She gets sick one day and she honestly thinks she going to die. Like dead. She woke up with the worst headache in her life and she felt like she was a fucking icicle. Her nose is running non stop and she feels like her lungs are about to burst out of her chest. She has never felt this bad in her life. It's even worse than the first time she drank and decided she could polish off a bottle of SoCo by herself. She was trying to prove she wasn't a lightweight, okay? She had a big ego in high school. But yeah, it's worst than that.
She did manage to text Daniel and tell her that she would need someone to cover her classes for today, though. He told her it was fine and that he hoped she got better. He's a nice guy. That was earlier this morning though. Now she's cuddled under her blankets, trying like hell to warm herself up. It's not working. Her TV is playing some movie but she's not paying attention, she can barely keep her eyes open but she can't fall asleep.
"Santana?" She hears through the door and then Finn knocks before opening her door. She looks like shit. She feels like shit and she doesn't feel like talking right now. But Finn has this scared look on his face and he rushes to her bed and sits down next to her, placing his hand on her forehead. "Fuck, San, you're burning up." If he didn't look like he cared so much she would've hit him.
"I-I'm cold." She shivers as Finn's huge hands (holy fuck she didn't realize they were so big) move across her face, feeling every inch of it. It's like he thinks if he does that it'll help (it does). Her eyes drift closed but pop back open when she feels him slip one of his hands under her legs and one behind her shoulders before standing up and sweeping her up in his arms. "Where are we going?" she asks and automatically hates herself for being so helpless and vulnerable.
But Finn shushes her and presses a kiss to her temple. "You need a cool bath." He says simply and walks her into the bathroom. Santana lets her head fall against his shoulder and maybe she even cuddles into his chest a little. Don't blame her, okay? He's nice and warm and she likes the way he feels. Plus she's fucking freezing her ass off so, yeah. Finn kicks the bathroom door open and sets her on the counter before going over to the tub and turning the water on. Santana reaches for the bottom of her shirt she's wearing and tries to tug it up but she doesn't manage to get it past her chest. Finn turns around and sees her struggling so he reaches forward to help her but pulls back quick. "Uh, do you want me to-"
"Please."
Finn smiles at her before moving his hands to the end of her shirt and pulling it up over her head. She's not wearing a bra or panties (shut up, she was sleeping) and she almost wants to laugh at Finn's face when he realizes that. He's trying very hard not to look at her chest and it's cute how he'sthe one blushing right now. Deciding this is probably torture for him, Santana reaches out and holds her arms out for him. Yes, she may look like a fucking two year old right now but she's sick. Whenever she's sick she gets all clingy and wants to be taken care of.
"Can you help me in the tub?"
"Y-Yeah." Finn stutters nervously and Santana lets a little smirk form on her face as he hooks his arm under her legs again and around her shoulders and picks her up. He walks her over to the tub and gently sets her in and she shrieks as soon as her body hits the water. Finn has look on his face between wanting to save her from the freezing ass water and wanting to keep her in there because he knows it's gonna help. "You only have to stay in there for a little while, San. It'll help break your fever."
Santana shivers as she brings her legs up to her chest and sets her chin on them. The water feels like fucking ice and she can't stop her teeth from chattering. She watches as Finn moves to the linen closet and grabs a rag out before coming back and kneeling next to the tub. He carefully dips the rag in the water before gently sliding it across her back. Santana's not gonna lie, it feels good. She tilts her head forward as Finn slides the towel across the back of her neck and down her spine. The water starts to not feel so bad and Santana lets herself relax as Finn continues to wipe her down. She's never had a guy do this for her. It's nice.
When Finn finally tells her she can come out, he grabs her a towel before wrapping it around her and picking her up again. She's actually starting to like this whole being carried thing. Usually, she doesn't like when a guy carriers her. Anywhere. God gave her two legs for a reason. But with Finn, it feels good to be pressed up against his chest. Which is weird. He's Finn.
He sets her down on her bed and she tells him to just grab her a shirt out of her drawer. Finn nods once before doing just that and managing to pick out her favorite one. It's big and warm and she actually forgot where she got it from. He helps her pull it over her head before she climbs back under the covers and cuddles into her bed. She feels so much better. Finn goes back into the bathroom for a minute and comes back with two tylenol and a glass of water. He holds them out to her and then sets the glass on her bedside table before telling her that he's gonna make her some soup. He doesn't ask, just tells.
When he comes back, she's almost asleep but he tells her that she needs some food in her stomach for that tylenol she just took. So she sits herself as best as she can and leans back against the headboard of her bed as Finn places the try with soup and some ginger ale on her lap. He make her chicken noodle and it feels amazing running down her throat. She only manages to eat a few spoonfuls before she's telling Finn that she's tired as fuck and wants to go to sleep. He laughs as he moves the tray away from her and helps her get comfortable.
