One Year

Everyone was at Kurt's apartment one evening, wine had been poured and appetizers had been put out. After catching up on how life was going for everyone, Kitty finally chimed in with a surprise toast.

"I need to make a toast." Kitty said while she sat up straight, holding her wine glass up in her hand.

Marley gave her a curious look, slightly nervous as well because she knew how outspoken her girlfriend could be, sometimes putting her foot in her mouth. Plus they never discussed any type of speech Kitty could possibly say before they had arrived here tonight and it sort of made her stomach twist in a bundle of nerves.

Everyone eagerly grabbed their glasses wondering what this toast could possibly be. Kitty looked around and smiled noticing just how much she had captured everyone's attention. This whole Quinn and Santana marriage had been weighing on her mind for a while now and even though she had made some discouraging remarks towards them, which were later discussed with Marley in the privacy of their apartment, she had finally learned to bite her tongue and sit back and observed.

Now that an entire year went by she felt like it was time for her to say something and so she began, "I would like to make a toast to Quinn and Santana." She declared, "I have to admit and I know all of you knew what I was thinking, but I doubted you two were going to last the year. However now that we are a couple of weeks from your one year anniversary I do see it now. What everyone was talking about. You two are the same, but also so different that you weirdly compliment each other. It's like you two figured out how to channel your anger and use it for the better."

"Like a superpower?" Santana chimed in with a cheeky smile. "We harnessed our powers for good and now we will become the power lesbians of New York City."

Kitty smiled and slowly nodded, "Yeah sure." she said and then added, "So I would like to toast to Quinn and Santana for making it a full year and until forever!"

Quinn beamed happily, "I'll cheers to that. Thank you, Kitty."

With that all of them clinked their glasses together and took drinks.

Marley smiled pressing a kiss to Kitty's cheek, "That was really sweet of you."

"Thank you." Kitty smirked leaning into her girlfriend.

Tina then added, "I really can't believe it has been that long. Time flies."

Santana nodded in agreement, "Especially when my mami and Q's mom keep bugging us nonstop about wedding plans."

"They're excited." Quinn quietly chuckled, "And so am I and I hope you are too for that matter."

"Of course I am." Santana said and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "This time we'll actually remember our wedding."

Then without missing a beat Rachel chimed in with, "Oh! You two should propose to each other!"

Santana gave her a funny look, taking notice of the empty wine glass in Rachel's hand, "You're such a lightweight, Berry. Q and I are already married! We're technically just renewing our vows."

Kurt however gasped due to Rachel's idea, "That would be so romantic though! You two need a story."

Santana was completely perplexed by the both of them, looking between the two as if they had gone crazy, "We have a story. Vegas!"

"Yeah we know that." Rachel said, "But wouldn't it be so sweet if when people asked you could not only tell them about the time in Vegas, but then you could also share a sweet story about how you decided to not only renew your vows, but renew the way things happened?"

At first Quinn thought Kurt and Rachel had gone crazy too with this proposal talk, but the more she thought about it, the more she was kind of loving the idea.

Tina smiled and gave a little nod, "I remember you used to tell us your dream proposal back in high school, Quinn."

Santana gave Tina a look of confusion, "She did?" Then she looked at Quinn, "You did?"

With a wave of her hand Quinn shrugged, "You were with Brittany then. All that stuff with Beth had happened. I was hanging out with Mercedes, Rachel and Tina one night and we were sharing fantasies." She let out a small sigh, "I always seem to be doing things backwards in my life."

"We are having your dream wedding thanks to our moms and with the help of Uncle Robert." Santana said, "Even if it did happen sort of backwards..." She slowly added.

Quinn smiled and nodded, the thought causing her heart to flutter, "I know."

"Can we hear the dream proposal?" Marley asked.

Again Quinn shrugged and since she knew she wasn't going to get to have a proposal story she nodded, "Nothing major, but I do love romantic gestures." She said, "I wanted a cliché candle lit room with rose pedals scattered everywhere and then after I say yes we slow dance for a bit."

