"I can't believe you're here," said Santana, as they stepped out into the cold.
"Just thought it would be nice to catch up a little more," replied Quinn.
"Oh really?" Asked San, not believing her. Quinn blushed and continued down the sidewalk.
"Um, Yale?" She yelled to the blonde,
"it's this way."
Quinn turned around smiling at her.
"You're a pain," Quinn teased walking by her once again.
They continued their walk, neither saying much as they both took in the sights and sounds of the city. Twenty minutes later and they were on the subway heading to the core of New York City.
The lights hit them as soon as they emerged from the dark tunnel. Quinn couldn't hide the excitement on her face if she tried. Santana noticed as she watched Quinn from the corner of her eye.
"So why did you really come down here Q?" She asked.
"I told you," Quinn started.
"I know what you told me. But now I want the truth. What's really going on?" Santana urged.
Suddenly, the excitement that was bursting from Quinn disappeared. Her eyes turned watery and she turned to Santana.
"I messed up," she confessed, a tear escaped as she shrugged her shoulders.
Santana raised an eyebrow.
"You? The all-powerful Quinn Fabray messed up? C'mon, it can't be that bad," she suggested.
"Please," Quinn replied, rolling her eyes, causing more tears to fall.
"Hey," Santana started, taking the blonde into her arms, "talk to me."
Quinn's tear turned to muffled sobs and Santana moved them towards the quieter Central Park.
"I slept with him," admitted Quinn.
"The professor?" asked San.
"Yeah, he told me he was leaving her," she mumbled. They sat down on a bench away from the busy walk.
"He went back to her? Forget him then," Santana tried.
"He didn't go back to her," Quinn said, her cries becoming more apparent. Santana wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
"His wife found out that we were seeing each other," said Quinn.
"So she's pissed, he wants a divorce anyways. What's the big deal?" San asked.
"You don't get it," said Quinn.
"Then tell me," said Santana.
"She went to the dean. She told him a huge story. It was lies. All lies. Now there's a huge investigation and he could lose his job and already his reputation," she paused taking a breath. Santana looked to the ground.
"He blamed me. He said I wasn't mature enough and that he should have known better than to get involved with someone like me," Quinn went on, tears streaming down her face.
Santana wrapped her arms around her again, not believing what she was hearing.
"It's okay," she tried, "it'll be okay."
"It won't, they could kick me out of school San," Quinn argued.
"You can apply to another school. Out here, we could get an apartment. It'll be like a fresh start, a clean slate. If Rachel and Kurt can do it, we should have no problem," San said, rubbing her back.
"I don't think it'll be easy with that kind of reputation following me," mumbled Q.
"Please. Slut? That's nothing. I've been called way worse and I had schools begging me to register," explained Santana. This made Quinn smile and she eased into the warmth of the other girl. They sat there quietly for a few minutes, watching other couples walk by. Finally, they decided it was too cold to sit outside any longer.
"Can I buy you dinner?" Asked Santana.
Quinn smiled, "that would be nice."
They talked about their adventures from the last few months at their schools. Both finding being away from the friends they had grown to love to be difficult.
"I wasn't singing as much as I wanted. I had a few songs with the squad but nothing like glee," explained Santana.
"You really did kill it last year," said Quinn.
"What about you? Did you get to sing?" She asked the blonde.
"No, I haven't sung since graduation," Quinn said looking down, "maybe that's why everything went to hell. I wasn't doing what I loved."
"I hear that," agreed Santana, raising her glass, "here's to following your dreams."
Quinn raised her glass and clinked it against her friends'. She began to believe that things weren't so bad.
"So how long can you stay here?" continued San.
"Just another day. Then I have to get back for a meeting with the dean," she said, "which I'm super nervous about. So, enough about that. Let's drink up!"
Santana grinned and raised her hand to flag down a waiter.
After a few more glasses of wine, the girls stumbled their way back to the subway and home to Rachel and Kurt's. The lights were off and everything was super quiet when they got in. The moonlight gazing through the window illuminated the outline of Rachel's body in bed. She had been acting weird lately and unusually distant. Santana moved further into the loft and flicked on a light.
"I'll just get my things and you can sleep in the extra bed. I'll sleep on the couch," offered San.
"Really San? After the wedding, you think you have to do that? Can't we both fit in the extra bed?" Asked Quinn.
"Yeah, we could I just thought since, you know, no doors or..." Santana mumbled on.
"They have no idea," she said pulling Santana into the new roommates area. Quinn flicked the light off and began undressing. She slipped into her pyjamas and left to the bathroom while Santana changed. She thought it was cute that Santana offered up her bed. Truth was, Quinn didn't want to be alone. She was scared of what the future held for her. As she thought about this, Santana squeezed in behind her to brush her teeth. They both began brushing and smiled at each other. When Quinn was done she placed her toothbrush off to the side and wiped her mouth but before she left the bathroom, she placed a small kiss on San's cheek.
"Thanks for dinner" Quinn whispered.
She walked to the bed and got in. A few minutes later, Santana crawled in next to her. As they lay in silence, Quinn moved closer and closer to San before grabbing her hand and pulling it around herself.
New York was starting to look like a very good backup plan, thought Quinn. With that in mind, she drifted off to sleep.