Before he moves to leave, Santana grabs his hand and says, "Thank you." and he smiles at her before placing a kiss to her forehead and heading out. It doesn't take Santana long to fall asleep but when she does she's thinking about everything that Finn just did for her.
Nobody's ever done anything like this for her before.
She's slowly coming to the realization that he's the best friend she's ever had.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
Santana can not fucking believe this is happening. She's literally fighting with a five year old.
Over fucking Lucky Charms.
She and Finn are at the grocery store because their apartment seriously has no food. And she was hungry and in the mood for pasta but when she looked in the pantry she found that there was none. So she dragged Finn to the store with her. They pretty much have the same taste in food. Which is just about anything. So they can agree on what things to buy and what not to buy.
But every fucking time they come to the store Finn argues that he needsto have Lucky Charms for Saturday mornings when he's sitting on the couch watching sports highlights. Santana thinks it's a fucking joke that a grown ass man still eats Lucky Charms. A cereal designed for kids from age two to ten. And they have this argument every time they come. Santana tells him he's a fucking kid. Finn tells her that she's just old and mean.
"Finn, seriously, the cereal isn't even that good. It gets soggy fast and the marshmallows end up tasting like shit."
"That's why you eat all marshmallows first and the cereal after!" He argues, throwing the box in the wagon. Santana rolls her eyes and puts it back on the shelf. "San!"
"What? I'm making you cooler Finn. Only freaks still eat Lucky Charms."
"Then I'm a freak."
"I don't wanna live with a freak." Finn's jaw drops and Santana narrows her eyes at him in challenge. She's bluffing right now but she won't tell him that. He gets frown on his face as he gruffly pulls the wagon forward without saying anything else. Santana sighs as she throws her hands in the air. "Finn." He doesn't answer, just continues on down the aisle. Santana rolls her eyes as she snatches the stupid box of Lucky Charms off the shelf and stalks after him. She throws the box in the wagon and says, "You're a child."
"Yeah." Finn shrugs, beaming down at her as he slings an arm over her shoulder. "But you still like me."
Santana crosses her arms over chest but doesn't say anything because, yeah, she kinda does.
There's a gym that Santana goes to about a block away from the apartment and she likes to go there at least twice a week. It's nice and the people there are cool and she gets her workout in without having to listen to stupid people who try and make conversation. Like, no. She does not want to know that you have been working out for five months now and you're still not seeing results (don't even ask, okay? that guy was seriously a creep). She usually stays for a couple hours before heading home. Sometimes Finn comes with her, other times she goes alone. It doesn't really matter to her though. But tonight, Finn had to stay home and study for a test he has in a few days or something. Santana wasn't really listening when he was explaining, so.
On her walk home she runs into Rachel. She's on her way to the gym too. They greet each other with hugs, even though Santana feels disgusting, and chat for a little while. Santana purposefully doesn't tell rachel that Finn is living with her, though. She knows that if she tells her, Rachel will ask a lot of questions and she just doesn't want to answer any right now. She just wants to go home, scarf down whatever Finn made for dinner and go to sleep. But Rachel tells her that she and Kurt are apparently having a Chicago screening party next week and then invites Santana to come along. Santana rolls her eyes and tells Rachel she'll think about it before telling her that she's tired and gross and in desperate need of a shower. Rachel laughs and hugs her bye before actually letting her leave. The only reason Santana doesn't grumble about that is because she just doesn't have the energy for it right now.
As soon as Santana steps through the front door she could smell the dinner that she knew was waiting for her. She dropped her things by the door before kicking off her running shoes and heading toward the kitchen. Finn is standing at the stove, a towel over his shoulder with a spatula in his hand. She leans against the doorway with a smirk as she watches Finn work in the kitchen. If she lets her mind wander far enough, she'd think that he looks sexy right now. But she won't.
"Hey there, Martha, what'cha making?"
Finn narrows his eyes at her as he flips a patty in the pan. "Shut up." He says, chuckling a little. Santana blows him a kiss as she walks up to the counter. "I made homemade burgers." He tells her, moving to cut up some lettuce and onions. She takes a sniff of the air and it smells fucking amazing. Her mouth is already watering at the sight. "It's should be done in a few minutes."
Santana nods. "Okay, I'm gonna take a shower." she says, walking out of the kitchen. She takes a hot shower, washing the sweat and grime of the gym off of her. As she's stepping out, she hears Finn call and tell her that dinner's ready. She pulls on a pair of shorts, that she loves, a tank top. She doesn't bother with a bra because it's just Finn. She's sure he's not going to mind.
