my dirty little secret - part seven

Jun 28, 2011 19:40

Title: My Dirty Little Secret
Author: kalexico 
Pairing, Character(s): Quinn Fabray/Santana Lopez
Rating: PG 13
Word Count: 1984
Summary: The aftermath of the bad day in chapter five.

_______

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six


Santana dropped me off at home so I could have a quick shower and grab my duffle bag. She came inside with me. Mom's car was in the driveway, so I knew that she was at home, but I didn't see her in the living room or the kitchen. I had guessed she would hide around the time I got home.

I went straight to the bathroom as Santana dropped herself on my bed. As I was undressing, I could hear the Latina playing on the old guitar that I hadn't touched in ages. A few years ago, my mother had thought it nice if I could play the piano and forced me to take classes. Puckerman thought playing the piano was lame and had taught me to play the guitar to convince me that it was cooler. The guitar in my bedroom was an old one of his. Santana liked to jam on it randomly.

I took a shower and quickly dried my hair. When I came out in my room, I saw that Santana was gone. Her absence was explained by the sound of the piano downstairs. Her mother had taught her and she was great at it. I threw some stuff in my duffle bag and nearly ran downstairs.

She looked up at me and smiled as I entered the living room. She closed the piano and we entered her car. I had to stop myself from staring as she drove us to her home. There was something incredibly sexy about Santana driving her car.

As she pulls up to her own house, my phone buzzes. I frown when I see who the text is from - Mike Chang. We had exchanged numbers once as we had to work on a science project together.

Can you apologise 2 Santana 4 us? Didn't mean to upset her in Glee. Rachel was out of line. X Mike & Tina

I read the text out loud to my best friend. She shrugged. "That's supposed to make me forget it? Nobody stood up for me back there, only you." She turned her head towards me. "Except for you. Fuck, Quinn, you were awesome in there. I haven't even thanked you yet."

I blushed. "It was no big deal," I tried to play it off. "You're my friend. She had no right to say that, she doesn't know you at all."

"It was kind of hot," Santana winked. My blush grew even deeper. I knew she meant nothing by it - she said this type of thing all the time.

We went into the house and Santana wanted to go straight upstairs, but I stopped her. "We should at least say hi to your mom."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Why? She'll know we're home when she sees us."

"At least she still cares enough to want to know," I couldn't help but bite. I immediately regretted it. I was being overly sensitive.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Q. I wasn't thinking." I knew she was being genuine. We went to the kitchen, where Sara Lopez was reading a magazine. She looked up when she heard footsteps.

"Oh, hi, Quinn! How are you doing?"

I was about to say 'fine', but Santana was faster. "Her mom's being an obnoxious bitch again. Is it okay if she stays over tonight? Good old Judes kicked her out again."

"Santana!" Sara warned. "Don't talk about your friend's mom like that, especially not when she's here." She now turned to Quinn. "Are you okay, though? Of course you can stay here as long as you need to."

"It's alright, Sara. Thanks for letting me stay. I don't know what I'd do without you guys."

I've known Sara Lopez all my life, so it wasn't weird for me to address her by her first name. It also wasn't weird that she stood up and enveloped me in a big hug. She smelled like strong coffee, a smell I will always associate with my childhood and my second mother who has often proven to be more of a real mother than my own. She wasn't home very often either, but at least she tried for her daughter.

"Is it okay if we're going to the cinema tonight? To get our mind off stuff."

"Did something happen at school?"

Santana gave me a sideways look and I understood not to say anything. "No," she answered. "Just the usual. Teachers bitching, that kind of thing."

"Santana Rosa Maria Lopez, when are you going to start minding your language?" Sara asked, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. "I don't understand. I never taught you to swear this much!"

"Yeah, I kinda grew up around dad and my brothers. That did help."

With that, we went to her bedroom where I left my duffle bag. She quickly showered and changed into her favourite pair of ragged jeans and her grey shirt. She never dressed like this for school and the only reason she was wearing this outfit now was that we would be in a dark cinema. She still managed to look unreasonably hot.

She insisted on paying for the tickets, so I got us both drinks and popcorn before she even had the chance to get her wallet out again.

I was about to enter the second but last row to take a seat in the middle, our regular seats whenever we went to the movies. Santana surprised me by grabbing my wrist and dragging me all the way to the highest seats. The love seats.

"Santana, what are you doing?" I asked in confusion. My thoughts were racing.

"Oh, come on, Fabray. You know you want to cuddle."

This girl was amazing. She just knew me so well, she always knew what I needed and when - before even I did. I nestled myself in her arms as the credits started rolling.

