Fic: Kiss You Where It's Sore (2/3)
Part Two.
Santana woke up the next morning with Rachel wound around her back and froze. This was not going to be good if Rachel got attached. And when she tried to extricate herself, and Rachel just clung more tightly, her heart sank. What had she been thinking last night?
Eventually, Rachel woke up, groggy and disoriented in a way that reminded Santana rather forcefully of Brittany. “Good morning,” she said softly, and Rachel rolled away from her.
“Did…that really happen?” Rachel asked quietly.
“Do you wish it hadn’t?” Santana asked, stung, but Rachel quickly shook her head.
“Of course not. Do you?”
“No. I never regret sex,” she said without thinking, and she saw Rachel’s face fall. “Hey. That’s…”
“Do you mind if I take a shower before school?” Rachel asked, getting up.
“No, of course not-there’s towels in the closet next to the bathroom,” Santana said helplessly. She watched Rachel leave, and then she reached for her phone.
“You’re up early,” Brittany answered.
“I slept with Rachel,” Santana blurted.
“Wow. That was fast,” Brittany remarked.
“What?”
“You’ve had a crush on her for a long time. And she’s always wondered about you.”
“Brittany. What the hell are you talking about? You’re the one with the crush on her!”
“Oh, well, yes. But you have one too. Remember when she gave herself that Britney Spears makeover? You were practically drooling.”
“So were you!”
“I’m not saying it’s bad, San,” Brittany said placidly. “How’s Rachel?”
“She…freaked out.”
“I thought so.”
“And what about Quinn?” Santana whispered.
“Quinn is hard,” Brittany sighed. “I don’t know what to do about her.”
“I probably shouldn’t…bring up this whole thing about Rachel,” Santana ventured.
“Not yet,” Brittany agreed, and Santana sighed.
Rachel was frosty as they got ready for school together, and Santana found she had no idea what to say to her. But just before they went downstairs, she grabbed the other girl’s wrist. “Listen. Last night was really great, Rachel, and you’re really great, and you shouldn’t let anyone tell you otherwise, okay?” she said, rushed, the words falling all over themselves.
“This about face of yours is quite intriguing, Santana.”
“Yeah, well. I’ve had a lot to think about lately,” Santana muttered. “I thought I had what I wanted, being on the Cheerios and being popular and being feared-because at least then, no one was looking at me like I didn’t belong.”
“You feel like you don’t belong?” Rachel asked incredulously, and Santana just shrugged.
“Do you know how many Hispanic students are at that school?” she asked quietly.
“But…you always had Brittany,” Rachel remembered, and Santana sighed.
“I was luckier than you,” she allowed. “But Quinn pulled me out of being the little brown girl and showed me how to get people to…fear me, and that was better than being the outsider.”
Rachel nodded. “I’m sorry I’ve underestimated you, Santana.”
Santana shrugged. “Let’s just go to school.”
At school, Quinn was waiting for Santana, and she turned pale when she saw her friend arrive with Rachel instead of Brittany. “Save it, save it, save it,” Santana muttered. “This has nothing to do with you.”
“Quinn, I had hoped that maybe you and I could have worked out a truce of some sort by now. I know you still don’t like me very much, but…” Rachel started, but she trailed off when she saw the anger burning in Quinn’s eyes.
“Hey! Here you are!” Brittany greeted the three of them, bounding over.
“Hi, Britt,” Santana murmured, and Brittany kissed the side of her head. “Come on. I think the two of you need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say to her,” Quinn spluttered.
“You have a lot to say to her,” Santana insisted, and she took Brittany by the elbow and led her away.
“Well. Are you sure we should leave them alone? They might kill each other,” Brittany worried, looking over her shoulder.
“Or maybe Quinn will drag Rachel into the bathroom and finally fuck her brains out like she wants to,” Santana said, and Brittany laughed and fell against her.
“Hmm, that sounds like a good idea,” she said, grabbing Santana’s arm.
“Britt. We always almost get caught in the bathroom,” Santana protested, but her heart wasn’t in it, and Brittany didn’t hear her anyway, and they ended up fifteen minutes late to first period.
After third period, as Santana went to collect Brittany from her math class, she stumbled into Rachel and Finn’s very public breakup. “We weren’t even together! And you lied to me too!” Finn was shouting.
“Okay, okay, this is not happening right here,” Santana ordered, stepping in between them. “What’re you looking at?” she snapped at the gawkers, and the other students quickly shuffled on their way.
“You. You just… You make everything in my life worse!” Finn yelled, staring at Santana.
“I didn’t make you do anything, Finn,” Santana said flatly. “Come on, Rachel.”
