Summer Vacation
Ummm... it's Wednesday...?
I woke up this morning to a text message. Well, actually I woke up to an elliptical at 7:30 like always, but there usually isn't a text waiting for me because all of my friends... well, Puckerman and Brittany sleep until the afternoon... like normal people.
Quinn isn't normal though. She sends people text messages at 7AM on Wednesday mornings. Freak.
From Q:
So, are you EVER going to tell me how dinner went with your mother? I'm guessing it wasn't good.
She texts in full sentences. Like Rachel. Don't they realize that they only have 160 characters? I guess if you have unlimited text messages that doesn't really matter does it? Whatever.
Anyways, I've decided that I need to bargain with Quinn. I'll talk to her about dinner with Mamá only she does something that I think she should do. Ready for it?
To Q:
Meet Rachel and me at the Lima Bean and I'll tell you all about it.
Instantly.
From Q:
No. I know what you want to do and I refuse.
HA!
"What are you laughing at?" my sexy sweaty girlfriend asks me from the foot of the bed.
"My bargaining skills. Today is the day that Quinn talks to the barista!" I say and then look back down at my phone to type out a message.
"Really? I'm so excited! I'm going to go shower and get ready!" Rachel says, jumping around and then leaves the room for the bathroom.
To Q:
Oh come on Q! Rach and I will be great wing-men!
From Q:
I don't think I'm ready for that...
Oh my god! Yes she is!
To Q:
It's the summer Q! No one has to know. Rach and I have your back. So will Britt.
Oooo! Here is the best line I can possibly think of. This has to get her. It would totally get to me.
To Q:
Let yourself be happy.
It might take a while to get a response from that one. I'm just gonna close my eyes and wait for Rachel to give up the bathroom.
Whoa! Way sooner than I thought.
From Q:
Fine. I usually go at 9:30. Meet then?
Oh this is perfect. So effing perfect!
To Q:
Perfect. See you at 9:30 ;)
I really couldn't resist.
From Q:
Shut up.
This just keeps getting better!
Okay, I'm going back to sleep. Well, first I'm going to send a text to Rach telling her to wake me up when she gets out of the shower.
To Rach:
Wake me up when you're out? I love you!
And hello eyelids.
...
"Which one is she?" Rachel whispers the instant we walk in the door of the Lima Bean.
I have to look around for a second, but I see her pretty quickly. She's at the register taking orders. "She's right in front of us," I whisper back, pointing at her with my eyes.
Rachel makes it obvious that she's trying to see her by getting on her tip toes and looking around the people in front of us in line.
"Make it a little more obvious," I hear a voice behind us. It's Quinn. Clearly.
"I was being totally discreet! Miss 'I can't handle doing things small' over here is the one with the problem," I say throwing my thumb in Rachel's direction.
"Hey!"
"Come on, babe! You were practically jumping over everyone to see her," I say with my eyebrows quirked.
Rachel simply huffs and then mumbles, "I still haven't seen her."
"You will," Quinn huffs and rolls her eyes, "we're all in line and she's what we're waiting to get to."
After a few steps forward, Rachel gasps and Quinn and I both turn to her and ask, "What?"
"I know her! She's playing Lambchops in FAME! She can actually play the drums!"
"Well this just keeps getting better," Quinn says in a monotone.
Oh, but it does just keep getting better. This is fan-freakin'-tastic!
"And that's why she wasn't here yesterday. Or last Tuesday and Thursday," Quinn says showing off her stalker skills. Okay so they aren't stalker skills, she's just got it bad. It's obvious.
Rachel and I just look at each other and try really hard not to laugh. It isn't easy. I actually let out a little snort and Quinn looks pissed about it. When we get to about two places off from the top of the line, her POed face turns into a freaked out face, though.
"Umm... Q? You okay?"
"Nope. I'm just gonna go and find us a table," she says and starts walking away. Rachel catches her wrist before she can get too far, though. Actually, she barely even got out of the line.
"You aren't going anywhere, Quinn Fabray!" Rachel whisper yells at her. It's a little terrifying actually.
"Okay," Quinn squeaks out.
One away.
Now, I've been watching our friend at the top of the line, she's been pretty concentrated on her job since we got in line and hasn't looked beyond the customer she's waiting on. That is until right this second. Shit! I think she sees Q! Aaaah! Quinn's blushing! HA! This is great! Oh, Quinn is totally getting a date out of this. I was just going to try and get her to give her phone number up, but the smile that this girl just gave Quinn is totally dateworthy.
And now we're up.
"Rachel? Hey!"
"Hi, RJ!" Rachel says to the barista who has been nameless until this moment.
"How are you doing after yesterday's insane dance rehearsal?" RJ asks and Rachel suddenly gets a nervous look on her face. I swear if she got hurt yesterday and didn't tell me... or anyone for that matter, I will be sooo mad!
