Chapter 12

A/N: First off I apologize for the long period in updates. To make up for it I made this one longer. It's my longest to date so I hope you all enjoy.

LucyFields: I do plan on having Puck make an appearance just not yet.

Also this chapter is dedicated to me beautiful muse, Leighton.

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"Will you please wipe that smirk off your face?" Santana playfully tugged on my hand that was still in hers.

"What? C'mon, you have to admit that was funny." I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips. "Santana, you took me to the opera because you misunderstood my four year old daughter."

"Hey! So, my recon work wasn't exactly the best." She gave a small shrug. "But it's not my fault your little girl is so smart, that I didn't even second guess what she was saying. She doesn't exactly have that funny cute "baby talk" like all the other kids her age usually do." She said trying to defend her actions. I found it to be incredibly cute and funny, the way she was flustered and embarrassed. But she was right. Beth was quite the little talker and grew out of that stage rather quickly.

"Yeah, that went away pretty fast. Thankfully it hasn't always just been me so she's had other people to talk and practice with to get rid of it. But still, I have no idea where or why she said opera instead of Oprah." The giggles just kept pouring out of me.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up there blondie, I'm glad you find this so amusing." She playfully rolled her eyes at me.

"Well looks like we're here." She said getting out of the door that Fred had opened up for us. I hadn't even noticed that the car had stopped. "Thanks Fred."

"Thanks." I said getting out myself. Santana's hand outstretched for me. "Thank you too Fred."

"No problem ladies. Let me know when I should come back around." He tipped his chauffer's hat off to us before getting back in the car and driving away.

"So where are we?" I turned back to look at her. Teasing her was becoming something I really liked to do. She was just too cute. She brought out the kid in me. I lightly poked my finger into her good arm. "I hope you didn't plan our dinner arrangements according to Beth too. Because then I'm sure we are either at the Pizza Parlor or Chuck E…"

I finally turned around and it seemed to me that the joke was on me. I looked back at her and she had a huge smile with a hint of smirk on her face. I looked back at the front of the restaurant. I'm sure my face was that of pure amazement. We were in front of a building I had only hoped to get into one day. It was the La Bella Fontana. It was an extremely fancy five star Italian restaurant. Only celebs and big rollers ever could get reservations. I would know I tried once and had wanted to go even more ever since.

"Um, you were saying?" I wasn't even upset at the smirk that seemed to be permanently residing her face as of recently. "C'mon let's go in before we freeze out here."

I was rendered speechless. I just let her pull me inside while she chuckled softly to herself.

Inside was like something from a book. It honestly felt like I was at some fancy restaurant in Italy instead of New York. The famous fountain was in the middle if a huge round entrance of the place. The walls were covered in stone and ivy. The walls were also adorned with fountains, water trickling down ever so peacefully. The fountain this place was known for was quite grand. It was all positively gorgeous.

"Evening Ms. Lopez, you're looking beautiful as ever."

"Hey Cisco, and you're always the charmer."

"Well a guy can dream can't he?"

"Yes you most certainly can just make sure to keep them dreams dry when I'm in them. Now stop being rude and holding up my lovely date and I from our dinner."

If I wasn't still so shocked that we were indeed inside the place and that she actually knew the staff, I would have blushed both at Santana's comment and my subtle compliment.

"Yes excuse me, right this way ladies." He pulled two menus from his podium and began walking to the tables. "She's beautiful." He tried to whisper to Santana as she was pushing in my chair for me.

"Watch it." She advised with a punch to the gut. I thought that it was lightly at first until I saw him slightly wince. Guess not. She's injured and still strong, that's quite impressive.

"Your server will be with you shortly." He walked away and left Santana and I alone.

We were seated on a square table in what seemed to be a private area of the restaurant. The lighting was somewhat dim. On the furthest wall was a fountain as well. The wall was covered and lush green ivy.

"Santana.." I began. "This is amazing. How..how did you know I wanted to come here?"

"You did?" Santana beamed. "I didn't know. You just let it slip that you loved pasta and hadn't had a decent bowl in a long time. This is the best so, I just had to bring you here."

"Yeah I know this is the best but,… I mean just… You must have reserved this like years ago or something." Gosh I sounded like a blabbering idiot. I couldn't believe the shock and awe still hadn't worn off yet. No actually I could believe it. This was just so amazing.

She laughed, "Years ago. No more like I after I originally asked you out. I just knew I had to bring you here. With the look you had when you saw where we were was any indication, I was right."

"Wait what? You got reservations this week? Aren't they like booked till Kingdom come?"

"Okay, okay. I can see you have a lot of questions about this. The answers aren't quite short so how about you look at the menu. Check out what you want to drink and eat. Then after they take our order we'll continue this conversation. Is that okay?" She smiled over in my direction and just wow. Her pearly white smile had mine making an appearance as well.