“What-you’re friends with her now? That slut?” Finn asked, and Rachel wrenched herself free from Santana’s grasp.
“Take that back right now, Finn Hudson,” she ordered, poking his chest.
“Rachel, don’t,” Santana ordered, but the other girl ignored her.
“What? She is!” Finn insisted. “She’s slept with at least half the guys in this school!”
“So what?” Rachel asked, her voice very controlled, and Santana shivered. “What is wrong with that, exactly? Does anyone call Noah a slut? Or do you all slap his back and do that idiotic fist bumping thing when he tells you about the latest girl he slept with?”
“It’s different for guys,” Finn said uncertainly, and Rachel pushed him.
“You are a Neanderthal, and I can’t believe I ever thought I was in love with you.” And she turned on her heel and executed a perfect stormout, leaving Finn and Santana awkwardly gaping at each other.
“Well. Are you going to apologize or what?” Santana asked, and Finn cringed.
“Sorry I called you a slut,” he mumbled.
“What was that?” Santana asked.
“I’m sorry I said you were a slut, Santana,” Finn said clearly, and she smirked.
“Good. I wouldn’t want to have to make you really sorry.” And she followed Rachel down the hall. “Hey!” she called, trying to catch up with her. “Are you okay?”
“I’d really rather not talk about anything right now, Santana.”
“That’s fine.”
The bell rang, and Rachel sighed. “Come on, let’s skip fourth. I’ll go buy you a coffee.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?”
“Well, I’d buy you a beer, but it’s the middle of the day, and I’m guessing you don’t have a fake ID.”
“You do?”
“Don’t look so shocked, Berry. Everyone does.”
“Everyone except me.”
“Well. Everyone on the Cheerios and the football team, anyway. Come on.”
“But…leave school? I…”
“Come on. You just broke up with your boyfriend in the middle of the hallway. You can take an hour off from school.”
“Thank you, Santana.”
“Don’t mention it. Really. Don’t.”
“Right, wouldn’t want word getting out that you’re sweet.”
“Oh, no one would believe you anyway.”
“That’s true,” Rachel realized, and Santana laughed and steered her outside.
“Where have you two been?” Brittany greeted them, when Santana and Rachel joined her at a lunch table. “Oh,” she murmured, getting this look on her face like she knew exactly where they’d been.
“Britt. You’re a perv,” Santana complained, and Brittany grinned. Rachel turned a very deep shade of pink.
“Did you tell her?” Rachel hissed, and Santana nodded.
“We don’t keep secrets.”
“Did you talk to Quinn?” Brittany asked, over-eager, and Santana tried to shush her.
“Well. Not really. There was a rather intense glaring contest, which I believe I won, because she mumbled something that might have been, ‘sorry,’ and turned and left. I thought it best not to pursue her.”
“You know she really likes you, Rachel,” Brittany said, and Santana elbowed her.
“She certainly has a funny way of showing it,” Rachel muttered, oblivious to Brittany and Santana’s jostling each other.
“What was that for?” Brittany demanded.
“She just broke up with Finn, okay? Let’s leave the Quinn thing alone for a while.”
“Oh.” Brittany nodded solemnly. “Okay, then.”
That afternoon, after Cheerios practice, Santana was planning on going home with Brittany, but Quinn stopped them. “Hi,” she said, looking forlorn, and Santana sighed-but only inwardly.
“Come over with us. I’ll make popcorn. We’ll watch Clueless,” she offered, hardly even thinking it through, but Quinn looked markedly less forlorn, so the loss of an afternoon with just Brittany was worth it.
Especially since Brittany looked the happiest of the three of them about that arrangement. She grabbed Quinn and escorted her out of the locker room, and Santana was happy to trail behind, carrying both her things and Brittany’s.
“Quinn, you really need to figure out a way to relax,” Santana said, casually rubbing the other girl’s neck.
They were both sitting on the floor of the Lopezes’ basement, Brittany asleep on the couch behind them, The Incredibles (Brittany’s pick) just ending. They’d watched three movies after having dinner with Santana’s family, and Quinn had sat in the same position on the floor through all of them, back rigid. It was beginning to make Santana’s own back ache in sympathy.
“Will you stop?” Quinn complained, swatting the hand away.
“Come on. What about a roll in the hay with lady lips?” Santana went on, and Quinn huffed.
“I told Sam I didn’t want to see him anymore,” she muttered. “And I am not taking anyone for a ‘roll in the hay,’ Santana.”
Santana snickered. “You need to get laid, Q.”
“Oh, yeah, because that’s been so helpful to me,” Quinn returned, drawing her knees up to her chest.