"Great!"
"Oh good!" RJ says and then gets right to business, "so, what can I tell those kids over there to make for you guys this morning?"
"Well, I'm going to have a tall tea and my girlfriend, Santana," she says nudging into me and smiling, "is going to have a grande low fat iced mocha latte and our friend Quinn wants-"
"A grande low fat iced caramel latte with an extra shot," RJ interrupts before Quinn can. She's smiling and looking directly at the still blushing Quinn. "Quinn. It's nice to finally know your name. I've been calling you 'Caramel Latte' all this time," she says with a little flirty laugh.
She is hitting on Q so hard, I'm getting smacked with it. Now, is she going to say something? Probs not. God, do Rach and I have to do everything? "Hmmm... are you implying that you've been talking about our friend Quinn?" I ask as I hand her my debit card.
"Maybe," she says with a smirk to Quinn and then directs her attention to the screen.
While RJ's attention is on the screen, I take the opportunity to give Quinn a necessary elbow. She scowls back at me, but it's gone the instant RJ's attention is back up at us.
"Here you go," she says as she hands me back my debit card, "You guys are all set. Have a great day!"
"Thanks," is the first thing that Quinn has been able to say. She said it really sweet, but she still manages to grab my wrist hard enough that I think my hand has fallen asleep, to drag me over to the pick up station... thing.
The three of us stand in silence as we wait for our drinks and continue it all the way to a table. After we've all had a few sips Quinn finally bursts out with, "What the hell was that?"
Rachel and I just look at each other and then back at Quinn. What is she talking about? That was mild. Besides, RJ did most of the talking and flirting. Rachel and I didn't really do anything.
"What are you talking about Q? I'm surprised you don't have a black eye she was hitting on you so hard. Did you not notice it?"
"I... umm..." she looks to Rachel as if she's going to help her.
"She's right, Quinn. There was some major flirting happening over there," Rachel says because she's totally on my side.
"No..."
"Are you kidding me? She's been calling you 'Caramel Latte!' Even if she hasn't told anyone about you, she clearly thinks about you and uses that as a substitute for your actual name. I bet you were calling her something in your head, too-"
"I've known her name this whole time. She wears a name tag," Quinn says looking at me like I'm an idiot.
"Oh. Right. Whatever. She likes you, Q and you like her. Give her your phone number!"
"I can't," Quinn says shaking her head and looking down at her coffee.
"I can," Rachel says with her own little devious smile, that I am absolutely in love with right now, "I'm going to see her tomorrow and pretty much every Tuesday and Thursday this summer-"
"You wouldn't..."
"She sent a girl to crack house," I say.
"And I got Sandy Ryerson fired," Rachel says.
"Don't ever underestimate Rachel and her abilities," I say pursing my lips and quirking up an eyebrow.
"Tell me what happened with your mom," Quinn says firmly, attempting to change the subject.
"Give RJ your phone number."
"Only if you tell me about last Tuesday night," she says with her bargaining skills shining bright.
"How do I know you won't welch on this?" I ask knowing that this isn't the best deal ever.
After a breath, Quinn grabs her purse and starts digging through it. Eventually she pulls out a little notebook and a pen. After tearing out a page, she writes down her name and cell phone number and slides it to the middle of the table. "After you tell me, you can give this to RJ."
"No way! You have to do it. It isn't nearly as satisfying if I hand it to her," I say crossing my arms.
"Oh my god! Fine! I'll give it to her! Just tell me already!" Quinn says a little too loudly; people are looking.
"Okay! Chill out," I take breath, then look to Rachel for a moment. When I look back at Quinn I say, "She tricked me."
"I'm sorry," Quinn says to me, putting her elbow on the table and her chin into her palm.
"I should have known when she wanted Rachel to come along that it wasn't real. That was way too big of a step," I can't really stop the little chuckle that's coming out of my throat just thinking about what I'm going to say next, "she pretty much just wanted to confront Rachel for recruiting me into the gay cult that she and her dads are running."
"Are you serious?" Quinn asks with all the shock that any normal person should feel when they're told this story.
"One hundred percent," Rachel answers, "then her mother lied to her father about what happened at dinner, blaming Santana for them not being able to get along." Rachel is making it very clear that she is not my mother's biggest fan. Honestly, she has no reason to be. She was attacked.
"Your dad doesn't seem like the kind of person to fall for something like that..." Quinn says shaking her head a little bit and giving a slightly incredulous look.
Rachel and I just look at each other and sigh back at Quinn.
"He believed her?" Quinn asks, with her eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Originally, yeah, he did," I shrug and Quinn's mouth pops open a little more with her shock, "hey, where do you think my manipulation skills came from? Definitely not Papá. He's one of the most genuine people I know."