It may not have been some grand proposal idea, but back then when things were tough for her, she tried the best she could to fill her head with happy thoughts, as hard as it was at times, and the thought of simply being loved by someone and envisioning sappy romance scenes helped her out.

Rachel sighed dreamily as she imagined it, "First the beach wedding and now this." She looked at Quinn and smiled, "Behind that tough exterior is a hopeless romantic who had always longed to be loved."

"And she is loved!" Santana added defensively, wrapping her arm around Quinn's shoulders, "You heard Kitty's toast, even she sees it."

Quinn quietly laughed pressing a kiss to Santana's cheek to reassure her, "I am loved, yes." She said, "Don't worry, Santana you give me everything I have ever dreamed I would one day feel and I hope you feel just the same."

Santana smiled wide, "You know it."

Kurt watched them being lovey with each other and he had to shake his head, "I know it's almost been a year, but it's still weird seeing you two like that. With each other."

"Get used to it Hummel." Santana said.

Kurt waved his hand at them and then added, "So while we're on the topic, I want to hear how everyone else wants to be proposed to." and then quickly said, "I'll go first. Under the Eiffel Tower."

"Oooh that is such a good one." Rachel smiled wide, nodding along. "I could absolutely picture you living that out."

With a small sigh Kurt sort of tilted his head to the sighed, "I just need a man." With that he took a big swig from his wine glass, and then nodded to Rachel, "How about you?"

Rachel sweetly smiled and cleared her throat. She and Tina hadn't discussed their future and she hoped as they talked about future proposals it wouldn't scare her away. She glanced at her and saw that Tina was smiling and didn't look put off and so she began to share her ideal proposal, "Much like Quinn I do love a cliché sort of romance. The lit candles and scattered rose pedals. Only I would love for it to take place on an empty stage... on Broadway if possible."

Everyone besides Santana let out a small gasp of awe. Quinn smiled wide, "That would be so beautiful for you." She looked to Kurt, "And I love yours too, Kurt. We'll make sure to tell whoever the lucky man is so he does it right." she winked.

Kurt winked in return holding his glass up to her before taking another drink.

Then Rachel smiled, "Thank you." and then obviously her curious mind got the best of her and she turned to Tina, "May we hear yours?"

"Umm..." Tina pondered for a second, "I always loved the thought of going out for a picnic at night under the stars. Somewhere quiet and safe. We're nonchalantly in conversation and then when it's the right moment it just happens."

Rachel clasped her hands together, smiling sweetly at her, "That sounds so romantic."

"And very Tina." Kurt nodded with approval.

Next they all looked to Marley and Kitty who were seated side by side on the love seat. Marley had her hand on Kitty's thigh and gave it a light squeeze indicating that she could go first.

"I'm with Tina on the nonchalant sort of thing." Kitty smirked, "We're out on a hike or simply having a day together and then when the moment is right it happens. So it's sort of a surprise, but also sweet because it's the two of us spending time together."

"Simple and yet still romantic." Tina smiled with a nod of support, everyone else agreeing.

Then Marley began to share her's, "I always imagined mine would take place at home and I would make dinner and then when I brought dessert out I would place the ring on top of it. Making sure she doesn't eat the ring of course." she quickly added.

"Oh! Love that! Quiet and romantic." Kurt smiled wide and lightly clapped his hands. "These are all so good!"

Quinn smiled wide and nodded, "It's almost as if it doesn't exactly matter what you're doing with the person as long as it's the right person then it'll always be romantic."

"Can't argue with that." Tina smiled.

Then everyone looked to Santana who had yet to share her proposal idea. She had been quiet while everyone else had their turns, half listening as she drank her wine and enjoyed the appetizers. When things became quiet she finally looked up to see that everyone was looking at her.