She heads back into the kitchen and sees Finn bringing two plates down from the cupboard and setting them on the counter. She walks toward the stove where he has everything laid out and takes the plate he offers her and turns around to grab the bag of buns they bought while out shopping the other day. She pulls one out for herself and one out for him before holding her plate up to take the burger he's holding out for her. She adds lettuce and tomato before putting the other end of the bun on and heading off into the living room and plopping herself down on the couch.
Finn comes out a few minutes later with two beers in his hand and sits next to her. He props his feet up on the coffee table and throws one arm back over the couch. Santana leans a little against him as she takes a bite of her burger. And, as usual, it's amazing.
"This is good."
Finn smiles over at her, "Duh. What kind of servant would I be if I served you shitty food?" He teases and Santana punches his side a little. Ass. She does not treat him like a servant. But he's laughing anyway so who cares. "How was the gym?"
"Fine." She shrugs as she watches what's on the TV in front of her. "I ran into Rachel." She looks over at him to see his reaction but he just nods his head and keeps his eyes on the screen.
"Cool."
"She and Kurt are having a party next week."
"Yeah?" She nods, "You gonna go?"
Santana scrunches up her nose a bit as she looks up at him, "I dunno. I love Chicago just as much as the next person but a whole night with Kurt and Rachel and all their theatre friends? Not really my ideal night."
Finn laughs as he leans down to grab his beer before taking a sip. Santana watches him before taking the bottle out of his hand and taking a sip of her own. He doesn't say anything. It's really no big deal. "Well," he starts, looking over at her. "I can go with you if you want to, you know, keep you from murdering anyone."
Santana laughs before taking another bite of her burger. "You don't have to." she tells him after she's swallowed her food, "Besides, I didn't even tell Rachel that you were here, let alone living in my apartment."
Finn looks kind of confused when he turns to her. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why didn't you tell her I was living with you?"
Santana shrugs, her eyes on the TV "I just didn't get around to it, I guess."
"Oh." He has this weird tone in his voice. Santana almost thinks he's sad. But then she thinks about and realizes that he really shouldn't be. But he does move his arm from around her which kind of causes her to fall a little then stands up from the couch. "I, uh, got some homework to do so I'm gonna go do that." He tells her quickly before walking out of the living room.
Santana's left there thoroughly fucking confused as she watches him walk down the hall and close his bedroom door. She has literally no idea what the fuck just happened but she knows she doesn't like how he sounded before he left. It was almost like he was hurt.
But what she can't figure out is why.
She finds out from Kurt that Rachel and Finn went out for dinner last night and she really doesn't know how she feels about that. Apparently Rachel showed up at Santana's apartment while she was at class and Finn was the one who answered the door. Santana can only imagine how much of a shock that was to both of them. But Kurt said that Rachel basically lunged herself at him and told him that they just hadto catch up. So they went out to dinner. Kurt said Rachel came home with the widest smile on her face and gushed to him about how great it was to see Finn again and that she was starting to remember why she fell in love with him the first place. Whatever the fuck that reason was, Santana doesn't like it.
She got home late last night and Finn was already in bed so she figured he just stayed home and did some studying or whatever he does while she's gone. It did surprise her when she came home and didn't find any food waiting for her but she figured he just ordered in. She wasn't that hungry anyway. So she went to sleep and when she woke up the next morning he was already gone. And that's when Kurt calls her.
He says he's just calling to remind her that their screening party is tonight and that she better be coming because he doesn't think he can handle Rachel tonight all by himself. No matter how much he loves the girl, she still can be a little much at times. She laughs because she knows exactlywhat he's talking about. But she tells him she's coming and then he asks if Finn is coming. That question shocked the fuck out of her because, one, how did Kurt know Finn was in town? Two, how the fuck did he know Finn was with her?
She asks him all of this and then he explains to her about the Rachel thing and yeah. By the time he's done telling her all about Rachel and Finn's little date night, Santana's practically fuming. Which was weird. Because she shouldn't be. But she tells Kurt that she'll be there tonight but she has no fucking idea if Finn is going and that, frankly, she doesn't care. Kurt asks her if she's okay but she just tells him that she has a class to get to and that she has to go then hangs up.
So, yeah, maybe she was lying. She doesn't have any classes today and she's just planning on staying in bed today. Maybe go out shopping for a bit, but she hasn't decided yet. She just wanted to get him off the phone so she wouldn't fly it at the wall. She's fucking pissed. And the worst part is that she has no idea why. She doesn't like Finn. Well, she doesn't like him like that. They're friends. And roommates.
That's it.
"You okay, San?"
"Yup."
"You sure?"
"Yup."
They're walking toward Kurt and Rachel's apartment and Santana really doesn't want to be. She knows she told Kurt she'd come but she's thinking about turning around and going back right now. She doesn't really feel like watching Finn and Rachel make out all night. So.
