The next few days passed by quickly. Santana moved into her new room and was cleared to go back to school and training, as long as nothing would be hitting her head anytime soon.
She returned to school and the three of them fell back into their routine of getting up ridiculously early, completing their respective practises, Santana and Quinn still had lunch together in their Sanctuary and then they would all make their way home.
Santana and Blaine were back in full force when returning home from school, training extra to ensure Santana was back up to full fitness and then they'd spend hours practising football drills in preparation for the first game of the season.
Quinn was washing the dishes, looking out onto the siblings in the back garden when Maribel entered the kitchen.
"None of them had ever shown any real interest in playing football. They would watch it, sure, and they're both huge Dallas Cowboy fans from when we would watch them back there but I must admit I was shocked when they said they were playing." She pauses. "You're worried about her, aren't you?"
"Is it that obvious?" Quinn laughs. "I mean her head just went through some major trauma and now she's going to throw herself around on a field with boys 3x her size. I just don't want anything to happen to her."
Maribel smiles at the love oozing from the blondes tone, but she also can't ignore the fear that she hears. "Come and sit with me Quinn, I guess we have some thing's to talk about."
They both walk through into the living room and sit on the large couch. They make themselves comfortable before Maribel speaks again, "How do you feel about her going into the army, Quinn?"
The blonde was stumped, she was yet to be asked that question. It was sort of a taboo subject, it was never brought up in regular conversation. However, she knows exactly the way she feels about it.
"You won't tell her?" Maribel shakes her head in response and so she carries on, "Every time I think about it, it makes my heart beat so fast that I think it's going to come out of my chest. I get this lump that instantly forms in my throat that makes me feel as though I'll never be able to breathe again. It terrifies me. Like, if we get into a relationship and it works, that I'm just setting myself up for heartbreak and failure."
Quinn's thought about asking Maribel about this situation before, because if anyone knows how it feels, it's her, right? Her husband served for over 20 years, she's felt it all.
"When Emilio told me he had enlisted, I felt enormous guilt. We were broke, just out of high school and completely lost in the world. He felt like he needed to join so that we would have at least one steady income whilst I was going through medical school.
He was scared, I could see it in his eyes and the way he started to carry himself once he'd been given his date to leave for basic training. But if he was scared, I was petrified.
We'd moved away from our families so that I could go to medical school and once he had left I would have nothing. I had no friends, no family near by and my boyfriend would be god knows where, doing god knows what.
He left for the three weeks for basic training and when he returned, he was a different man. One that was sure of himself, one that was extremely prepared for what was going to happen when he left.
We sat and talked about it and he explained what they'd been through and how much better he felt after finishing the course with great comments from higher up. They reassured him that he would be a great soldier. He was more visibly relaxed and this eased my worry a little I suppose, not seeing him so scared anymore helped."
Maribel can still see the unshed tears and worry on Quinn's face. She scoots a little closer to her and wraps her arm across the blondes shoulders, who lays a head on the older Latina's shoulder.
"He didn't have all this training that Santana and Blaine are going through now Quinn. They are going to be two of the most prepared people on that battlefield, they know how to protect themselves and each other.
I was terrified when they both approached me a couple of years ago to explain that's what they wanted to do. In a way though, I think I sort of expected it.
Santana always looked at her Papi as though he was the bravest man to walk the earth and Blaine's parents were two of the kindest people I have ever met. He wants to honour them, make them proud.
But that doesn't make it any easier when I think about my babies wanting to run off to war.
I used to get them feelings you talked about when Emilio first enlisted and I can't tell you the amount of times I cried when he left for his first tour. But they will get easier, you will learn to trust they know how to handle themselves, because at the end of the day, it's natural instinct to protect yourself and that's exactly what they're programmed to do."
Quinn sniffles as does Maribel and they sit content in each others arms for a while.
The blonde sits up and looks into the eyes of the mother figure in her life, "I'm sorry about Emilio Mrs. L. He sounds like he was a really great man who just lost his way a little."
Maribel gives her a teary smile before they are interrupted by heavy footsteps charging through the kitchen.
"Hello my favourites girls." Santana says obliviously, running past them, but not before dropping a kiss on both of their heads before going upstairs, presumably to shower. They both laugh before going into the kitchen to start on dinner.
Friday rolled around quickly and the school was flooded with the colours of red and white.
Santana and Blaine walked through the corridors in their letterman jackets, with Quinn looking pristine in her Cheerios uniform.
Blaine and Quinn walked towards their history class they shared together and left Santana at her locker gathering the books she needed for her next class.
As she closed her locker door, she was met with the sultry eyes of Kitty Wilde.
"Hey stud, I just wanted to say good luck for later. I'll be out there cheering for you and don't worry, the answer's always yes. You can take me as your date to Puck's party later." She says and places her hand on Santana's chest.
