughs, but she looks serious again almost immediately, "I just don't want you changing your entire life and coming home just be faced with this kind of...abuse...again." She shakes her head sadly and I nod slowly, "You're my little sister, you know? I don't want you getting hurt all over again."
"I know. I know you don't." I look down at my hands sadly, realisation dawning. "So you think I should stay in NYC then?" I look up again and she shrugs.
"I'm not going to tell you what to do, San. I just think that it's a whole different world there, and you're accepted and you've built yourself a whole new life away from all of this crap. And I don't see why you'd give that up to be in the same boat as Blaine, and that guy Kurt, and all the other gay kids round here."
"And Quinn." I add sadly, thinking about her family's attitude. They certainly wouldn't be providing emotional support in times of trouble. At least my family and Blaine's family are both supportive.
"Plus, will it not be easier to find a job in the city than out here? There's like seven available jobs in this town and they all involve selling coffee, alcohol, or picking up garbage." She grimaces and I wince with a small nod.
"Yeah. I don't know, I'll think about it." I stare at the floor sadly and she bites her lip.
"Sorry to be a total buzzkill." She sighs, "This conversation kind of escalated, I didn't mean to upset you or anything." She looks guilty and I shake my head, reaching out to take her hand in mine.
"Don't worry about it, it's cool. You're just looking out for me; maybe I needed the reality check." I twist my mouth thoughtfully and she watches me with concern. I open my mouth to make a flippant joke and brush away the tension, but as I do so my phone rings loudly in my pocket. Twisting and shifting awkwardly under Liv's legs, I manage to wrestle my phone out of my tight pocket, "Oh, it's Quinn." I look from the screen to my sister, who raises her eyebrows cluelessly. "Should I answer it?"
"Of course you should. Why wouldn't you?" She frowns at me, perplexed, and I shrug.
"I don't know, you've fried my brain!" I hiss at her, before heaving her legs off my lap and standing quickly, pressing the green button on my keypad, attempting to sound less uptight and unstable, "Hey, Quinn! How are you?" I wave to my sister as I leave, and run upstairs to my bedroom.
"Hey, you! How's things?" I can hear her grinning and can't resist a smile, despite the churning feeling in my stomach.
"Things are fine. Good, thank you." I'm stuttering, and take a deep breath as I settle on my bed with a sigh, "How are you?"
"I'm not so bad." She pauses and I gaze at the pillow beside my own, where she lay when she stayed over, and swallow a lump in my throat. "So, I was thinking it's been a while since I actually saw you in the real-life flesh – lucky me." She giggles and I smile, "So I was wondering if you wanted to do something tomorrow? Maybe we could go for a walk through the park or something? I mean, I'm working tomorrow but I have an hour for lunch if you wanted to go get some together or something. Or maybe we could go to dinner afterwards, if you didn't want to be on a time-scale. It's completely up to you, really. I'm sorry I'm babbling, I'm just going to shut up." She titters nervously and I give a small, only slightly forced, laugh.
"No, that sounds awesome. I would love to!" The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach is replaced slightly by butterflies, although I still feel in two minds, "I could meet you for lunch if you want?"
"Perfect. Yeah, I, I really want to talk to you about something, that's all." She sounds nervous and the sinking feeling is back as my heart pounds uncomfortably.
"Okay, no problem. I can't wait!" I flop backwards to lay on the bed with a sigh, and she pauses.
"Are you sure?" She sounds worried and I bite my lip, "I mean...we don't have to if you don't want to or anything."
"No, of course I want to! I can't wait, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever. Also, it's a little weird to actually be making plans with you instead of having you just show up somewhere." I giggle and hear her release a tense breath.
"Okay, I just thought there was something wrong, that's all." She sounds more relaxed, and I feel more at ease myself.
"No, not really. I was talking to my sister tonight and she was telling me Blaine's been going through a hard time, that's all." I shrug sadly, uncomfortable at not telling her the whole truth.
We stay on the phone for almost an hour afterwards before saying goodnight, and I quickly change into my pyjamas and burrow under the covers, turning the light out almost immediately and not saying goodnight to any of my family. I sigh as I lay back, staring at the ceiling in the dim lamp-light from the window before my phone buzzes on the pillow next to me.
Miss your voice already. can't wait til tomorrow :) sweet dreams, Q xxxx
I can't help a large grin spreading across my face as I re-read the text over and over, before typing quickly and depositing in back on the pillow by my head.
Am v excited to see your face again, almost forgot what it looks like. Sleep tight, S xxxx
I sigh heavily once again, cursing my sister for pumping me full of issues and worry. I'm torn between being overjoyed at the idea of seeing Quinn again, and terrified at the prospect of what she wants to ask me. Not to mention feeling completely lost that Blaine hadn't talked to me about any of his problems, and incredibly sick at the thought of where to go when my contract ends at the end of the month.
Well, what a way to end the day.