And she's mad.
But she doesn't know why.
When Finn came home from his classes, Santana shut her bedroom door and locked it. She didn't really want to see him right now. Or talk to him, for that matter. It's just that she didn't want to hear that he and Rachel were gonna get back together. As much as she loves Rachel, that girl was not good for him when they were in high school. Even though she wasn't really that close to Finn in high school she still felt bad for him after all the shit that he went through. Shit that was mainly caused by Rachel.
So, no, she does not think that them getting back together would be a good thing. And that's why she locked herself away. She knew that if she saw his face she wouldn't be able to tell him that. She didn't want to hurt more than he's already been.
But a few hours went by and Santana was still holed up in her room. He tried knocking a few times and sent her a few text messages asking if she was okay but she didn't answer, to either of them. The only time she came out was when she was dressed and ready to go. She didn't say much just told him that she was leaving and that's when he told her that he was coming too.
So now they're walking into Kurt and Rachel's building and Santana is dreading the entire night ahead of her. The elevator ride is silent and Santana stands as far away from Finn as possible and when they get to their front door, she says nothing. Finn looks at her and she keeps her eyes down as he sighs and raises his hand to knock.
Rachel's face is the first thing Santana sees when she looks up and the girl seems like she is seriously on something when she says, "Hi!" and throws her arms around Finn. Santana rolls her eyes as she pushes past them and makes her way into the house. The party is already in full blown motion and their are seriously a hundred people here. Santana spots Kurt by, what she's guessing is the refreshment table so makes her way over to him.
"So, when the hell does this movie start?" She asks, nudging his hip with hers when she comes to stand next to him.
Kurt looks up from arranging some stupid little sandwiches and smiles at her before pulling her into a hug. "Ah, Santana. How I've missed you."
Santana laughs as she hugs him and pats his back lightly. "Of course you do, I'm awesome." Kurt rolls his eyes at her before going back to what he was doing. Santana picks up something from the table and pops it into her mouth. "But seriously, when the hell is this shindig starting? The sooner it starts, the sooner it can end and I can leave."
"We're gonna start it in a few minutes." Kurt tells her, "There's drinks in the kitchen."
Santana nods and pats his back once before making her way to the kitchen. As she's pouring herself a drink she sees Finn and Rachel on the couch chatting away. Rachel is practically in Finn's lap and she's laughing and touching him. It's annoying.
Kurt calls everyone to the living room and announces that 'the film is about to begin!' so Santana pours herself another drink before walking into the living room and plopping down on the loveseat. Finn, who was talking to one of Kurt's friends, makes his way toward her and sits next to her. Fuck. He smiles at her and she scoots herself away a little. She just can't be thatclose to him right now.
The movie starts and just about everyone in this fucking apartment starts singing along to 'All That Jazz' and Santana rolls her eyes. Of fucking course. Santana's pretty sure majority of the people here know every single lyric to all the songs in this entire fucking movie. Halfway through 'Cell Block Tango' Rachel comes over and decides to sit her ass between her and Finn. Like the fucking chair isn't small enough, she decides that she needs to sit right here.
Santana rolls her eyes as she scooches herself all the way to the end of the couch. Santana looks over her shoulder and sees Rachel lean her head against Finn's shoulder and that's when she decides she's had enough. She gets up from the seat walks out of the living room. She passes Kurt on her way out but she just tells him she's tired and needs to get the fuck home. He doesn't say anything else, just gives her a sad little smile before telling her to have a safe walk home. Santana nods before waving a little and pulling the front door open.
She's in the elevator and the door is about to shut when she sees Finn running toward her yelling, "San, wait!" and she just leans forward and presses the 'close door' button. She really can't talk to him right.
Thankfully (not really), he doesn't follow her home. He's gotten better at reading her signs and he must've known that she wanted to be alone right now. As soon as she gets home, she rushes to her bedroom and slams the door shut. After peeling off all her clothes, she climbs in her bed and falls asleep hoping that aching feeling in her chest goes away.
It doesn't.
She decides to avoid him for a few days. Which she'd like to point out will be really fucking hard. Given that they live together and everything. But she will manage.. She calls Daniel first thing in the morning and asks him if she can switch the classes she takes and the classes she teaches to ones that are at night. He tells her that it's fine and that she'll just have to stay a little longer because the classes at night usually run over. She has no problem with this. The less time she spends at home the better. And since all of Finn's classes are usually during morning and daytime, she will probably be gone by the time he comes home. Which is what she wants right now.