Santana removes the arm quickly and replies, "Sorry, I'm not going to the party, I have other plans." And with that she swiftly walks away towards her next class, leaving an infuriated blonde behind.
Santana and Quinn decided that they would have lunch with Blaine, Kurt and Mercedes today as classes finished at lunch time in preparation for the game.
Quinn is sitting next to Santana, who has a discreet hand on her knee, listening to the others chat about the days events. She looks over to the Cheerios table to see Kitty staring at her and then looking over the Latina. She knows the smaller blonde has a crush on Santana, that's clear from the altercation at practise a couple of months ago, but that doesn't cure the jealousy she feels inside her.
Santana feels the blonde shiver slightly and assumes that it's because she's cold, not the jealousy that's currently coursing through her. She removes her hand from Quinn's leg, which gets the blondes attention, and takes off her letterman jacket. She slips it over Quinn's shoulders and gives her a small smile and re-engages in the conversation happening next to her.
The blonde swoons at the gesture and when Quinn looks up, she can see that Kitty is seething and laughs inwardly, she throws her a quick wink and turns so she's facing the others at her table.
My Tana.
Quinn gives Santana a quick chaste 'good luck' kiss when no one is looking, not that they're a secret but they don't want to make a public announcement until they're both sure what's happening between them, and they both head off to their respective locker rooms to get ready.
Santana had told Quinn she could keep her letterman jacket as she looked cold and she would be taking it off soon enough anyway.
So as she sauntered into the Cheerios locker room she was ambushed by none other than Kitty Wilde.
"So you're the reason she keeps turning me down? What's it about you Fabray? You're not even remotely attractive in comparison to what she could have." Kitty shouts whilst gesturing to herself.
Things have been a little tense between Quinn and the rest of the squad after the whole 'go throw yourself at the new girl' incident. Brittany has especially kept her distance since Quinn caught her literally pinning Santana.
"I don't know what you're on about Kitty." Quinn responds as she pushes her way further into the locker room.
Kitty follows the taller blonde and pulls the letterman jacket from around Quinn's shoulder, which isn't very well received.
"Don't fucking touch that, give it back."
"I'm sure Santana wouldn't mind if I wore it and gave it back after the game. I'm quite cold and this seems to be just the thing to warm me up." Kitty laughs.
"I'm really not in the mood for your shit today, pass it back and get on that fucking field before I forcibly remove it from your body."
"That's something I would love to see you try."
As Quinn steps forward, there are arms quickly wrapped around her waist holding her back. She turns to see Marley looking at her from behind who nods in the direction of Kitty.
She looks up just in time to see Brittany pluck the jacket from Kitty's shoulder and hand it back over. She then hears Brittany speak in a tone that is extremely unnatural for the leggy blonde. "Get out onto the field and start warming up. NOW." She gives Quinn a small smile and follows the rest of the team out.
With that Quinn gets ready and prepares herself for the show.
The McKinley Titans are winning 27-6 and it's half time. The Cheerios are preparing for their routine and Coach Sue is making sure everything is set.
The routine starts and it looks flawless, this is why they're the best cheerleading team in the country. Everything's going swimmingly, until Quinn is lifted into the air and surprisingly not, it's Kitty that isn't in the correct position to catch her. Quinn hits the ground with a thump and Santana, who's been watching with a close eye from the huddle after realising Kitty was her blondes safety net, is at Quinn's side in seconds.
She pushes the surrounding Cheerios away and can vaguely hear Coach Sue giving Kitty an earful in the background.
Santana kneels beside Quinn and strokes a hand through her hair.
"Q, are you alright?" She says softly.
"I'm fine Tana, just landed a little funny on my arm but I'll be okay. Help me up?"
Santana does just that and pulls Quinn to her feet, however doesn't let go of her hands.
"You sure you're okay? Because I am more than willing to kill that bitch after this morning and now she's dropping you, that's not cool." She rants feeling anger begin to bubble inside her.
Quinn lifts one of her hands to cup the brunettes face and stroke her cheek.
"Okay, one, yes, I promise I'm fine, just a bruised ego more than anything, two, we need to talk about whatever happened this morning later because I think that may have been in relation to what just happened in the locker room. Three, you don't need to kill her, I think coach has pretty much beat you to it and four, go and finish this game so I can have you all to myself sooner." She finishes with a wink.
"I'm thinking we just cuddle in bed and get a pizza, Mami's on nights and I think Blaine's going out with Kurt and Mercedes, what do you think?"
"That sounds perfect, now go finish this so we can go home."
Santana turns to walk away but Quinn pulls her back by their still clasped hand "And be careful please Tana." She adds with a quick kiss to the cheek.
The Titans were victorious and Santana had never been more glad to get off the field so that she could go home and shower. Herself and Quinn had left immediately while most people got ready to go to Puck's and Blaine had showered and left with Cedes and Kurt.