The music immediately drew us into the movie. Everything about it was right - the acting, the moments that made your heart jump. Santana had seen quite a few horror movies and even she would sometimes audibly jump up. Even at those times that they knew there would be a fright, the movie still managed to scare them shitless.

I loved it. I loved being in Santana's arms, holding onto her, clutching her tightly when I jumped up, burying my face in her neck if the tension was too much. She stroked my back, held me close and pretended she wasn't feeling the way I was. She stole all my popcorn, sneaky as she is.

When we left, we both felt exhilerated.

"It's like a fucking ride in a fucking theme park," she laughed. "You know, when you're on this crazy ride and you just want it to stop 'cause you think your heart won't make it, but then you want to go again and again? Like, you want it to stop but you don't. And you feel nervous and funny and you just can't stop laughing."

"That's exactly what it feels like," I agreed. "Fuck, I don't think I'll sleep tonight."

"As long as you wake up," she winked.

"Say, you don't ever dream you're going into another world, do you?" I teased. "'Cause I'd hate to have to follow you there."

"As if you'd do that! You'd be too scared, Fabray. One step in and you'd be scrambling to get back out."

"Hey, if it was you that got caught in there, I'd follow you until I found you and take you back to make sure you're safe," I said seriously. "I'd never leave you, Santana."

"You say that now," she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Santana... how did you get that idea? I wouldn't leave you. You... you've been there for me, always, no matter what. You could do nothing to get rid of me. You're stuck with me, Lopez," I smirked.

She looked at me. Really looked at me. "Do you mean that?"

"Of course, silly. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I guess I do." She tapped my nose playfully. "I bring all the awesomeness in your life after all. You'd die of boredom without me."

I stuck out my tongue and we ventured into more childishness until we were back at her house. I couldn't wrap my head around the vast difference between this Santana and the bitch she was at school. If only people could really see her...

We were lying in Santana's bed. We were both in our pyjamas - for me that was sleeping shorts and a baggy shirt, for Santana sleeping shorts and an old tank. We had watched some TV - crappy MTV reality shows that got worse as the hour progressed. Somehow, I had ended up with my arm draped over her waist. We were talking about nothing in particular when I threw it out there.

"I'm not sure if I want to stay on the Cheerios, Tana."

"What?" She held me at arm's length, searching my eyes. "What are you talking about? The Cheerios are your life!"

"No, they're not. I know that after the whole pregnancy thing I'm lucky that Sue allowed me to come back, but I just... it seems so pointless. It's not even fun and it controls your life. I mean, look at you - you can't even come to practice because you had one fucking cheeseburger."

"But... it's... Cheerios, Quinn. It's like your golden ticket to college!"

"I don't want to brag, but I don't need Cheerios to get into college."

"But it'll look good on your application forms, being Team Captain."

"I guess I'm going to have to try to use my brains to get into university. I know I can do it. I'll just study extra hard, take it up a notch."

"You're already a straight A student, Quinn."

"I know, which is why I think I can do this. Ever since losing Beth, I feel like I have to start taking my life into my own hands. I don't want to be controlled anymore. I want to make my own choices." My voice strained at the mention of Beth.

Santana rubbed my back. "I guess I understand, it's just... you've lived and breathed Cheerios for so long, it's such a huge change. But I think you can do it. No, I know you can do it."

"Maybe you can quit Cheerios as well. You know, fully quit."

Santana sighed. "I can't do that, Quinn. I need it to get into college. I don't have your brains."

"You're crazy smart, Santana. Of course you can do it on your own. You don't need the Cheerios. Your way with words and your wit and your speed of thought... you really don't need it."

"I'm not going to risk it, though."

The conversation fell silent. After a while, Santana turned off the light and moved our bodies so that she was spooning me. "Let's go to sleep."

She wrapped her arms around my waist and I rested my hand on hers. "Thank you."

"What for?" she asked sleepily.

"Everything. Just... everything. I don't know how I would have gone through my pregnancy and my miscarriage without you. It was clearly a mistake wanting Finn to be the father and in the end, even though he meant well, Puck wouldn't have made a good dad. And neither was of any use when I lost her. They were so wrapped up in themselves. You were there for me, always."

"Yeah, well, you're my best friend, Fabray. Deal with it."

"I love you." My cheeks were burning, my heart pumping wildly - even though I knew that she wouldn't see in what way I meant that statement.

"I love you too, Q," she murmured in my hair. Her breathing steadied and I knew she was asleep. I let out a long sigh.

"Fuck," I groaned softly before trying to sleep myself.

>> next

story: my dirty little secret, character: quinn fabray, rating: pg 13, pairing: quinn/santana, character: santana lopez

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