"I don't think you realize that you actually do possess that quality," Quinn says shaking her head, rolling her eyes and then finally looking away from me.
Not really knowing what to say, I turn and look at Rachel who has this goofy half grin on her lips. I feel her hand slide onto my thigh and after a little squeeze she says, "She's right you know. Of course you're very selective in who you show that side of you to, but you are genuine nonetheless. It's quite beautiful actually."
"I love you... so much," is really all I can get out because that lip gravity thing is happening. I can't even let her say it back, I just have to kiss her.
"Ew."
"Shut up, Q," I say without even opening my eyes. When I do open them, I turn to her and say, "don't act like you weren't just thinking about what doing the same thing with your barista over there would be like."
Quinn's face turns an impossible shade of red and she directs all of her attention to her barely touched latte.
"Give her your number, Q," I say softly. I made sure that it didn't come out like a demand. That tactic hasn't been working.
"She's right over there," Rachel says, nodding in the direction of the sugar station, "you can go over there acting like you're getting a sugar packet or some napkins and then give her that paper."
"I ca- okay," Quinn says suddenly completely determined. She gets up, flattens out the front of her dress and grabs the piece of paper that she wrote her name and number on from the middle of the table. "Wish me luck."
"You don't need it," I say with a smile.
"Break a leg," Rachel says because she thinks wishing someone "good luck" is actually bad luck in no matter what forum.
Quinn takes a deep breath and then turns around to walk over to the station that RJ has been replacing napkins at. We know that Quinn is nervous, but she doesn't look it. She gets to the counter and reaches for a napkin from the dispenser next to the one that RJ is filling, causing RJ to pause what she's doing and look next to her. Instantly a smile smacks onto her face and I can see her say, "Hi Quinn." Unfortunately, they're out of earshot and I can't hear what they're saying. I also can't read lips very well. Hey, you can't possess every skill there is out there.
"Can you tell what they're saying?" Rachel whispers to me as she puts her hand in mine and her chin on my shoulder.
"Not a word beyond 'Hi Quinn,'" I say with disappointment.
"Well, they're both still smiling."
"And Quinn's mouth is moving."
Rachel gives my thigh a little slap with her free hand. I turn my head to watch her watching Quinn. She's so excited, it's adorable. I move in to kiss her cheek when she starts tapping on my thigh, "She's doing it! She's giving her the paper!"
I completely abandon the kiss and direct my attention to Quinn and RJ. I look just in time to see the paper enter RJ's hand. She opens up the little piece of paper, reads it and then smiles back at Quinn. I can't quite make out what she's saying but I think the word 'definitely' was in there. Then RJ motions to the registers, probably indicating that she has to go back.
Then, Quinn does something totally unexpected. Like, her prior actions and reactions to things that Rachel and I have said would never make me think that she would do this. As she's saying whatever she's saying to RJ, she lets her hand come up and her finger tips lightly run down RJ's forearm.
"Oh. My. God."
"You saw that, right?"
"Our baby's all grown up," I say my best impression of a proud parent.
"I think she will punch you in the face if you say something like that to her," Rachel says as we watch Quinn walk back to us, "and I will probably let her." What? "Hey Quinn!"
I think that Quinn is experiencing a high at the moment. When she gets to the table she simply pulls out the chair and sits down. She has this ridiculous smile on her face and she isn't talking.
She will though.
"So, I take it things went well?" I ask leaning into the table a little bit.
"Mhm," Quinn answers simply.
"What did she say when you gave her your number?" Rachel asks, clearly with the hope of getting more than a hum out of the lovestruck blonde across the table from us.
"That she'd definitely be using it," Quinn answers all dreamily.
"What what!"
"Quinn, that's so great! We're so happy for you!"
"And we saw you getting bold up there with that arm stroke. Very smooth," I say with an approving nod.
"It wasn't too much?" Quinn asks nervously.
"No way!" Rachel answers.
Quinn looks down at her hand and smiles.
"Umm... you aren't going to say something like, 'I'm never washing this hand again' are you? Because that's weird and if you keep that up you could wind up not wanting to wash your whole body," I say sarcastically and not really thinking about it.
Quinn's thinking about it though. She swallows hard and shifts in her seat.
"San..."
"What? Like she's never thought about it before," I say defensively.
"I... I really hadn't..." Quinn says quietly, "until now. Oh god. This is terrifying... and intriguing, but definitely very terrifying."
"Q, calm down. Worry about a date first. That's how this goes," I say trying really hard to calm her down.
"Unless you're us," Rachel pipes in with a little chuckle and clearly forgetting that not everyone knows about our unconventional beginning.
I roll my eyes knowing full well what's coming out of confused Quinn's mouth next, "Umm... what?"
I'm keeping my mouth shut. This was Rachel's spill, not mine. She can figure out what to do with this one.