Once they were home and had both freshened up, they ordered the pizza, which arrived shortly after. They took it upstairs and lay on Quinn's bed.
"I'm sorry that I didn't take you out tonight, I honestly wasn't feeling that up to it." Santana speaks.
"This is more than enough for me Tana. It doesn't matter where we are, as long as I'm with you."
Once they finished their food, they shifted positions so that they were lying down. Quinn with her head on Santana's right shoulder so that she can rest her hand above the other girls heart. She's recently found that by hearing or feeling Santana's heartbeat she feels instantly relaxed.
"So are we going to talk about this morning?" Quinn quizzes.
"There's not much to say really, Kitty approached me while I was at my locker. She wished me good luck for the game and then asked me, well not so much asked, but invited herself to be my date for Puck's party. She tried to put her hand on my chest but I shrugged her away, told her I wasn't going to the party because I was busy and walked away."
Quinn stays silent, too long for Santana's liking, so she speaks up again. "What's up Lucy Q? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, not at all. I just- I just don't like.. it doesn't matter." She stumbles as she tightens her grip on Santana's t-shirt on her chest.
"It does matter, talk to me." Santana says delicately as she tenderly rubs her thumb across the blondes knuckles to get her to release the death grip on her shirt.
"It just bothers me when people flirt with you Tana. It's silly really because I've never had to deal with jealousy before and you're not even mine to be jealous over." She whispers in a hope that the Latina wouldn't actually hear her.
"I wasn't expecting you to say you were jealous," she chuckles, "but it's not silly, it would bother me if it was the other way around Q. As for not being yours, how about we change that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Lucy Quinn Fabray, would you be my girlfriend?" She asks with a smile that reaches her eyes.
"Are you serious? You really want to be with me?" Quinn asks in disbelief.
"Yes Luce. I really really want to be with you. We already act like a couple so this is just a title, but this way I can proudly say you're my girlfriend."
"And you'll be my Tana?"
"I've always been your Tana." She says honestly.
Quinn blushes profusely at that last statement.
"Then yes. There's nothing I want more than to be yours." She says as she lifts her head to give Santana a kiss.
It starts off slow and loving, much like the only other full kiss they shared on the doorstep. However, this time it gets passionate quite quickly and Quinn finds herself moving to straddle Santana.
The longer they continue kissing, the more Quinn begins to think about the fact she can feel Santana's appendage for the first time. As she is only wearing a pair of boxers and Santana is wearing shorts (she's still sticking to not wearing compression shorts in the house), and there is very little material separating their sexes.
She can feel a very large bulge begin twitching between her legs, however Santana seems more than aware of this as she pulls away first. "Sorry, it seems as though Lil S is getting a little excited." She blushes.
"Lil S, really?" Quinn laughs.
"Well if you want to rename it, you're more than welcome." She winks back.
"I think we should name it Lil Q actually. That way, everyone will know that it belongs to me now."
Santana let's out a bellowing laugh, "Wow, possessive much? We've been officially together 10 minutes and you're already claiming my body parts."
"You decided to make me your girlfriend, that basically means you've signed everything over to me, you should have thought of that before you asked." She jests.
"I'm more than happy for you to have the whole of me Lucy Q. But you'll definitely have to think of a new name. I just can't deal with that."
Quinn slides off Santana's lap and back into her side. "So, can we talk about pet names now? Because honestly, I haven't stopped thinking about you accidentally calling me 'baby'."
"I have had to stop myself from calling you that so many times you won't even believe! But if you like that, you can always be my baby."
"That's definitely my favourite." She replies shyly.
"Oh darlin' 'cause you'll always be my baby" Santana begins to sing which makes her blonde smile.
"I like 'darling' too." Quinn adds as an after thought.
"Then you will be my darling baby." The brunette grins to which Quinn giggles.
"I'm going to call you 'lovebug'."
"You are not calling me that." Santana deadpans.
"Please Tana, it's cute."
"But I'm not cute, I am badass."
"You might be badass outside of this house but to me you are cute. How about I call you that when we're alone? Otherwise, I will refer to you as something along the lines of 'babe', 'baby' or 'love'?" She pleads.
"Okay, whatever you want. But no one outside of this room hears it okay? I'm serious! I have a rep to protect."
"Okay lovebug." She replies to which Santana cracks a smile.
Santana's phone bleeps and she reveals that it's Blaine letting her know he's staying over at Cedes house with Kurt.
"Will you stay with me tonight then? Please?" Quinn asks softly.
Santana nods and says that she's too tired to move anyway. They turn off the lights and get situated under the cover in the same position, Quinn laying on Santana's chest with her arm wrapped tightly around the Latina's waist.
"Goodnight lovebug." Which receives a lighthearted eye rolls from Santana, before she closes her eyes and pulls Quinn further into her.
"Goodnight baby, sweet dreams."