“All right, sorry,” Santana said, chastened. “But you need to have some kind of fun. You know who’s really good for fun, without any risk at all of pregnancy? Hot. Girls.”
“Shut up, Santana.”
“Do you know who’s pretty hot?” Santana continued, and Quinn punched her shoulder. “Relax. I was talking about Britt.”
“I’m sorry. Are you offering me your girlfriend as, what, a sex toy?”
“First of all, she’s not my girlfriend. Second of all, she’s super hot, super good at sex, and super into you. What else do you want?”
“What do you mean she’s not your girlfriend? Oh my god, Santana, you are so desperately in love with her.”
“Shut up,” Santana said gruffly. “That might be true, but either way, we’re not girlfriends, okay? We just…have an understanding.”
“All right,” Quinn said slowly. “Anyway, I’m not sleeping with Brittany! That would be weird.”
“Why?”
“Because! She’s… Well…”
“She’d take good care of you, Q,” Santana said softly. “She’d be good practice for Rachel,” she couldn’t resist teasing, even with Quinn’s punch landing heavily on her side.
“You’re awful. You’re awful! Why am I friends with you?”
“Because. You love me,” Santana grinned. “And you need someone to keep you out of trouble.”
“Hah. You’re the one who needs to be kept out of trouble.”
“That’s what I let you think.”
Quinn shook her head, sighed, and then let her head fall to Santana’s shoulder. Santana put her arm around her friend’s waist and pulled her closer. “I’m pretty hot too, you know,” she said quietly, and Quinn punched her weakly.
“Shut up, Santana. For once in your life, just… Shut up.”
“All right, Q. Anything for you,” Santana murmured, and she carefully placed a kiss on the top of Quinn’s head.
“Aww,” Brittany said sleepily from behind them, “the two of you are really sweet.”
“Don’t let that get out, Britt,” Santana said, turning to smile at her, and Brittany grinned in return.
“Hmm. Is it late? Should I go home?”
“No, don’t go home,” Santana said, and she privately reveled in the shy smile Brittany gave her at hearing that.
“I should go home, then,” Quinn said, making to get up, but Santana kept her on the floor beside her.
“It’d be nice if you didn’t.”
“Okay,” Quinn said, looking at Santana and then at Brittany. “What are you two thinking about?”
“Oh, mostly about how you’re really pretty, Quinn,” Brittany said sincerely, and Santana’s chest got tight when she saw the way that made Quinn blush.
“Well, thank you, Brittany,” she said uncertainly, and she glanced back at Santana.
“Don’t do anything you don’t wanna do, Q,” she said softly.
“I just… Um…” Quinn shrank against her, and Santana instinctively pulled her closer.
Brittany came and knelt beside them, reaching up to smooth Quinn’s hair back from her face. “You really need someone who can take care of you,” she said, nodding, and Quinn nodded slowly in return, almost hypnotized by the fact that Brittany was so close to her.
Santana looked at Brittany over Quinn’s head and nodded herself. Brittany smiled and leaned in to gently kiss their friend, whose fingers scrabbled at the front of Brittany’s shirt, even as she fell against Santana. “Shh, shh, relax,” Santana soothed, kissing the side of Quinn’s head.
“I just… What…what are we doing?” Quinn asked, eyes wide.
“Well. Kissing,” Brittany said helpfully. “Unless you don’t want to.”
“No, um, that… That was really nice,” Quinn admitted, and Brittany smiled and gently kissed her again.
Santana couldn’t stop gaping, watching the two of them kiss, and when Brittany’s tongue slid past Quinn’s lips, she had to suppress a moan. And Quinn was already panting, her chest heaving, and Santana soon found her own fingers sliding underneath the hem of Quinn’s shirt and trailing up her stomach. As Brittany continued to deepen their kisses, Quinn put her arms around the other girl’s neck. “Go on,” Santana said fondly, as Quinn pulled away from her, but Quinn broke her embrace with Brittany to look back at her.
“You’re…?” she asked, faltering again, and Santana blinked.
“Well, then,” she said slyly, and the three of them tangled together on the floor, Quinn kissing Brittany while Santana’s hands explored the warm, smooth skin beneath Quinn’s shirt.
Eventually, both she and Brittany reached to take Quinn’s shirt off, and Quinn froze. “Okay, okay. We won’t go any further,” Santana said instantly, and Quinn fell against her.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice small. She looked up at Brittany, who smiled comfortingly.
“We just wanted to help, Q. That’s all.”
Quinn nodded. “You did, I think. This is just too much right now.”
“No worries,” Santana said, and Quinn turned to look at her.
“Can I kiss you too?” she asked slowly, and Santana couldn’t help her laugh.