"What?" Santana asked before popping a cracker in her mouth washing it down with a sip of wine.

Kurt smirked and said, "We know you have a cold heart, Santana. But we also know Quinn has defrosted at least half of it. What's your ideal proposal?"

With a clear of her throat Santana sat back against the couch, giving a dramatic pause before finally speaking, "That's easy. Naked in bed right after an orgasm."

Everyone remained silent as they kept staring at her. Quinn was the first one to speak on it, "Why am I not surprised?"

"Because I'm complicated yet simple. Like you said, babe. As long as it's the right person then it'll always be romantic." Santana smiled with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Then she moved to sit on the edge of her seat as another idea sprang to mind, "Or how about this. I'm going down on Quinn, she places the ring between-"

"NO!" all of them shouted cutting her off.

"What!? You asked!" Santana said raising her hands up in defense. She sat back again resting her head on Quinn's shoulder, "I thought this was a safe space for sharing."

"Yeah romantic settings. Not porn!" Rachel said.

"Whatever." Santana scoffed and then looked outside as a flash of lightning lit up the night sky. "Looks like the weather app was right and that storm is rolling in. We better get going." She said and stood up stretching lightly, "Especially before the rain starts we don't want Rachel to melt."

"You are incorrigible." Rachel huffed as she stood up.

Santana smiled wide, showing off her perfect pearly whites, "Love you too."

Kurt stood up with all of them, "Thank you for the visit. Please come over anytime."

They all exchanged hugs and said their goodbyes and then headed out. While Kitty and Marley had taken their own cab back to their apartment, Santana, Quinn, Tina and Rachel shared one since they were going to the same building.

On the way home Santana had her forehead resting against the glass of the door while Rachel and Quinn kept talking animatedly about engagements and rings.

She kept thinking back to their time in Las Vegas and the happy accident involving herself and Quinn and then her mind began to spiral through more of the past. Poor Quinn always did find herself in situations that were out of her control. Santana definitely knew them getting married so quick and young wasn't in Quinn's plans, but here they were. She looked down at the cheap wedding ring on her finger and a pang of guilt stabbed at her. Sure things had worked out for them and as their one year anniversary came the two of them felt more in love than ever before, Santana still couldn't help but feel as if she robbed Quinn of what should have been some of the biggest moments in her life. A proper engagement and her dream wedding.

For Santana she personally didn't mind the circumstances on which she had wed Quinn. In fact she loved their story, it was unexpected and fun and made for a great conversation starter with people outside of their friendship circle. Plus she really truly loved Quinn so much that she was simply happy having the privilege to call her her wife. Quinn Fabray was her wife. She found herself smiling and a flutter of butterflies entered her stomach.

Then that voice she loved so much managed to pull her out of her thoughts, "Santana?"

Santana slightly jolted, having been out of it for the last little bit of their cab ride home. She cleared her throat and looked around realizing they had stopped moving. "We're home."

Quinn studied her for a second, not yet moving, "Are you okay?"

With a smile Santana nodded, "I'm fine, Q. Maybe too much wine?"

Quinn didn't believe it, but they were will sitting in the cab and it was about to start raining at any second, so she didn't pry. "Okay." She dug through her purse to grab some cash and handed it to the driver before taking Santana's hand and tugging her out.

Rachel and Tina had already made it inside, Tina holding the door open for the couple behind them, a loud crack of thunder rumbling through the sky as they crossed the threshold and into the building and then the rain began to start.

"Perfect timing." Rachel declared with a smile.

They all nodded in agreement as they began to head up the stairs. When they reached their lofts they said their good nights to each other and then each couple went into their own places.

Quinn locked up and then went into their bedroom finding Santana about to change into her sleep clothes. Her eyebrows creased and she spoke, "Hey. I thought I was going to get to take that dress off of you when we got home."

Santana smiled and looked over to her, pushing the strap of her dress back up her shoulder, "Wanky."

