Well, I HAVE to start this thanking PraiseFortheFallen and xMilaax who were awesome enough to give me two new great characters. I'm thinking very kindly about Lena and Alex, girls. That meant a lot, thank you! That said, I'll reafirm: you can all make up some girl and tell me a bit about her, so maybe she'll become a date. ;)

And if you're reading this fic and wondering, let me tell you: yes, guys, I swear that's a Pezberry lovesong ;)) And for the next chapters you all can expect: more pezberry interaction, sex!, Tony Award, crazy girls, Rachel lesbo curiosity, first Pezberry kiss, Santana madness and much more. It's Pezberry all along, yes, just look carefully to the details ;)

Hope you guys enjoy Candance today.

3 – Candance, the desperate housewife

I walk through the doors, give a quick look at the small saloon and hurry up to this table where a redhead girl is sitting. I'm barely in the chair when I hear the creak of the door being opened again.

"Did a blonde woman wearing army boots just got in?" I ask in a low voice to the girl sitting across the table.

"No. It's a brunet mother with her child." She answers and a second later the door announces another entrance.

"What about now?"

"The father came in."

"Oh, good. I guess we're safe then." I say, taking off my big sunglasses and pulling back the hood covering my hair.

"Do I get an explanation?" The girl questions, her forehead wrinkled.

"The less you know, the better for you."

"Ahm… Ok, I guess I'll just trust you about that. I'm Candance, by the way. Candance Holland. May I suppose you're Santana? When you're not undercover, at least."

"Yes, yes. You may suppose that, just not much loud, ok?" I say, getting a mirror from my bag and using it to check the corners of the shop. If there's something the last weeks taught me was that Sarah had eyes and ears everywhere.

"All right." Candance whispers at me. "We'll keep a low profile so your crazy ex-girlfriend won't hunt us to death."

"She's not my ex-girlfriend."

"I thought that was what she believed in."

"We went in three dates! That's supposed to mean I get sex, not that I get stalked by police everytime I leave home or get all my favorite shoes burned up when I say it's over." I clutch a napkin in an attempt to stop myself from gritting my teeth.

"That's ok, Kurt has told me everything about that. I'm sorry for your shoes."

"Kurt, that son of a pornô chanchada actress." I curse between my teeth. "Can't believe he made me come to another set up date." I look at the girl in front of me and raise an eyebrow. "And I don't know how he got you to come if he really told you all about Sarah."

"Well, you can consider our date as Kurt trying to make it up to you. And, come on, I'm a natural ginger and a ballerina. I'm not threatened by your ex."

"Not my ex!" I shout and Candance just shrugs with a smile.

She doesn't seem threatened, all right. Actually, she seems pretty comfortable and diverted. I pay real attention at her for a moment and absorb her beautiful red, long and tip curly hair. They are pulled away from her face for a polka dot tiara. She has freckles all over her pale skin, but they are just right, matching with her bright caramel eyes. She's beautiful, all small and thin, with pinky full lips. Maybe Kurt's really trying to make it up to me.

"What place is this, anyway?" I ask so we can truly start up. The place we're in is small and every wall has a shiny color. The shelves are full of tall, curved glasses, with dozens of small, colored, brilliant stuff I don't really indentify.

"It's a candy shop, as I told you by text."

"Yeah, I got your text, but when I read it, it sounded a little dirtier." I say and Candance laughs.

"I'm sorry, that's not a 50 Cent's song, but I think you'll like it anyway. Just turn your card over." She says, pointing at a round card next to me. I look at the red face of it and read the words: Diabetic already! When I flip it, the other surface is green and says: Not diabetic yet, keep sugar coming!

"What…?"

"It's a candy rotation."

"Oh, man!"

"I know, right?" Candance looks very pleased with herself.

"You should've been my first date."

"Most certainly." And with that the rotation begins.