“Yeah, Quinn. You can kiss me too,” she said easily, but Quinn became suddenly shy and dropped her eyes.
“Oh, yes. I definitely think you should kiss Santana,” Brittany said seriously, and Quinn laughed nervously.
“Britt. Stop being a perv,” Santana teased, and Brittany grinned at her, and then all of a sudden, Quinn’s lips were on hers, and Santana’s brain had completely shut off.
Quinn’s kiss was soft and exploratory, and it was much different from the way Brittany kissed her-even different from Rachel’s first hesitant kisses. It made Santana’s insides squirm, and she couldn’t do anything other than grab a fistful of Quinn’s t-shirt and pull her as close as possible.
“Hmm. Maybe I should go home after all,” Brittany said, delighted, but both Quinn and Santana turned to insist she stay.
“Not this time,” Brittany decided, getting up. She beamed at both of them, and Quinn blushed again, as she and Santana got to their feet. “Have a good night, you two. Be safe.”
“Brittany,” Quinn groaned, hiding her face in Santana’s t-shirt.
“You really don’t need to go, Britt,” Santana said softly, but Brittany just kissed her goodnight.
“Quinn needs you right now, okay? Maybe we can all do something fun this weekend.”
Santana smirked, and Brittany laughed, and then she was gone, and Santana was left holding her trembling best friend. “Hey. Are you all right?” Santana asked.
“Why are you being so…nice about this?”
“What did you expect, Quinn? That Britt and I just like to fuck?” she asked.
“Well… Maybe.”
Santana shook her head. “It’s never been like that with us. You know that.”
“Yeah. You’ve been in love with her since I met you.”
“Yeah.”
Quinn smiled and tenderly brushed Santana’s hair off her forehead. “You’re adorable, you know that? If you love her so much, why’d you just let her leave?”
“We care about you too, you know. Not just each other.”
“Santana, what did I do to you?” she worried, and Santana had to shut her eyes.
“You helped me, okay? I’m the one who took it too far.”
“How’d you…stop?”
“You made me join glee club. And I had fun, for the first time since eighth grade. I mean, Cheerios is fun, but it’s way more than that. Glee is easy fun. It was just… Better.”
Quinn nodded and carefully pressed her lips against Santana’s forehead. “Can we go upstairs?” she asked softly, and Santana nodded, taking her hand.
Once they were safely in Santana’s room, Quinn stepped forward to kiss her friend again, and Santana melted. Brittany was the only person who’d ever had this effect on her. It was odd that Quinn could do this to her, but not entirely unwelcome. Quinn kept kissing her, carefully pushing her back toward the bed, and when they fell on it, together, Quinn straddling Santana’s legs, Santana had to pull back. Quinn looked at her, terrified she’d done something wrong, and her heart cracked. “Don’t, don’t,” she begged. “You just need to tell me now if you’re going to want to stop. Okay?”
“I don’t want you to stop,” Quinn breathed, and when Santana moved to pull off her shirt, Quinn let her.
When, several minutes later, she reached around to undo her bra, Quinn let her.
When, with Quinn lying beneath her, hair disheveled, eyes bright, Santana tugged at her jeans, Quinn helped her pull them off.
“You are so gorgeous,” Santana whispered, almost reverent, and Quinn pulled her friend to her, but Santana saw tears in the bright eyes before she buried her face in Quinn’s neck.
She slid a gentle hand past the waistband of Quinn’s boy shorts, and Quinn clutched at her back. “Are you sure?” she whispered, pressing a tender kiss just below the other girl’s earlobe.
“Yes,” Quinn insisted breathlessly, and Santana didn’t ask any more questions.
When Santana woke up the next morning, tangled with someone and her face mostly buried in blonde hair, of course she thought she was with Brittany. But then Quinn shifted, and Santana really woke up, and everything that had happened the night before came rushing back to her, and it was too much. It hadn’t just been Santana helping out her friend; it had been…slow and sweet and satisfying, and Quinn had been eager and hesitant all at once when it had been her turn to get Santana off, which was just so damn endearing that Santana had nearly ruined everything by crying.
This girl had come across Santana as a skinny eleven-year-old being picked on and excluded because her skin was darker, because she still forgot and spoke Spanish in class sometimes, and for some reason, she had pulled her-and by extension Brittany-out of that isolation, and Santana had never stopped being grateful. Even with Brittany always by her side, school had been so damn lonely, and Quinn had been the one to change all that, to bring Santana inside instead of having her always just on the outside, looking in.
“Fuck,” she muttered, as a realization hit her.
Quinn rolled over, half on top of her now, bare breasts pressed just below her own, and Santana just sighed and held onto Quinn more tightly.