"Oh, well, we..." Rachel starts but Quinn's cell phone lights up with a text message.
I sneak a peak at the screen and see that it's from a phone number and not a name from her contacts.
It has to be RJ.
Saved.
Quinn snatches the phone off the table and her face lights up as she's reading it.
"What's it say?" I ask nosily.
Quinn takes a breath and says, "She wants to know what I'm doing tonight-"
"Nothing!" Rachel bursts out, "I mean, tell her that you don't have any plans... yet. Just like that. Put in an ellipses between plans and yet."
"I almost can't believe you just used the word ellipses," I say as Quinn types out her response to RJ.
"Almost?" Rachel asks.
"Well, grammar is like, one of your things. Of course you'd say ellipses instead of dot dot dot," I say through a tiny laugh.
"You love it," Rachel says over confidently.
"I sure do," I say and rub our noses together.
And a gasp from Quinn.
"What?" Rachel and I ask in unison.
"She just asked me if I like Mexican food," Quinn says without looking up from her phone.
"You love Mexican," I say wondering what the problem she's having with this is.
"I know..."
"So, what's the issue?"
"She's asking me out, isn't she?" Quinn asks with a panicked look on her face.
Okay, what happened to the Quinn that gave her phone number to the girl she likes and then stroked her arm all sexy?
"Quinn, stop panicking. Tell her that you love Mexican, because you do and then when she asks you to go out with her tonight, say yes because you want to. Then when she tries to kiss you, let her because you definitely want to kiss her," Rachel says in a way that reminds me of Brittany talking to me three months ago.
After a few moments of contemplation, Quinn says, "You're right. I do want this. I'm not just going to tell her that I do like Mexican though. I can answer these questions without you dictating what to say."
"Good," I say, "Because we won't be there to dictate what you say on this date tonight. We have plans."
"We do?" Rachel asks cluelessly.
We do and it involves a certain card. "Uh huh," I say and then as slightly as I can so that Quinn can't see, I poke my tongue at the inside of my cheek.
"Oh," Rachel says and then shifts in her seat, "kay." She turns to Quinn and says, "Yeah, we have plans tonight."
"All night?" Quinn deadpans.
"Possibly," I answer popping up my eyebrows at Rachel.
"No, not all night," Rachel says through a scowl, "I have camp tomorrow."
Then Quinn gets a text, smiles and feverishly types out a response. After hitting send, she looks over towards the register to see RJ get the message.
"What did you say after the Mexican question?" I ask.
"I asked her if she was asking me out on a date," Quinn says with a shrug, "and then she said, 'That was my plan, but you're kind of skipping the steps I'd laid out for myself,'" Quinn reads off of her phone.
"Oh great, another sarcastic lesbian, just what we need," Rachel sighs and shakes her head.
I chuckle a little and then ask, "What did you just say to her?"
Quinn smiles, seeming very proud of this response and says, "I told her that Mexican is my favorite and that I'd love to go out with her tonight."
And then as if that were a prompt, Quinn gets another message.
"Well?" Rachel asks leaning in probably trying to read the message.
"Eight o'clock at Acapulco's. We're going to meet there. That's appropriate for a first date, right?" Quinn asks as if she's never been on one before.
"Yeah, sure. You know, just in case," I answer hopefully reassuring her.
"Everything is going to be fine," Rachel says and then looks at me quickly. Turning back to Quinn she says, "You can get ready at our house if you want to. We can give you a pep talk before you head out."
Crap. You know, I was really hoping to utilize the trip that Rachel's dads left for today. They're only gone tonight! I can't believe Rachel is sabotaging sexytimes! People as horny as Rachel don't cock block themselves. Something is wrong.
"Thanks. I might need it."
"You just think you do," I say rolling my eyes and thinking about all the sex I won't be having.
"Thinking is enough," Rachel says.
Christ!
"Is everyone done with their cups? I'm gonna go throw them out," I say gathering the empty cups and getting up.
"All set."
"I'm done, beautiful," Rachel answers through her sweet voice.
As I'm walking up to the counter that the phone number exchange went down, my pocket buzzes with a text message. After I throw out the cups I pull out my phone and read the message.
From Rach*:
Don't worry beautiful, once she's gone, you get whatever you want.
I look up and turn around catching Rachel's eyes instantly. She gives me a wink and then pops her eyebrows up.
I should probably clean up the mess she just made.
A/N: Sorry this took so long. Bad case of the writer's block. The next chapter that I'm writing should flow a lot better so the next one should be up much quicker. Hope you enjoyed this one. Let me know what you think about what's going down. Thanks for everything as per usual!
Oh and for those of you who read We Laugh Just A Little Too Loud, I'm starting the sequel soon... because clearly sequels are kind of my thing.