First a young waiter brings us an amazing lemon cake. Then an apple pie. Followed by tones of marshmallows. Candance eats it all much faster than I do and then starts stealing little pieces from my plate, like a child private from dessert. I try to protect my plate and her plastic fork scratches my hands all over in this candy war of ours.

"Stop it!" I complain when Candance steals the last piece of my strawberry jelly. I pout and she smiles sassy. "Should you be eating this much sugar? Aren't you a ballerina? Don't you have weight to maintain?"

"Are you calling me fat?" She asks, looking offended.

"I'm calling you starved."

"I'm still growing, you know."

"Yes, to the sides!" I say and she throws a napkin at me.

"Shut up! I feel pretty good about my weight, ok? I don't take the ballerina thing as seriously as I used to."

"What that means?"

"I don't perform anymore. I just attend the dance academy for practice. That's how I met Kurt, actually. We've done some classes together."

"Yeah, I know. He says you're great."

"I am." She says it with no hesitation, what makes me smile because her confidence sounds so natural.

"Then why don't you perform anymore?"

"Well, I turned eighteen and thought I should start dedicating my life to other stuff as well."

"Wait, what?!"

"Yes, you know. I always wanted to have cooking lessons. And learn some domestic economy. The ballet used to take most of my time, so…"

"No, no, no." I shake my head, interrupting her. "The other thing. Did you just say you're eighteen?"

"Almost nineteen now, actually."

"Shit!" I get up in a hurry. "I gotta go."

"What- Where?"

"Slap Kurt in the face!"

"Santana, chill out."

"Come on, I'll leave you home first. Do your parents know that you're out?"

"Oh, that's very mature of you."

"You're eighteen!"

"So what?"

"This date is barely legal! You're too young!"

"I'm not! Sit down!" She shouts and a waiter whistles from a few steps away and turns around, giving up the idea to offer us whatever he's carrying. "See what you've done! We missed the chocolate brownie!"

"I'm sorry." I mumble, sitting back and looking down to my plate.

"God, we're in a public place. Behave!"

"Sorry…"

"Where are your manners?"

"I just…" I start to say but Candance's laugh stops me. "What?"

"Who's the kid now, huh?"

"Oh, you little…"

"Ice cream?" A male voice intrudes our talk and Candace smiles.

"Yes, please!"

"What flavor is this?" I ask suspicious.

"Cheese with chocolate chips."

"Ew. No!" I wave goodbye to the waiter as Candance's already having her ice cream happily.

"What? You should try it. It's great."

"It sounds disgusting."

"I bet you once said that about French kissing. Just give it a chance." She rolls her eyes, offering me a spoon full of it.

I try it unwillingly, but it doesn't taste as bad as I expect. Though it's not as good as Candance makes it looks.

"I prefer French kissing." I announce and Candance grins at me.

"To be honest, me too." And there's something about the little huskiness in her voice and in the blush of her cheeks that makes me put every thought aside and lean to her.

Her eyes seem big and bright as I get closer, her lips part softly and I want to aspirate her breath that second before the kiss. But the kiss never happens cause Candance turns her head away just a little, but enough to my lips touch only her soft skin. I follow her eyes and see the bunch of children running around the shop. Damn! Such a perfect moment, but such a wrong place.

"You don't date a lot, do you?" I ask, leaning back to my chair.

"No, I don't. Is it that obvious?"

"Well, that's not an ideal dating place, is it?"

"You mean that's not an ideal making out place." Candance looks at me with her confident air.

"Yes, that's pretty much what I mean." She rolls her eyes and keeps having her ice cream, and then an awful thought goes through my mind. "You have made out before, right?"

"Is that a serious question?"

"You bet. Cause if you haven't been with girls before, we better just call this date off right now."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not willing to be a lesbian test-drive."

"You're not. I'm sure I'm a lesbian, ok? I know I like girls, I'm happy about it."

"That means you've had really bad make outs with boys?"

"No!"

"Then how do you know?"

"I just do. How do you know?"