Part Three.
Santana woke up the next morning with Rachel wound around her back and froze. This was not going to be good if Rachel got attached. And when she tried to extricate herself, and Rachel just clung more tightly, her heart sank. What had she been thinking last night?
Eventually, Rachel woke up, groggy and disoriented in a way that reminded Santana rather forcefully of Brittany. “Good morning,” she said softly, and Rachel rolled away from her.
“Did…that really happen?” Rachel asked quietly.
“Do you wish it hadn’t?” Santana asked, stung, but Rachel quickly shook her head.
“Of course not. Do you?”
“No. I never regret sex,” she said without thinking, and she saw Rachel’s face fall. “Hey. That’s…”
“Do you mind if I take a shower before school?” Rachel asked, getting up.
“No, of course not-there’s towels in the closet next to the bathroom,” Santana said helplessly. She watched Rachel leave, and then she reached for her phone.
“You’re up early,” Brittany answered.
“I slept with Rachel,” Santana blurted.
“Wow. That was fast,” Brittany remarked.
“What?”
“You’ve had a crush on her for a long time. And she’s always wondered about you.”
“Brittany. What the hell are you talking about? You’re the one with the crush on her!”
“Oh, well, yes. But you have one too. Remember when she gave herself that Britney Spears makeover? You were practically drooling.”
“So were you!”
“I’m not saying it’s bad, San,” Brittany said placidly. “How’s Rachel?”
“She…freaked out.”
“I thought so.”
“And what about Quinn?” Santana whispered.
“Quinn is hard,” Brittany sighed. “I don’t know what to do about her.”
“I probably shouldn’t…bring up this whole thing about Rachel,” Santana ventured.
“Not yet,” Brittany agreed, and Santana sighed.
Rachel was frosty as they got ready for school together, and Santana found she had no idea what to say to her. But just before they went downstairs, she grabbed the other girl’s wrist. “Listen. Last night was really great, Rachel, and you’re really great, and you shouldn’t let anyone tell you otherwise, okay?” she said, rushed, the words falling all over themselves.
“This about face of yours is quite intriguing, Santana.”
“Yeah, well. I’ve had a lot to think about lately,” Santana muttered. “I thought I had what I wanted, being on the Cheerios and being popular and being feared-because at least then, no one was looking at me like I didn’t belong.”
“You feel like you don’t belong?” Rachel asked incredulously, and Santana just shrugged.
“Do you know how many Hispanic students are at that school?” she asked quietly.
“But…you always had Brittany,” Rachel remembered, and Santana sighed.
“I was luckier than you,” she allowed. “But Quinn pulled me out of being the little brown girl and showed me how to get people to…fear me, and that was better than being the outsider.”
Rachel nodded. “I’m sorry I’ve underestimated you, Santana.”
Santana shrugged. “Let’s just go to school.”
At school, Quinn was waiting for Santana, and she turned pale when she saw her friend arrive with Rachel instead of Brittany. “Save it, save it, save it,” Santana muttered. “This has nothing to do with you.”
“Quinn, I had hoped that maybe you and I could have worked out a truce of some sort by now. I know you still don’t like me very much, but…” Rachel started, but she trailed off when she saw the anger burning in Quinn’s eyes.
“Hey! Here you are!” Brittany greeted the three of them, bounding over.
“Hi, Britt,” Santana murmured, and Brittany kissed the side of her head. “Come on. I think the two of you need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say to her,” Quinn spluttered.
“You have a lot to say to her,” Santana insisted, and she took Brittany by the elbow and led her away.
“Well. Are you sure we should leave them alone? They might kill each other,” Brittany worried, looking over her shoulder.
“Or maybe Quinn will drag Rachel into the bathroom and finally fuck her brains out like she wants to,” Santana said, and Brittany laughed and fell against her.
“Hmm, that sounds like a good idea,” she said, grabbing Santana’s arm.
“Britt. We always almost get caught in the bathroom,” Santana protested, but her heart wasn’t in it, and Brittany didn’t hear her anyway, and they ended up fifteen minutes late to first period.
After third period, as Santana went to collect Brittany from her math class, she stumbled into Rachel and Finn’s very public breakup. “We weren’t even together! And you lied to me too!” Finn was shouting.
“Okay, okay, this is not happening right here,” Santana ordered, stepping in between them. “What’re you looking at?” she snapped at the gawkers, and the other students quickly shuffled on their way.
“You. You just… You make everything in my life worse!” Finn yelled, staring at Santana.
“I didn’t make you do anything, Finn,” Santana said flatly. “Come on, Rachel.”