"That sounds great." Just as I finished saying that a girl came up to our table. Well actually more like entered our private dining area.

"Buona sera. I'm Amy I'll be your server tonight. Can I start you off with a glass of wine tonight?" She asked placing a basket of bread sticks on the table. She looked at me expectantly. Why is she just looking at me? Santana is right there and I have no idea what to say. Santana finally spoke up.

"Yes please can you…"

"Oh Ms. Lopez! I'm so sorry," she said touching her arm. "I didn't even look up at you." She giggled. Why is she touching and giggling at my date? "I know what you like don't worry. I'll bring that out and some water." And that wink? What the hell was that?

"Thanks Amy."

Calm down. You just said it yourself she's your date. I shook my head and I realized Santana asked me something.

"Hmm?" I said looking up at her.

"I asked if you knew what you wanted yet?" She chuckled.

"Oh um, yea. I mean no." I shook my head to get rid of my thoughts. "This all sounds so good I'm not sure what to pick."

"Yeah, well the food here is great so I'm sure whatever you pick will be a good choice. You can't really go wrong in this place."

We sat in peaceful silence for a few minutes while Santana let me choose. As I was looking I noticed there were no prices. Gosh this is going to be expensive. I was by no means on a tight budget but I also was no high roller. But I did not want Santana paying for all of this. She had done more than enough and I was going to at least pay half. I looked up and saw that she seemed to already know what she wanted and was patiently waiting for me to come to some sort of decision. I looked back down at my menu trying to decide on which dish to get. I could feel her eyes on me every so often and it was really distracting.

"You know I can feel you staring right?" I arched an eyebrow at her from above my menu.

"You know you're gorgeous right?" She said without even an ounce of embarrassment and it had me internally gushing.

"So Santana…" Amy said coming in from the side of us again. Why did I never see her come in? "I know you order already." She said with a huge smile as she placed the glasses of wine and water down. "How about your friend? Has she decided?" Friend? Really?

"Actually she's…" Santana started off but I couldn't help wanting to say it myself.

"Her date. I'm her date and I would like Fettuccine Alfredo with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Veggies. Thank you." I gave her my menu and my "you don't want to mess with me look". From the look she gave me back I knew she got the message.

"Yeah sure no problem. I'll be back with your orders." And just like that Amy turned around and walked away. I could see Santana laughing from the corner of my eye.

"Gosh, is everyone here trying to get your attention?" I said with a shake of my head.

"No, not everyone." She laughed at me.

"Really? Who doesn't then?"

"Well for starters, you. You don't need to try to get my attention. It's all yours. So you don't even need to worry about who else is on the list, 'cause it doesn't matter." She said with all seriousness in her voice. God! This woman could make me blush like no other.

"Since we got our drinks and ordered can you please explain to me how you got us in here?" I said trying to take the attention away from my crimson cheeks. Thank god the lighting in here is dim.

"A deal is a deal." She smiled from her seat. "The owner of this place is Antonio Motta."

Motta. Why does that sound familiar?

"Antonio is Sugar's dad." Bingo!

"Oh so you get like a 'daughter's best friend' hook up?" I questioned. "That sort of makes sense. But then you guy's should be like really really good longtime friends."

"See I told you this wouldn't be simple. Actually I met Antonio first. I won't bore you with the details."

"No, c'mon please go ahead. We always talk about me. I want to hear about you."

"Are you sure?" She said sounding unsure herself. I nodded my approval and she continued.

"Okay. Well one day after middle school I found this new mom and pop Italian restaurant. It was along a new route I decided to take that day. Normally Blaine and I walk together but he had some kind of an appointment, so I was on my own that day. Well as I was walking, I happened to look into this big glass window," listening to her talk about her past was both exciting and disheartening.

She had a sort of despondent face about her, mixed with something like joy. She was revisiting something equally dark and light in her life. Something that brought her both sadness and alleviation of some sort. The way her features changed on their own free will. The way her voice seemed to drop and rise when she flowed through her story. It was captivating.

"This tall smooth looking man was bringing out the biggest pizza I had ever seen. It looked so delicious, my 13 year old tastes buds just couldn't help themselves. I went in and ordered one. The same size he had taken out to be exact. He laughed at me." She slightly laughed herself. "I would have laughed at me if me now saw my 13 year old then. Well he said I had and I quote 'Avete un sacco di fervore kid' which means that I had a lot of gusto. He gave me a smaller pizza on the house since he liked me. We sat down eating and talking about anything and everything. I know I know. It sounds creepy but the place wasn't empty and his wife was there in the place too. She eventually came out to join us as well. I'm not sure how to explain it but it felt nice. One thing led to another and I kept coming back."