"I screwed a lot of guys. Then I screwed my best friends a lot of times. That's how I know." I say, shrugging. Candance rolls her eyes again like I'm a child.

"That's not what I do."

"Witch part? Screwing boys or screwing girls?"

"Both." She responds serious, her eyes in mine. "I don't screw around. I feel attracted to girls, but I don't have to sleep with one to know it."

"God, you're a virgin, aren't you?" I burry my head in my hands. I'll kill Kurt. I'll change all of his moisturizing creams for tooth paste and laugh my lungs off when he wakes up all red and smelling like a mint candy.

"Yes, I am."

"Why, God, why?!"

"Don't be such a drama queen." Candance accepts the nuts cake that's offered to us. "I'm not a child. I just believe in sex after marriage."

I choke with the piece of cake I was trying to eat.

"What?"

"That's right. I wanna get married before going to bed with anyone."

"Please, tell me you're not religious. Because that's a girl-to-girl date, you know. It wouldn't make any sense. And if you believe in that gossipy-old-lady kinda God, that spends time watching over the fences and taking notes of who sleeps with who, I really don't see how we could…"

"I'm not religious. That has nothing to do with God. That's about me." Candance interrupts me and sighs. I have to admit that, though she looks uncomfortable, she does not seem ashamed. And she certainly does not seem a child. "I just can't see sex just as a natural instinct. To me, it's a demonstration of love. Actually, the most intimate demonstration of love anyone could make. And I can't imagine myself doing it with someone that's not the person I want to spend all my life with and that wants to spend all her life with me. And as I believe marriage is the true expression of this desire… I don't think I'm gonna be having sex before marrying."

"Wow. No pressure at all for a first date."

"There's really no pressure, Santana. That's actually the easiest date you'll ever be into." Candance says calmly. "With me, you wouldn't have to wonder if I'd run away scared if you feel like calling tomorrow morning. You wouldn't have to worry about if three dates mean sex or not. We'd never talk about where is this thing between us going. You'd know. Cause I'm being honest and direct. No pressure."

"Well… I never thought that way." I admit looking at her a little amused.

"Almost no one does. Someday I'll find out why a girl that actually knows what she wants and is not afraid to say it scares everyone so much."

Something about those sentences rings a bell in my brain. Like I've heard it before, but not quite listened to it.

"Cause I'm good at what I do! I'm not a scared, insecure, eighteen-years-old anymore. I won't tell a guy all he wants to hear just to keep him."

"Then stop crying cause they keep leaving you."

"I can't cause it doesn't stop being sad, Santana."

"God, Rachel! You spend twelve hours a day in the theater. You talk more about the Tony Award then you'll ever talk about any guy. You won't scream in an orgasm to preserve your voice. You made a choice. We can't have it all!"

"Why not?"

"Santana?" Candance shakes her hand in front of my face and I blink. "Are you there?"

"Yes… It's just… What you said… It made a lot of sense."

"Good to know."

"Wait." I wrinkle my forehead, a bit startled. "You said you stopped performing because you wanted to have cooking lessons and… domestic economy? Are you really thinking about getting married soon?"

"Uhm, it's not quite like that. I'm not a wife's hunter or anything. I just want to get prepared. But yes, I'd love to start a family soon."

"Candance, that's crazy! You're just eighteen. You should be making a career. You should be dancing all around the world. You'll have time to make a family!"

"Drop it, Santana. That's foolish." She runs her hands through her hair, deep breathing. "I like dancing and I'm good at it. But being a ballerina was never my dream. I always wanted to have a house of my own, and someone to dedicate myself to. And kids, I want to have beautiful children and watch them growing up…"

"That is foolish."

"Why?" She questions, her voice sharp. But she doesn't wait for an answer. "Who is anyone to judge other people's dreams? Who gets to decide what is a worth dream and what is not? What is a big dream and what is a small dream. Is that you? You decide? Cause, from where I stand, there's nothing small about dreaming with happily ever after. Nothing small at all."