“What-you’re friends with her now? That slut?” Finn asked, and Rachel wrenched herself free from Santana’s grasp.
“Take that back right now, Finn Hudson,” she ordered, poking his chest.
“Rachel, don’t,” Santana ordered, but the other girl ignored her.
“What? She is!” Finn insisted. “She’s slept with at least half the guys in this school!”
“So what?” Rachel asked, her voice very controlled, and Santana shivered. “What is wrong with that, exactly? Does anyone call Noah a slut? Or do you all slap his back and do that idiotic fist bumping thing when he tells you about the latest girl he slept with?”
“It’s different for guys,” Finn said uncertainly, and Rachel pushed him.
“You are a Neanderthal, and I can’t believe I ever thought I was in love with you.” And she turned on her heel and executed a perfect stormout, leaving Finn and Santana awkwardly gaping at each other.
“Well. Are you going to apologize or what?” Santana asked, and Finn cringed.
“Sorry I called you a slut,” he mumbled.
“What was that?” Santana asked.
“I’m sorry I said you were a slut, Santana,” Finn said clearly, and she smirked.
“Good. I wouldn’t want to have to make you really sorry.” And she followed Rachel down the hall. “Hey!” she called, trying to catch up with her. “Are you okay?”
“I’d really rather not talk about anything right now, Santana.”
“That’s fine.”
The bell rang, and Rachel sighed. “Come on, let’s skip fourth. I’ll go buy you a coffee.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?”
“Well, I’d buy you a beer, but it’s the middle of the day, and I’m guessing you don’t have a fake ID.”
“You do?”
“Don’t look so shocked, Berry. Everyone does.”
“Everyone except me.”
“Well. Everyone on the Cheerios and the football team, anyway. Come on.”
“But…leave school? I…”
“Come on. You just broke up with your boyfriend in the middle of the hallway. You can take an hour off from school.”
“Thank you, Santana.”
“Don’t mention it. Really. Don’t.”
“Right, wouldn’t want word getting out that you’re sweet.”
“Oh, no one would believe you anyway.”
“That’s true,” Rachel realized, and Santana laughed and steered her outside.
“Where have you two been?” Brittany greeted them, when Santana and Rachel joined her at a lunch table. “Oh,” she murmured, getting this look on her face like she knew exactly where they’d been.
“Britt. You’re a perv,” Santana complained, and Brittany grinned. Rachel turned a very deep shade of pink.
“Did you tell her?” Rachel hissed, and Santana nodded.
“We don’t keep secrets.”
“Did you talk to Quinn?” Brittany asked, over-eager, and Santana tried to shush her.
“Well. Not really. There was a rather intense glaring contest, which I believe I won, because she mumbled something that might have been, ‘sorry,’ and turned and left. I thought it best not to pursue her.”
“You know she really likes you, Rachel,” Brittany said, and Santana elbowed her.
“She certainly has a funny way of showing it,” Rachel muttered, oblivious to Brittany and Santana’s jostling each other.
“What was that for?” Brittany demanded.
“She just broke up with Finn, okay? Let’s leave the Quinn thing alone for a while.”
“Oh.” Brittany nodded solemnly. “Okay, then.”
That afternoon, after Cheerios practice, Santana was planning on going home with Brittany, but Quinn stopped them. “Hi,” she said, looking forlorn, and Santana sighed-but only inwardly.
“Come over with us. I’ll make popcorn. We’ll watch Clueless,” she offered, hardly even thinking it through, but Quinn looked markedly less forlorn, so the loss of an afternoon with just Brittany was worth it.
Especially since Brittany looked the happiest of the three of them about that arrangement. She grabbed Quinn and escorted her out of the locker room, and Santana was happy to trail behind, carrying both her things and Brittany’s.
“Quinn, you really need to figure out a way to relax,” Santana said, casually rubbing the other girl’s neck.
They were both sitting on the floor of the Lopezes’ basement, Brittany asleep on the couch behind them, The Incredibles (Brittany’s pick) just ending. They’d watched three movies after having dinner with Santana’s family, and Quinn had sat in the same position on the floor through all of them, back rigid. It was beginning to make Santana’s own back ache in sympathy.
“Will you stop?” Quinn complained, swatting the hand away.
“Come on. What about a roll in the hay with lady lips?” Santana went on, and Quinn huffed.
“I told Sam I didn’t want to see him anymore,” she muttered. “And I am not taking anyone for a ‘roll in the hay,’ Santana.”
Santana snickered. “You need to get laid, Q.”
“Oh, yeah, because that’s been so helpful to me,” Quinn returned, drawing her knees up to her chest.
