Usually I dig into drama, sinking my fingers so deeply in it that I won't let go without a fight. I usually take whatever side appears to be winning, switch back in forth in favor of the superior of the moment. Sometimes I get in on it myself, giving a whole fucking dollar compared to two measly cents.
But sitting in a bridal store, wearing a gaudy, conservative pink dress to please Rachel, I don't know whose side to take. Quinn's been my best friend for years, yet Rachel has proved much more loyal than most people expect.
"Is anyone with me on this?" Quinn turns and asks. I look away, focusing on the bronzes in Sugar's hair. "Look like I'm the only one with balls enough to say it." I begin to protest, but she lurches into a speech. "Rachel, the thing that I admire the most about you is that you are a girl that has never apologized for your ambition. You're the shiniest star of all of us." She turns around, a look in her eyes that I've seen few times before, times that made me question even myself. "Like it or not, it's true. And as we get closer and closer to graduation, you keep hiding behind this whole Finn wedding thing." It comes out sounding like a question. "I never pegged Rachel Berry as the girl who would be too scared to take on the world." She stops and takes a breath, eyes not once leaving Rachel's. Slowly, Rachel nods comprehensively. She watches Quinn, obviously surprised by the harsh truth of her words, but trying not to show it.
"Okay well… If that's how you feel, I'd prefer it if you didn't attend our wedding." I can feel the rock of emotion coming from Quinn. It's not hard to sense when you've been best friends for such a long time. But suddenly even I can't say anything. I'm as speechless as everyone else. One minute, Quinn and Rachel were best friends, and the next, Rachel was uninviting her bridesmaid from her wedding. It was always up and down with them, almost like an awkward, adolescent relationship. And not just any relationship. A relationship described by sharp pointy metal things that are used to cut paper. A relationship that I had with my girlfriend. Heavy emphasis on 'girlfriend'.
"It's okay," Quinn replies after a pause. "I won't." She turns from Rachel and heads out the door. Holy shit. Rachel Berry had forced Quinn Fabray out the door with one sentence. Rachel takes a deep breath and forces a smile on her face as I nervously wring my hands and try to look bored.
"Well, I love this." Rachel says before turning back to the mirror. My thoughts flicker back to Quinn, who had just walked out the door in a dress that Rachel had paid for. Well, her rich gay dads had paid for. I slip the ring I had been admiring before this whole fiasco off my finger and stood, putting it back.
"You look beautiful, Rachel," I tell her with a smile before turning to Brittany. One swift glance and she followed me out the door, leaving our clothes and phones behind. Quinn was standing just outside the bridal store, leaning against the brick building staring at the sky. I stopped outside the store, standing about ten feet from her, shivering and not saying a word. Brittany leaned up against me, warm skin against warm skin, but not a muscle on Quinn so much as quivered.
"Quinn," Brittany says softly. Quinn grits her teeth and finally shivers.
"I really wish I had a pack of Marlboros," She mutters. Brittany and I walk over to her, pulling her into a hug. She rests her head on my shoulder with a sigh. Brittany rubs her back and kisses her shoulder, and I take her hand in mine. "I really just fucked up, didn't I?" She asks, raising her head. I stare into her eyes truthfully.
"Yeah," I reply. "I think you did. Rachel's a great person."
"She shouldn't be marrying him!" She exclaims, tearing her hand from mine and running it through her hair. "She shouldn't even consider him as an anonymous sperm donor for her bastard kids!" She laughs nervously. "Finn Hudson is an ass. He doesn't even deserve her." She leans back against the wall before sliding down to the one dry spot on the ground. Even though it's freezing and will probably make my ass cold as hell, I sit down on one side while Brittany sits on the other. "This isn't supposed to be this way."
"Then tell her how you feel," I murmur. She shoots me a look that could kill a wolf. I shrug and look straight ahead, watching the silver exhaust of passing cars float away into the cold night sky. Slowly her hand moves to mine, and I tangle our fingers together.
"I know it can be hard, Quinn." Brittany says as Quinn lies her head on my shoulder. "I know how hard it was for Santana, and she's a pretty Brazilian person."
"Don't you mean 'resilient'?" Quinn asks as I smile.
"Isn't that what I said?"
"Yeah. Sorry." Quinn replies.
"Anyway. Santana and I started off as friends, and then we kissed to see what it was like. Then we had sex. And the whole time, I knew how I felt about her and so I told her. But it took her a really long time to tell me. But I still loved her, even though it took her so long to tell me she loved me. But I knew way before she told me." She smiles. Quinn knew all this, but for some reason, Brittany told it this time with a lot more meaning in her voice.
"The Unholy Trinity is holy," I tell her. "Just because Britt and I are gay and open about it doesn't mean that any of the rumors people have said about us are true. You know all this." I feel her nod on my shoulder sadly. "I don't want you to do anything you're uncomfortable with. But promise me that you'll tell her how you feel before you die." The question was more of a joke, but I meant it. I hold my hand up, pinkie raised, and wait for her to link our pinkies.
I feel a tear on my skin, rolling down before disappearing into the pink fabric of my dress. Then, slowly, she raises her hand, linking our pinkies. And I can't help but smile.
Suddenly, the door of the bridal shop opens, and Rachel steps out in her sweats. I feel Quinn go rigid beside me.
"You're going to get those dresses all dirty," She says, forcing another smile.