The first day of her new schedule, she sleeps in and doesn't answer when he knocks on her door, asking if she wants some breakfast. She's starving, but she can eat after he leaves. She knows she probably looks like a fucking child with all this avoiding and shit but she just can't be around him, okay? Finn has this thing over her where she can't lie to him. And if he was to ever ask her if she was okay she wouldn't be able to tell that she's not. That she hasn't been since he went to dinner that night. So she avoids. It's just easier this way.
Her first class starts at four and Finn's last class ends at three (yes she knows his schedule so shut the fuck up) so she decides to leave a little earlier to make sure she doesn't run into him. She doesn't. She gets to the dance studio a little early but it's okay. She just waits outside until the class before is done. Her last class that she teaches ends at around ten. It was an older age group ballet class and a few of the girls asked to stay and practice for a little while so Santana stayed and helped them out a little. So by the time she actually gets out of the dance studio, after cleaning up and stuff, it's already close to eleven. She takes her time walking home because she is definitely not in a rush to get there. The walk home from the dance studio usually takes her about fifteen minutes, but tonight ended up taking about half an hour. When she walks in the front door, the apartment is silent and there's no sign of Finn anywhere.
Thank god.
So she just locks up the door and turns off the lights before making her way to her bedroom. She passes by Finn's and sees the door already closed and the light off so she just quietly steps into hers and closes her door softly.
The rest of the week pretty much goes by like this.
She sleeps in, he goes to class, she goes to class, he comes home. She hasn't actually seen him in, like, five days. Not that she's counting or anything. He did leave her a little note one morning but she didn't even read it, just crumpled it up and threw it away. And yeah, maybe that was a bitch move but she just reminds herself that this is all for the best. Even if she misses him. A lot.
Friday night she walks in the front door at around twelve thirty. A few of the other instructors invited her out to eat after all their classes were over so she decided to tag along. It was fun. The rest of the dancers are really cool and she likes them. She's pretty sure they like her too because, you know, she's her. It was late so she was pretty sure that Finn would be in bed by the time she walked in and she was right. He just wasn't inhis bed, he was passed out on the couch.
Well, she thought he was until she heard, "San?"
Fuck. She getting really good at the whole being quiet thing.
"Uh, yeah, it's me." She says as she closes the front door and tosses her keys on the table.
Finn sits up from the couch and rubs his eyes as he turns around to look at her. "Haven't seen you around in a while."
Santana looks down as she shrugs. "I went to dinner with a few friends after work." She knows that's not what he meant but she doesn't really wanna tell him that she called her boss and asked if she could move her schedule so she could avoid the guy who she's pretty sure she has feelings for. No. She did not want to tell him all of that.
But Finn shakes his head as he stands up from the couch, "No," he tells her, "I meant all week. I haven't seen you in, like, forever." He's standing in front of her now but she really doesn't want to look at him. So she keeps her head down as she play with the end of her shirt.
"I've just been really busy. With work and stuff."
Then he puts his hands on her shoulders and asks, "Are you okay, Santana?" No. She is not okay. But she can feel the tears prick at her eyes so she nods anyway.
"I'm fine." She lies, finally glancing up at him and giving him a little smile. "I'm just tired so I'm gonna head to bed." She pushes his hands off her shoulders and turns around to head down the hall.
She's almost to her room when she hears, "Hey, San?" and she looks over her shoulder and raises an eyebrow at him. "I miss you." She doesn't say anything. She can't say anything. She can't tell him that she misses him so much that she's hurting right now because then she'd have to tell him whyshe misses him. So instead, she just turns back around and heads toward her room, shutting the door softly behind her.
Santana's never been the type of girl who cried herself to sleep. Hell, she's never been a girl to cry at all. Tears are for people who let their emotions control them. Santana's never been one of those people.
That changed tonight.
Kurt shows up at her apartment on Saturday morning and Santana already knows what he's here for. Finn was already gone when she woke so she's pretty sure he's the one who called him. He probably thinks Kurt can figure out what the hell is going on with her and then later tell him so he can fix it. Which he can't. Not right now anyway. She needs to figure out what she's feeling before anything can be fixed.
"What are you doing here?" She only asks this because she needs to make sure she's right. And that Kurt didn't just decide to pop by for a visit. But she's pretty sure she's right.
"Wow." Kurt holds a hand to his chest. "Is my favorite ex-roommate slash ex-gleemate not excited to see me? I'm hurt, Santana. Sincerely hurt."
Santana rolls her eyes as she steps aside to let him in. "You're such a drama queen." She mumbles as he walks past her and makes his way to the couch. She grabs the cup of coffee she made for herself before going over to the couch and sitting down next to him. "But really, why are you here?"
"Finn called me."
See. Santana Lopez is never wrong. Especially when it comes to Finn Hudson.
"Of course he did."
"He's worried about you."
"He shouldn't be."
"I'm worried about you."
"You shouldn't be."