Quinn walked over to her, slipping her arms around her waist, "You were quiet on our drive home tonight." She noted wondering if it was something Santana wanted to talk about.

With a nod Santana leaned in pressing a quick kiss to Quinn's lips, "All this engagement and marriage talk had me lost in thought with how lucky I am that I get to be with you."

Quinn had to wonder if there was more to it than that, but as Santana's lips began to trail a path along her neck she didn't dwell on it. Her eyes fluttered closed and she let out a content sigh, "I feel the same." She whispered and then reached up so she could slide the dress straps from Santana's shoulders, letting it fall and pool to the ground at their feet.

Gently Santana guided Quinn onto the bed and made sure to take extra care of her for the rest of the night.

A few weeks later Quinn slowly walked up the stairs of their building and to their loft. Her feet throbbing and with every step she took in her heels it only caused more discomfort, hoping that maybe after dinner she could talk Santana into giving her a foot massage.

Once she made it inside the loft she immediately kicked off her heels, letting out a breath of relief when her bare feet hit the cool hardwood floors. "That's nice." She smiled making a note to start bringing a change of shoes for her journey to and from work.

"San?" Quinn called out setting her things aside on the table by the door. When she didn't get an answer back she headed to their bedroom and poked her head inside.

She didn't find Santana, but instead she found a gift left on the bed with a note attached to it. Curiously she walked over and picked up the note. Put on and come up to the rooftop – S

With a smile Quinn opened the box and reached inside pulling out a black dress. Without another thought she put the dress on and then went to look at herself in the mirror, nodding with approval as she checked herself out. It was causal, but hugged her body just right making her feel comfortable and elegant at the same time.

Quickly Quinn touched up her hair, retouched up her make up and even though her feet were begging for rest, she slipped on a pair of heels that went with the dress and finally made her way up to the rooftop.

Quinn wasn't sure what she was expecting when she began to head up to the rooftop where Santana was waiting for her, perhaps they'd be sharing a bottle of wine while overlooking the city to get an early start on their one year anniversary, which in her mind would be the perfect start to their weekend. Then she rounded the corner and took in the full sight of the rooftop she froze in her spot completely taken aback by what she saw.

Scattered around the area were lit candles making the perfect contrast as the sun began to slowly set in the sky. Red rose pedals were also placed around creating a romantic path to Santana who was standing in the middle of everything wearing a red dress with the song Take My Breath Away quietly playing in the background.

Santana always looked stunning, even in a simple t-shirt and jeans, but right now standing before her she was breathtaking, making her feel like the luckiest woman in the world. Tears welled in Quinn's eyes and began to walk closer to Santana, absolutely speechless.

"Hi." Santana quietly greeted her with a smile. She was a bundle of nerves the entire day while she set this all up and then while she waited for Quinn to come up. Then one look at her beautiful wife was all it took to help calm her down.

Even though Quinn was still taking everything all in, the scene taken right out of a romance movie she came to a stop and finally spoke, "What is all of this?"

Santana walked the last few steps until she was standing in front of Quinn reaching out to take both of her hands into her own. "It's for you." She smiled and then took in a breath and slowly let it out before she carried on, "I know the way things worked out between us wasn't how you envisioned it. I mean it wasn't how I imagined it would happen either, but here we are." she smirked, "If we could go back...I personally wouldn't change a thing because I've never been happier. However after being with you this past year I've learned a lot about you, Q. And I wish I could have given you a proper romantic story like you have always wanted. Then I started thinking, we're renewing our vows anyway, so like the others said, why can't we have a story?" She questioned with a smile and began to slowly lower down to one knee.

More tears brimmed Quinn's eyes, quietly gasping as she watched Santana take a knee and pull a small box from under the strap of her dress.