Sometime during her story the food had come out but it wasn't what we had ordered. It was a series of different foods. First soup then a small appetizer.

"I know you didn't order that but I'm sure it was Tony's doing."

"It's all delicious Santana. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. You still haven't even gotten your main entrée yet."

"Oh gosh."

"It's okay. Eat whatever you want. Don't feel obligated to eat all of it." I gave a small nod.

"Okay now, go on with your story. You only told me how you met Mr. Motta not Sugar."

"Really? You want me to go on? It's not really exciting at all." She said trying to defer the conversation elsewhere. "And rather long."

"Yes I am positive now please continue or I'll poke you with this fork." I said lifting said utensil. A fork as a threat? What am I five?

"You wouldn't stab a cripple would you?" She raised her own fork at me.

"You're only a temporary crippled so it doesn't count. Still I wouldn't try me if I were you."

"Fine. But only because you're no match for the evil Snix." She jabbed her fork down in her plate to continue eating.

"The evil Snix?" I asked completely confused.

She let out a laugh, "Uh yeah, it's sort of this…"

"Wait no no. I know what you're doing." I lifted my fork in the air again. "You can tell me about 'the evil Snix' later. Right now I want to hear the rest of your story." Forgetting the fork, I encouraged her with a smile and nod.

"Okay let me see. Where did I leave off? So like I said I kept going back to the restaurant. Well during that time I was really only friends with Blaine. He and I lived on the same block but that's another story. So one day, specifically the day after I had first entered Tony's place, I was going to lunch when I saw this girl getting picked on. She looked young. I figured she was one of the 6th graders. A couple of girls were just teasing and making fun of this girl. To my surprise she was actually trying to put up a fight. Verbally of course, she was small so I doubted she could have packed much of a punch. The girls were making fun of her hair band and the way she was singing to herself. In all honestly she was pretty terrible but that didn't stop this girl from speaking her mind. There I stood listening to her telling these girls how tacky their outfits were I couldn't help but laugh. The girls were getting mad and were about to physically attack her but I stepped up and the girls ran away scared. She was grateful for the help and we began talking. She told me she was new and was looking for the cafeteria when the girls began snickering about her. Apparently she's the one who started it by commenting on their wardrobe."

Throughout the story she would pause to drink and eat. However not once did she speak with a mouthful of food. She was being so cute acting all well-mannered when she wasn't usually. Not that she was a pig. She was just being extra courteous and using all her real fancy etiquette. I just nodded every now and then letting her know I was listening. Though it wasn't needed, my eyes were solely on her. I only looked away briefly for my food and drinks.

"Little by little she grew closer to me, the kid would tag along. Pretty soon we became a trio at school. Everyone at school was afraid of me so in turn stayed clear of Blaine and Sugar. No one picked on them because if they did, Snix would come out and play. So that went on for a couple months. I would go to Tony's, as I had dubbed it, whenever I was alone or really when I could, which was a lot. And also I gained a new friend in Sugar. Sugar had a lot of practices and things she was into so she never really hung out with Blaine and I after school. Sugar had told us she was throwing a party just for the hell of it and had invited a ton of people. She was rich by the way. I called her Richie Bitch. I guess her dad came from old money and well she was spoiled. So whatever she asked of daddy is what she got. Obviously she invited Blaine and I. When we showed up at the mansion the invites were on, I rang the doorbell and was greeted by an overly excited Sugar. She took us in and showed us around. Half way through the tour she stopped and pulled us into the kitchen. She told us that her parents wanted to meet us, but really wanted to meet me. I asked her why and all she did was shrug her shoulders before stepping through the doors. I came face to face with Tony and wife, Adriana. They looked just as shocked as I did. Apparently Sugar had told her about the girl who had helped save her from not getting her 'beautiful' face ruined. She then told them how we became friends. Adriana enveloped me into a hug. Tony followed behind and I had realized it was actually the first he and I ever shared. He told me how grateful he was that I had not only helped his little girl but that I had actually stuck around to be her friend. When he told me she didn't have any I wasn't really all that shocked. Sugar can be very blunt and abrasive. He told me that he had a feeling that I was different the moment I walked into his shop but now that he knew what I had done for his baby girl it just solidified what he felt. He told me that day 'Di Santana sono speciali.' I didn't know what that meant then but I never forgot it. The way his eyes were so sincere and the way his voice was laced with what I now realize was love. Well as they say everything that came after was history." She seemed to be focused back in on this world and I could see her eyes were slightly misty.

I didn't know what to say but apparently my mouth did. "What does 'Di Santana soo..'"

"Di Santana sono speciali mean?" She finished for me. I nodded a yes. "It translates to 'You Santana are special.'"

"You are Santana." I reached over the table and took her hand in mine.