"Santana." It's the way he says her name that makes Santana look up from where she was watching the steam leave her coffee cup. "Talk to me."
Santana shrugs her shoulders as she takes a sip. "About what?"
Kurt narrows his eyes at her. "Don't play dumb. I know something's going on with you. I saw it last night at the party."
"I was tired."
Kurt raises an eyebrow at her, "Tired?" Yeah, he doesn't sound convinced at all. Shit.
Santana puts her coffee on the table before curling her legs under her after she leans back on the couch. "Yes, Kurt. I was tired. I worked all night and-"
"Yeah, Finn told me your schedule changed." Kurt chimes in, turning toward her and putting his leg up on the couch. "How come?"
Santana shrugs. "Wanted to."
"You wanted to change your schedule?" Santana nods once, "Why? I thought you liked the classes you were teaching before."
Santana sighs as looks at him. She knows he's not gonna give up until she tells him exactly what's wrong. That's the thing about Kurt. If something's wrong, he'll go out of his way to fix it. Whether it be for good or bad.
"Can we just not talk about me right now?" She asks. She must sound like she's about to cry or something because when she meets Kurt's eye he's wearing a sad expression on his face as he nods.
They sit in silence for a little while before Kurt says, "You wanna go get some breakfast?" Santana glances up at him and feels the side of her mouth quirk up a little, "My treat."
"Oh my gosh, yes." Santana says, pushing herself off the couch. "I'm fucking starving." Kurt laughs as she pulls on his hand and drags him out the door.
Because it's her day off, Santana decides to treat herself to a little shopping trip. She hasn't taken one in a while and she feels like she deserves it. Hell, after the week she had, she definitely deserved it. Yesterday when Kurt came over and they went out to breakfast she used the time with him to clear her head. She didn't think about Finn or what her feelings for him were, she just had fun with her friend. She's hoping this shopping trip will do that too. But come on, it's shopping. What girl doesn't haven't fun while shopping?
She makes her way over to Madison and Saks Fifth Avenue and may splurge a little. But hey, her dad just put money in her account and she just got paid so she has some money to spend. Besides, every girl should be allowed to splurge on a few (lot) pairs of shoes every once in a while. She even finds this amazing pair of Louboutin heels that would look great on her mom. So she buys them. When she's at the check out desk she gets to thinking about how much she really misses her parents.
That's when she gets the great idea to take a drive on down to Ohio and pay them a little visit.
She calls Daniel on her way home tells him that she's gonna need a few days off. He asks her what her reason is and she just tells him that she really needs to see her family right now. He tells her she can take as long as she likes and that he hopes things get better for her (he really is the best boss in the world). When she gets home, she packs herself a bag, puts a few pairs of clothes inside before zipping it up and leaving it by the door. She doesn't really have to pack toiletries and stuff because she still has a lot of her old things at her parents house so she should be okay. She contemplates leaving Finn a note but ultimately decides against it before grabbing her bag and her keys before heading back down to her car and heading toward the highway.
The trip takes her about eight hours so she gets to her parent's house at about nine and she's fucking exhausted. She leaves her shit in the car, deciding that she'll just ask her dad to get it for her later, before trudging her way up to the steps. She still has a key for their house on her keychain so she just opens up the door herself and steps inside.
"Mom? Daddy?" She calls as she drops her keys on the table beside the door and walks further into the house. She smiles as soon as she sees her parents come out of the living room.
"Santana?" Her mom tilts her head as both her parents walk up to her. "What are you doing here, honey?"
Santana shrugs as she looks at her parents. "I just missed you guys."
"Oh, sweetheart." Her parents both wrap their arms around her and Santana relishes in the feeling of being home again. "We missed you too."
They pull away from each other and her dad pushes a piece of hair behind her ear as his eyes examine hers. "You seem troubled, princess." That's the thing about her dad. He's always had a way of knowing when something's wrong. Especially with her.
Santana smiles sadly as she leans into her father's hand. "I'm really tired." She tells them, "Can we talk some more tomorrow?"
Her mother cups her cheek. "Of course. Go on upstairs and get some sleep. We'll talk in the morning."
"Okay."
"Goodnight, princess." Her father kisses her cheek then her mother and Santana bids them both goodnight before making her way up the same stairs she climbed throughout her entire childhood and heading toward her room.
She checks her phone and sees that she has no missed calls or messages.
Figures.
The next morning isn't the same story. She has two missed calls, both from Finn, and one text from Kurt asking if she wants to go out tonight. She ignores all three messages and turns her phone off before going back to sleep for a few more hours.
The next time she wakes up it's to her mother's voice, asking her if she wants to go out to lunch. Yeah. She literally slept the entire day. Whoops. But her stomach growls and she realizes she's fucking starving so she's up out of her bed in a second and heads for the bathroom.