"Whoa, you really got this speech read to come, didn't you?"

"I like to be prepared."

"I think you're crazy."

"Am I? Really?" Candance looks at me and smiles in a curious way. She gets up and drags her chair to my side, then sits again much closer to me.

"What're you doing?"

"An experiment. Close your eyes. Come on!" I close one eye and Candance cover the other with her hand. "Just try to imagine this: you're older. You're really successful. But, of course, you work a lot. Everyday. You get home tired, but you feel better when you park your car and smell the grass of our garden."

"Our garden?" I ask, opening my eyes again. Candance cover the other one, taking me back to darkness.

"Just go along with it."

"Ok, ok."

"I'm waiting for you when you open the door. I help you to undress. I kiss your tired feet and I wash your long, beautiful hair while you shower. You wear you robe and we go have dinner cause, you know, I cook. I cook very well. And I tell you how I missed you all day long… and that I can barely wait to you to take me to bed…"

"Big guns you're using, girl." I say and hear as Candance chuckles.

"And I may not have much experience, but I'm curious and… I'm all yours. You like when I say that in your ears. All yours, forever." Candance's voice is incredibly seductive. "And when the time comes, we'll have a baby. A beautiful girl with your caramel skin…"

"Or your freckled cute face." I say, before I can stop myself. I can listen to Candance's smile through her voice.

"She'll be so bright and smart. Her name will be…"

"Sue." I complete and pull her hands from my eyes. "That's the name of the most incredible woman I knew."

"It's a great name."

"She'll be a ballerina, as you."

"And we'll have to attend to all her presentations."

"Oh, no!"

"Stop it. You'll be such a proud mother. Cheering harder than anyone in her solos."

"Maybe we should have a boy too…"

"I'd love that! He'd be sassy as you are." Candance's smile is enormous, so satisfied and dazzling that almost makes me go blind. I shake my head for a moment and reality strikes back.

"Oh my God! What are we talking about?"

"Possibilities."

"You putted some brujería on me. I don't want all that crap!"

"Maybe you don't. But maybe you do." Candance shrugs, still seeming very pleased with herself. "It's not a bad future to imagine. That's all I wanted you to understand. It's a desirable thing. You don't have to look so freaked out. I'm not asking to marry you."

"Better not."

"I'm not crazy, Santana. I'd pretty much like to be in love with my wife. And as charming as you are, I'm not falling for you right the way. So don't freak. If I ever want a future with you, it'd be mutual."

"You're very confident, you know."

"Yes. And I dare to think you like it."

"I do. And I like you." I admit, touching her ginger hair kindly. "What surprises me a lot, cause that was a terrible date place, although the candies were great. And you are very young. And you dress like you were born in the fifties."

"I'm charismatic."

"You are. But…"

"Oh, damn. There's a 'but'."

"Yep, there is. I think your honesty and the fact that you're so objective are amazing. Really. Of course it wouldn't work so well if you weren't that pretty. Women would run away much earlier."

"I don't know if I thank you or if I hit you."

"Don't do any. I just mean that… You're great, but I don't think I can give you all you want."

"Why do you think that? I want so many things; you don't know half of them. There are things I want for tomorrow and things I want for the next decade."

"In both cases, I don't think they are the same things I want."

"What do you want?"

"Well… Get on the top of my career, not having big responsibilities for awhile longer and, you know, have some great sex in the mean time."

"I see." Candance gives me a sweet smile and nods. "It actually seems to be about the things I can't give you. What's fair enough."

"See, just for the record: with this date, Kurt really made it up to me."

"As I said so."

Candance and I try a few more candies, then we pay the bill and say goodbye at the door of the candy shop. As I watch her walk away, I see a familiar car parked at the other side of the street. And maybe it's all that sugar in my blood that's making me extra sweet, but instead of screaming and busting the window of her car – as I SHOULD – I just cross the street and ask Sarah to a ride home.