“All right, sorry,” Santana said, chastened. “But you need to have some kind of fun. You know who’s really good for fun, without any risk at all of pregnancy? Hot. Girls.”
“Shut up, Santana.”
“Do you know who’s pretty hot?” Santana continued, and Quinn punched her shoulder. “Relax. I was talking about Britt.”
“I’m sorry. Are you offering me your girlfriend as, what, a sex toy?”
“First of all, she’s not my girlfriend. Second of all, she’s super hot, super good at sex, and super into you. What else do you want?”
“What do you mean she’s not your girlfriend? Oh my god, Santana, you are so desperately in love with her.”
“Shut up,” Santana said gruffly. “That might be true, but either way, we’re not girlfriends, okay? We just…have an understanding.”
“All right,” Quinn said slowly. “Anyway, I’m not sleeping with Brittany! That would be weird.”
“Why?”
“Because! She’s… Well…”
“She’d take good care of you, Q,” Santana said softly. “She’d be good practice for Rachel,” she couldn’t resist teasing, even with Quinn’s punch landing heavily on her side.
“You’re awful. You’re awful! Why am I friends with you?”
“Because. You love me,” Santana grinned. “And you need someone to keep you out of trouble.”
“Hah. You’re the one who needs to be kept out of trouble.”
“That’s what I let you think.”
Quinn shook her head, sighed, and then let her head fall to Santana’s shoulder. Santana put her arm around her friend’s waist and pulled her closer. “I’m pretty hot too, you know,” she said quietly, and Quinn punched her weakly.
“Shut up, Santana. For once in your life, just… Shut up.”
“All right, Q. Anything for you,” Santana murmured, and she carefully placed a kiss on the top of Quinn’s head.
“Aww,” Brittany said sleepily from behind them, “the two of you are really sweet.”
“Don’t let that get out, Britt,” Santana said, turning to smile at her, and Brittany grinned in return.
“Hmm. Is it late? Should I go home?”
“No, don’t go home,” Santana said, and she privately reveled in the shy smile Brittany gave her at hearing that.
“I should go home, then,” Quinn said, making to get up, but Santana kept her on the floor beside her.
“It’d be nice if you didn’t.”
“Okay,” Quinn said, looking at Santana and then at Brittany. “What are you two thinking about?”
“Oh, mostly about how you’re really pretty, Quinn,” Brittany said sincerely, and Santana’s chest got tight when she saw the way that made Quinn blush.
“Well, thank you, Brittany,” she said uncertainly, and she glanced back at Santana.
“Don’t do anything you don’t wanna do, Q,” she said softly.
“I just… Um…” Quinn shrank against her, and Santana instinctively pulled her closer.
Brittany came and knelt beside them, reaching up to smooth Quinn’s hair back from her face. “You really need someone who can take care of you,” she said, nodding, and Quinn nodded slowly in return, almost hypnotized by the fact that Brittany was so close to her.
Santana looked at Brittany over Quinn’s head and nodded herself. Brittany smiled and leaned in to gently kiss their friend, whose fingers scrabbled at the front of Brittany’s shirt, even as she fell against Santana. “Shh, shh, relax,” Santana soothed, kissing the side of Quinn’s head.
“I just… What…what are we doing?” Quinn asked, eyes wide.
“Well. Kissing,” Brittany said helpfully. “Unless you don’t want to.”
“No, um, that… That was really nice,” Quinn admitted, and Brittany smiled and gently kissed her again.
Santana couldn’t stop gaping, watching the two of them kiss, and when Brittany’s tongue slid past Quinn’s lips, she had to suppress a moan. And Quinn was already panting, her chest heaving, and Santana soon found her own fingers sliding underneath the hem of Quinn’s shirt and trailing up her stomach. As Brittany continued to deepen their kisses, Quinn put her arms around the other girl’s neck. “Go on,” Santana said fondly, as Quinn pulled away from her, but Quinn broke her embrace with Brittany to look back at her.
“You’re…?” she asked, faltering again, and Santana blinked.
“Well, then,” she said slyly, and the three of them tangled together on the floor, Quinn kissing Brittany while Santana’s hands explored the warm, smooth skin beneath Quinn’s shirt.
Eventually, both she and Brittany reached to take Quinn’s shirt off, and Quinn froze. “Okay, okay. We won’t go any further,” Santana said instantly, and Quinn fell against her.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice small. She looked up at Brittany, who smiled comfortingly.
“We just wanted to help, Q. That’s all.”
Quinn nodded. “You did, I think. This is just too much right now.”
“No worries,” Santana said, and Quinn turned to look at her.
“Can I kiss you too?” she asked slowly, and Santana couldn’t help her laugh.