"We'll get them dry cleaned." I reply. She cocks her head and I sigh. "Come on Britt." We stand and brush ourselves off before going back inside. The warm air bathes us and I almost want to moan, but Brittany takes my hand.
"What's going on?" I ask as she pulls me back to the door.
"I wanna see what happens!" Brittany exclaims. The sales woman looks at us.
"Britt, it's none of our business," I say as my legs carry my forward. I don't want to want to see this. But I do. Damn my nosy Latina genes!
We stare through the glass, watching as Quinn and Rachel have a conversation full of gesticulation and shouting. Just as I think Quinn's about to turn around and walk off, Rachel puts her hand on Quinn's arm. Suddenly Quinn stops and looks up at Rachel. She says something softly, her lips barely moving. She glances down and Rachel nods. They're silent and don't move for a moment, and just when I'm about to drag Brittany from the window, Rachel pulls Quinn into a hug. My eyes linger for a moment and Rachel pulls away, but Quinn takes her hand. Rachel stops and then turns, and Quinn is pulling Rachel to her.
"What?!" I exclaim as Quinn kisses her. For a moment, they're still, but then Quinn pulls back. Her eyes flicker to the glass, and I know she saw us. Panic flickers across her face and she turns around, running down the street and climbing into her car. "Damn it!"
"What?" Brittany asked.
"She saw us!"
"So? What's the big deal?"
"First of all," I begin. "She probably hates herself for doing that. Second, she was our ride home." I turn quickly and rush back to the dressing rooms. Everyone is back in the clothes they were wearing originally and they all hold boxes with the dresses in them.
"What's going on?" Mercedes asks. "Where are Quinn and Rachel?"
"Yeah, Rachel said she was going to talk to her, but it's been a long time." Tina says quickly.
"I just want to go to Breadstix," Sugar adds.
"Okay look," I say as Brittany grabs our clothes. "They'll be fine. But Brittany and I are leaving. Quinn's gone home."
"Told you she wasn't coming back," Sugar mutters. I grab her wrist.
"Don't talk about Quinn," I growl. She swallows.
"Sorry. Aspergers."
"Ladies," Rachel says, walking back in quickly. "We should all be getting home. Santana? Brittany? Am I still driving you two?" Something in her eyes… they're off. But I can't pinpoint it.
"No thanks," I reply, going with Brittany into one of the changing rooms and locking the door. "We'll walk."
"A-are you sure? It's like, 35 degrees outside." Brittany whimpers something about the zipper of her dress and I pull it down.
"We're sure. Britt's place is only about 10 minutes from here." Brittany slips out of the dress and everything is revealed except for what is unfortunately covered by her underwear. I'm immediately aware that there are other people here, so I kiss her shoulder before turning around for her to do mine. She, however, kisses my back all the way down, making me shudder. Her lips stop at the edge of my underwear and I rock forward, the pleasurable electricity surging tingling through my limbs. I have to slam my hand into the wall to keep from falling, and I hear Tina outside the door.
"Are you okay?" She asks.
"Yeah," I call, slightly short of breath. Brittany giggles before turning back to pull on her jeans and sweater.
"Okay, well, we're all leaving. Rachel's already gone. Sure you don't need a ride?"
"I'm sure," I call. I hear them all leave and I cast an exasperated look at Brittany. "Really? You cannot be fucking serious." She smirks.
"Put on your pants. Even though I'm probably going to take them off when we get home." She winks and it's adorable, so much so that I kiss her nose. She kisses mine, the sweet, familiar scent of her breath washing over my face.
I pull on my clothes and we put on our coats, zipping them up all the way before putting on our boots. We walk out of the dressing room and Brittany laces our fingers together.
"What do you think will happen between Quinn and Rachel?" Brittany pulls me aside after we walk outside. The cold breeze whips her hair around her head and she wipes it away with her free hand, breath swirling in a milky veil around her head. I shrug.
"I don't know. I just hope she doesn't screw things up more than she already has." We begin walking again and Brittany pulls our hands into her pocket. We stand close together, coats brushing up against each other. We walk past snow drifts that are beginning to melt away and trees that are trying to bud new leaves.
"You think a kiss would really mess things up between them?"She stops me again, but then starts walking again silently.
We get to her house and walk inside, our limbs feeling numb, noses frozen.
"Hey girls!" Her mom calls. Rory waves from the kitchen.
"I'm helping your mom cook dinner!" He says, cutting up raw chicken breast. Brittany and I take off our coats and boots and move into the kitchen.
"Smells good," I tell her mom, kissing her cheek. Brittany grabs and apple and bites into it.
"Thank you Santana. Maybe you'd like to help? We're making quesadillas." I laugh.
"No thanks Mrs. P," I reply, leaning against the counter. "I think Rory's got enough work cut out for him."
"Well, alright," She replies. "Brittany, you're not going to be hungry for dinner."
"That's okay. We ate earlier. I think we're just gonna go to bed anyway." Her mother shrugs and Rory grins.
"More for me then." Brittany leads me upstairs, and as soon as we're in her bedroom, she shuts the door and we begin peeling off our clothes. I flip off the light and she pulls me to her bed, our hips pressed together. I straddle her in the dark, searching for the glimmering whites of her eyes as mine adjust to the dark. She rubs my shoulders and pulls me down to her.
"Still think a kiss can screw things up?" She whispers, breathing purposely down my neck and over my ear. I shudder, involuntarily rolling my hips into hers and grinding our clits together. I soft moan escapes my throat as her lips gently and slowly make their way to my cheek. "We'll see."