"Thank you." She gave my hand a squeeze. "Well I hope you have at least some room for dessert."

As if on cue out came Amy with a plate of Zabaglione with berries and a plate of Tiramisu. They both looked exquisite. My face must have said that and how incredibly full I was, because Santana spoke up.

"Don't worry Quinn." She laughed. "I told you, you only have to eat what you want. You can pick whichever one you want or we can go halfsies so you can try both."

"I like the second option better." I smiled at her.

I took the plate of Tiramisu first while Santana had some of the Zabaglione with berries.

"Santana, really. This whole evening had been incredible. Even the opera I desperately wanted to see." I finished with a wink.

"Oh gosh, I'm never going to live that down am I?"

"Not a chance." My smile was huge. This woman made me work my smile muscles to no end whenever I was around her. "Actually can you excuse me while I visit the ladies' room?"

"Yes of course." Santana got up like a true gentlewoman and pointed me in the direction to my destination.

I actually didn't need the restroom. I just need to escape with my wristlet so I could pay for the meal. I went out and found a server. It wasn't Amy not that she was really my preference but she at least knew our order. This girl would have to do.

"Umm excuse me? I'm on a date and I really don't want her to know I'm paying for the meal. Can you bring up the bill so I can pay please?"

"Of course mam, no worries. I can ring you up over here. Do you at least remember the name of your server so I can bring it up?"

"Yeah. Our server was Amy."

As she's looking for our order on the computer I begin to look into my wristlet for my credit card. Only I can't find it. Where is it? I know I put it in there before I left. Not being able to find it, I begin to panic. Did someone steal it sometime tonight? Who would steal it though? My wristlet was with me the entire night.

"I'm sorry will you excuse me really quick. I'll be back." I told the girl before heading back to the private area Santana and I were dining in.

"There you are! I was starting to worry." She chuckled. "I was thinking about sending a search party out there for you. Wait what's wrong?"

"Santana, I think someone stole my credit and atm cards. I can't find them. I know for a fact that I put them in there before I came out tonight with you." I rushed out all while still searching inside my bad in case by some chance I just over looked them. I hear Santana's laugh and it startles me. Why the fuck is she laughing? What part of anything I said was funny?

"Santana this isn't funny! Why are you laughing?" I couldn't help the anger that was beginning to poke through.

"I'm sorry Quinn you're right it's not. But it's just that it kind of is." I was really starting to lose my patience. She did not want to see me in full bitch mode it was not pretty. She better start explaining what the fuck she was talking about. "When I came to pick you up earlier, Brittany answered the door. I asked her if she could do me the favor of taking out any kind of money or cards you had in your purse. That way even if you tried to pay for anything tonight you wouldn't be able to."

"You what? How could you do that? Why would you even do that? What is wrong with you?" I was fuming. "You had no right to ask Britt to do such a thing. You had no right to do that at all!"

"Quinn, I..."

She didn't get a chance to finish because I was going off on her all over again. Hands and words flying all over the place. "You, you don't get to do that. You had no fucking right! I can take care of myself. I don't need you to pay for shit! I…" I was cut off by my cell phone ringing.

"What?" I answered still clearly worked up. "Oh no what happened?... NO, I'm coming. I'll be there as fast as I can." I hung up and walked out the restaurant without even a look back. I heard Santana running after me asking if everything was ok.

"No Santana! Clearly EVERYTHING is not ok! Ok! I need to go!" I said exasperated.

"Okay that's not a problem. I can take you home." Santana said calmly.

"No, I don't want to go with you anywhere and I'm not going home. I need to go to the hospital."

"Hospital? Why what's wrong Quinn? What happened?... Quinn?"

I was looking in my purse and positively pissed I had no way to pay for a cab or anything for that matter! "Ugh!" I growled out, tears beginning to leak out the corners of my eyes.

"Just leave me alone Santana thanks to you I have no money to get to the hospital." I was frustrated, scared, mad, and others I didn't want to name. There were just too many emotions flying everywhere for me to concentrate on one.

Santana looked defeated and I couldn't stand looking at her. So I looked up to the sky instead.

"I'm sorry Quinn. I didn't mean to upset you. I told Fred to meet us here. He should be pulling around the corner soon. Just take my car please. I won't go with you. He'll take you wherever you need to go." She said sounding despondent all over again. Only this time it was because of me. She quietly handed me my jacket when she saw my shivering. Though I'm not entirely sure it was from the cold.

No words were exchanged while she waited outside with me until Fred pulled up with the car. She still opened the door and closed it after I got in. She walked to the front to what I assume was tell Fred to take me wherever I told him to. Fred asked me where to and I told him which hospital. As we pulled away from the curb I saw Santana's silhouette and cried like I hadn't cried in a very long time.

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