They go to lunch at one of her favorite little Bistro's in town and she just loves it. She and her mom used to come here all the time for lunch after all their shopping trips and salon dates so it's special to her. She orders herself a glass of white wine and ignores the look on her mom's face as she also orders herself the club sandwich.
Once the waitress is gone, her mom puts her elbows on table and gives her the look. The look that means it's time to fess up and start talking. Fuck. "Okay, mija, it's just you and me now." She says gently, leaning over to grab Santana's hand. "What's really going on?"
Santana looks down at their hands and sighs, "I got a roommate."
"Really? That's great."
"No," Santana shakes her head. The waitress comes back with her glass of wine and her mother's ice tea and she thanks her before looking back at her mom. "It sucks. I don't know why I let you and daddy talk me into getting one. Roommates suck."
Her mom leans back in her chair and raises an eyebrow at her. "What's so bad about it? Is she-"
"He."
"He?" Santana nods, taking a sip of her drink. Her mom doesn't look too happy right now. "Well did he hurt you or-"
Santana almost chokes on her drink. "No!" she shouts, dabbing at her chin with a napkin. "No, you know who he is."
"I know him?" Santana nods again as she reaches forward and grabs a breadstick and takes a bite. "Who is it?"
"Finn Hudson."
"Finn Hudson?" Her mom tilts her head to the side, narrowing her eyes at her in question. "Like, your old Glee club friend Finn Hudson?"
"Yup."
"The tall one?"
"Yup."
"Isn't he a nice guy? Why would being his roommate suck?"
Santana rolls her eyes as she dusts off the breadstick crumbs her fingers and takes another sip of her wine. "He's the nicest guy I know." She tells her mom who just stays quiet waiting for her to continue. "But I think I might-" Santana groans as she throws her head back in frustration. Why does he make her this crazy. She feels her mom's hand on her arm, silently telling her it's okay to finish. Her mom always has a way of making her talk. It's both good and bad. Sometimes. "I think I might like him." She says it super fast and stuffs another breadstick in her mouth.
Her mom's eyebrows are seriously so high they're gonna get lost in her hair pretty soon. She just sits there for a little while, letting everything sink in. Santana is too. This is the first time she's admitted that she might like Finn out loud. It actually feels good to get it out of her system. Their food comes out and everything looks amazing and only when the waitress leaves does her mother ask, "So why are you here and not telling him how you feel?"
Fuck.
What is she suppose to tell her? Oh mom, I like Finn Hudson but he's in love with someone else. Hell no.
"He has feelings for someone else."
"Are you sure? Maybe he-"
Santana shakes her head. "No, mom. He loves her."
"Oh, honey." Her reaches over and takes her hand and Santana's surprised how much better it makes her feel. "I'm sorry." Santana nods sadly as she looks down at her food in front of her. They drop all conversation about Finn for the rest of lunch. They talk about her dance classes and the kids in her class. Her mom tells her that Mrs. Martin, who lives down the road from them is starting a book club and she's thinking of joining. Santana tells her not to do because then she'd be like one of those step-ford wives who do nothing but cook and clean all day. Her mom agrees with her and they both laugh about the idea entirely.
She has a good time with her mom. She always does. But that doesn't mean she didn't let her mind wander to Finn every once in awhile. It was kinda hard not to.
When she turns her phone on later on that night while she's in bed she has seventeen unread text messages nine missed calls, and seven voicemails. They're all from Finn. She tries not to let her heart beat too fast as she listens to her voicemails first. They start off from last night, asking where she was and if she was working late then as she gets through the bulk of them they go from worried, to scared, to angry (which, she's not really sure why he'sthe one who's angry) and then back to worried again. By the time she reaches the seventh voicemail he sounds like he's on the brink of a heart attack and he tells her that he's going to call the police soon. The last voicemail was left about an hour ago so she figures he didn't actuallycall the cops. So she decides to read the texts, the first five are basically the same thing 'hey san, are you working late tonight?' and 'you weren't here this morning, I guess you started work early?' and then they start to get more frantic like, 'no one has heard from you. I'm getting worried' and 'please call me Santana. I'm worried about you'. The last text message is 'I don't know where you are, San. But I'm really worried about you right now and I just need you to call me or text me to let me know that you're okay. Please.'
The last text message is the one that gets her to finally give in and tell him that she's okay. She figures if she doesn't soon he'll literally set up a search and rescue team until he finds her. So she opens up a blank text and writes, 'I'm fine. Stop worrying and leave me alone.' Maybe it's a little mean, but she thinks she deserves to be a little mean right now. After it's sent, she throws her phone back on the bedside table and climbs into bed. She flicks through the channels on the TV and after finding nothing good to watch she just leaves it on a random Criminal Minds episode and cuddles back into her pillow.