“Yeah, Quinn. You can kiss me too,” she said easily, but Quinn became suddenly shy and dropped her eyes.
“Oh, yes. I definitely think you should kiss Santana,” Brittany said seriously, and Quinn laughed nervously.
“Britt. Stop being a perv,” Santana teased, and Brittany grinned at her, and then all of a sudden, Quinn’s lips were on hers, and Santana’s brain had completely shut off.
Quinn’s kiss was soft and exploratory, and it was much different from the way Brittany kissed her-even different from Rachel’s first hesitant kisses. It made Santana’s insides squirm, and she couldn’t do anything other than grab a fistful of Quinn’s t-shirt and pull her as close as possible.
“Hmm. Maybe I should go home after all,” Brittany said, delighted, but both Quinn and Santana turned to insist she stay.
“Not this time,” Brittany decided, getting up. She beamed at both of them, and Quinn blushed again, as she and Santana got to their feet. “Have a good night, you two. Be safe.”
“Brittany,” Quinn groaned, hiding her face in Santana’s t-shirt.
“You really don’t need to go, Britt,” Santana said softly, but Brittany just kissed her goodnight.
“Quinn needs you right now, okay? Maybe we can all do something fun this weekend.”
Santana smirked, and Brittany laughed, and then she was gone, and Santana was left holding her trembling best friend. “Hey. Are you all right?” Santana asked.
“Why are you being so…nice about this?”
“What did you expect, Quinn? That Britt and I just like to fuck?” she asked.
“Well… Maybe.”
Santana shook her head. “It’s never been like that with us. You know that.”
“Yeah. You’ve been in love with her since I met you.”
“Yeah.”
Quinn smiled and tenderly brushed Santana’s hair off her forehead. “You’re adorable, you know that? If you love her so much, why’d you just let her leave?”
“We care about you too, you know. Not just each other.”
“Santana, what did I do to you?” she worried, and Santana had to shut her eyes.
“You helped me, okay? I’m the one who took it too far.”
“How’d you…stop?”
“You made me join glee club. And I had fun, for the first time since eighth grade. I mean, Cheerios is fun, but it’s way more than that. Glee is easy fun. It was just… Better.”
Quinn nodded and carefully pressed her lips against Santana’s forehead. “Can we go upstairs?” she asked softly, and Santana nodded, taking her hand.
Once they were safely in Santana’s room, Quinn stepped forward to kiss her friend again, and Santana melted. Brittany was the only person who’d ever had this effect on her. It was odd that Quinn could do this to her, but not entirely unwelcome. Quinn kept kissing her, carefully pushing her back toward the bed, and when they fell on it, together, Quinn straddling Santana’s legs, Santana had to pull back. Quinn looked at her, terrified she’d done something wrong, and her heart cracked. “Don’t, don’t,” she begged. “You just need to tell me now if you’re going to want to stop. Okay?”
“I don’t want you to stop,” Quinn breathed, and when Santana moved to pull off her shirt, Quinn let her.
When, several minutes later, she reached around to undo her bra, Quinn let her.
When, with Quinn lying beneath her, hair disheveled, eyes bright, Santana tugged at her jeans, Quinn helped her pull them off.
“You are so gorgeous,” Santana whispered, almost reverent, and Quinn pulled her friend to her, but Santana saw tears in the bright eyes before she buried her face in Quinn’s neck.
She slid a gentle hand past the waistband of Quinn’s boy shorts, and Quinn clutched at her back. “Are you sure?” she whispered, pressing a tender kiss just below the other girl’s earlobe.
“Yes,” Quinn insisted breathlessly, and Santana didn’t ask any more questions.
When Santana woke up the next morning, tangled with someone and her face mostly buried in blonde hair, of course she thought she was with Brittany. But then Quinn shifted, and Santana really woke up, and everything that had happened the night before came rushing back to her, and it was too much. It hadn’t just been Santana helping out her friend; it had been…slow and sweet and satisfying, and Quinn had been eager and hesitant all at once when it had been her turn to get Santana off, which was just so damn endearing that Santana had nearly ruined everything by crying.
This girl had come across Santana as a skinny eleven-year-old being picked on and excluded because her skin was darker, because she still forgot and spoke Spanish in class sometimes, and for some reason, she had pulled her-and by extension Brittany-out of that isolation, and Santana had never stopped being grateful. Even with Brittany always by her side, school had been so damn lonely, and Quinn had been the one to change all that, to bring Santana inside instead of having her always just on the outside, looking in.
“Fuck,” she muttered, as a realization hit her.
Quinn rolled over, half on top of her now, bare breasts pressed just below her own, and Santana just sighed and held onto Quinn more tightly.
Part Three.