"You deserve all the romance and all the love and I vow to try my best in giving you everything I have for the rest of our lives." Santana said and then opened the box to reveal a new engagement ring that she was able to afford with of course the help of her parents. "You deserve a proper ring too. Spending this past year with you has been so amazing and I can't wait to have more years with you, so as we come up to our one year anniversary, would you, Quinn Fabray accept this ring to renew our vows and stay in this marriage with me?"

Quinn didn't even have to think twice about it. This past year had been just as amazing for her too and so immediately she answered, "Yes! Yes of course!" She reached down to help Santana stand back up, and they huddled together to slide the new white gold three diamond ring on her finger right above the other one. "It's beautiful." she sniffled.

Santana smiled wide and pressed a kiss to her lips, "Just like you."

Quinn blushed and then wrapped her arms around her wanting to hold her close, the two of them swaying to the music, "I can't believe you did all of this."

"You deserve it." Santana smiled and looked around at everything, very impressed with herself.

Quinn pressed another kiss to the corner of her mouth and then she looked around too, taking it all in again as the sun finished setting and the stars began to shine as best they could in the city. The light breeze gently blew some of the rose pedals around, while the candle lights flickered adding the perfect ambiance. Quinn had obviously always dreamed of living out a romantic scenario and now that she was she could say that it was just as breathtaking as how she had always imagined it would be and what made it even better was that she was having this moment with Santana.

When she noticed Quinn looking around at everything, Santana couldn't help but ask, "So is it everything you ever imagined?"

"Absolutely." Quinn answered, "It's even better than what I have ever imagined, because I'm with you."

Santana wrapped her arms around her waist a little more tighter, dipping her head in to pull her into a slow kiss.

They stood there together dancing to the play-list of slow songs Santana had found, sharing kisses and just being with each other.

"I love you so much." Santana quietly said.

"I love you too." Quinn widely smiled.

A couple of nights later on the night of their anniversary the two were in bed together, Santana breathing heavily as Quinn made her way up from under the covers and then reached into her nightstand and pulled something out.

Quinn turned back to Santana who was still trying to catch her breath, a blissful smile dancing on her lips, "Santana?"

Santana lazily rolled her head to the side to look at her, "Yeah?"

Quinn held up a ring for her. If Quinn had the honor of getting a new one, it was only right that Santana did too. She didn't have a long speech like Santana had, but she also knew Santana wouldn't mind a much more aburpt approach, and in the exact way she had shared her perfect engagement story, "Will you renew our vows with me?"

Santana gasped and sat up, her hand coming up to rest over her chest. "Q...you didn't have to." she looked at the ring her eyes going wide, "But damn I'm glad you did, look at that rock!"

Quinn quietly laughed, sending a silent thank you out to Uncle Robert who of course helped her out with this. She sat up better and slid the new ring onto Santana's finger, it a perfect fit.

Santana held her hand up admiring it, "I get it now. The romance thing you and Rach are always going on about."

Quinn looked around their bedroom. She kind of wished she lit some candles or something, but by the time they had come home from dinner she hadn't had the chance and they immediately fell into bed. "If you call this romantic."

Santana looked at her as if she were clueless, "You just gave me a hell of an orgasm and then presented me with a stunning engagement ring. What isn't romantic about this?"

With a playful roll of her eyes Quinn leaned in to press a kiss to her lips, "Your gifts are going to be so easy aren't they?"

Santana smiled and laid back down with her left hand still hovering in the air, "Getting jewelry from you while you're naked, what's not to love?" and then she made another note, "I still want to keep my old ring though. It has sentimental value."

Quinn laid back down with her, resting her head on her shoulder, "Me too. I think I'll wear it as a necklace."

Santana slipped her arm around her and pulled her close, finally bringing her other arm back down to get comfortable. "I didn't think it was possible to love you even more than I do now, Q."

With a smile Quinn leaned down to press a kiss to her lips, "And I feel exactly the same way."

With that the two engaged in another long lip lock and spent the rest of the celebrating their anniversary together.