Her eyes are just about closed and she's halfway asleep when she hears her phone go off. She reaches over and picks it and groans at the name she sees. Finn. She ignores the call and puts her phone back on the table before turning the TV off and reaching up to shut the lamp off. She's finally cuddled back into her pillow and more than ready to go to sleep when she hears her fucking phone again. She groans loudly because she knows who it is and knows that he's not gonna stop until she answers. He's just a fucking ass like that. So she angrily sits up in bed and grabs her phone off the table and answers before yelling, "What?!" into it.
"Santana?"
"Who the fuck did you think it would be, Finn?" Okay. So maybe she's being a super huge bitch right now but shes tired as fuck and she does not need to be dealing with this right now.
"Sorry I just-where are you?"
"None of your business."
"Santana." He sighs over the phone and Santana calms herself down a little. "Can you just tell me if you're okay?"
"Didn't you get my text?" She rolls her eyes. Of course he needs to hearit. "I'm fine."
"Can you tell me where you are?"
"No."
"Please."
"No, Finn."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because what?"
"Because I don't want to tell you!"
"Did I do something to make you mad or something? Because I'm super confused right now."
"Like that's new for you." Fuck. She shouldn't have said that. He didn't deserve that. "Sorry, I'm just tired and I wanna go to sleep."
"Santana, please."
Santana sighs, closing her eyes tight. "I'm safe. That's all you need to know right now. I'm tired so goodbye, Finn."
"Santana wait-" She hangs up before he can finish. She can't do this right needs to sleep and not think about him.
She accomplishes neither of them.
After her third day in Lima she starts to remember why the hell she got her ass out of there.
It's boring as fuck.
And as much as she loves her parents, she can only hang out with them for so long. They went to her Abuela's house yesterday and she had a good time. She loves her Abuela but seriously, she needs to spend some time with people her own age. Too bad the only person she wants to see is the one who pushed her here anyway.
She decides she's gonna drive back to back to New York first thing tomorrow morning. She has dinner with her parents at Breadstix, her favorite restaurant in Lima, and it's a good time for everyone. Her parents tell her that she can come back any time. Which, yeah, she knows, but it's still nice to here.
After dinner and then dessert, they head back home and Santana's ready to just pass out and save her energy for the drive back tomorrow but when they pull up their driveway her jaw drops.
No. Fucking. Way.
Her parents are quiet with their heads bowed and Santana knows this is their fault. Actually, her mother's fault. That woman can not keep anything to herself.
"What is he doing here?"
"Sweetheart-"
"Don't 'sweetheart' me, mother. What is he doing here?" She snaps, glaring at both her parents, who look at her with guilty faces. Good. They should look guilty. Because they are.
Her dad unbuckles his seatbelt turns around in his seat so he's looking at her. "Santana your mother and I thought that you two should talk."
"Talk?" Santana scoffs, "You want me to talk to him? Fine. I'll talk to him." Her mom turns around to say something to her but Santana just holds up a finger to her before pushing the door open and slamming it shut behind her. She storms over to where the huge idiot is standing by her door and yells, "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"San-"
"Don't." She snaps, "You have no right to be here."
"Santana I just wanted-"
"You never listen to me, Finn." She cries, cutting him off. "Never. I tell you not to call me, you call five hundred times. I tell you not to worry about me, you show up at my fucking parent's house. So listen to me for one fucking time Finn when I tell you to just leave me the hell alone."
"Well I can't do that, Santana!" Whoa, she did not see that coming. She's never seen him this mad. Like, ever.
She throws her hands up in the air and lets out a loud sigh. "Well why the fuck not?"
"Because I fucking love you!"
The breath catches in her throat as he says (more like shouts) those words. The words she only wished he would say to her. She just heard them come out of his mouth. She doesn't even know what to say right now. Tears are definitely falling from her eyes right now and she doesn't care. The guy she's pretty sure she's almost in love with told her he loved her.
"Y-You what?"
Finn sighs as he runs a hand through his hair. "I love you, Santana."
"Y-You d-do?"
Finn nods. "I do." He smirks, titling his head to the side. "I knew I loved you the moment you told me my pancakes were fucking amazing."
Santana lets out a little laugh as she wipes her face with the back of her hand. "You suck."
"Yeah." Finn shrugs, stepping closer to her. "But you still like me."
Santana smiles up at him before jumping up and wrapping her arms around his neck and crushing her lips with his. It feels like everything she imagined it would. And okay, yeah, maybe she did imagine what kissing Finn would be like a couple times but the real thing is so much better. Seriously.
She pulls away from him, letting her forehead rest against his. "Hey, Finn?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you, too."
"I know."