santana lopez

As soon as Quinn laid eyes on Santana, she calmed down and excitement took over. Simply seeing her best friend made everything feel so much more real, and a grin spread across her features that she simply couldn’t control. They were really doing this. It was happening. They were finally going to be free from Lima, and able to be whoever they wanted to be. Quinn chuckled softly at Santana’s greeting, and she nodded her head at her friend. “As ready as I’ll ever be, Louise.” She teased her with a chuckle, and with that, she pulled out of the Lopez driveway and began driving through the streets of Lima, ready to start their new life.

“Don’t think I’ll be doing all the driving, either.” Quinn spoke as she drove, her tone light hearted. She had actually felt so comfortable in a long time. She hadn’t felt like she could just be herself, but Santana gave her that freedom, and now she could feel that all the time. “As… Crazy as your driving skills are, we still need to trade, but if you actually drive us off a cliff, we’re going to go to heaven and I won’t shut up about it for the rest of eternity, so please keep that in mind.”

Quinn sang along to the radio softly as they drove, and with the town being so small, it didn’t actually take long for them to drive out of it. Quinn didn’t look back. As they passed the sign that informed them that they were leaving the town, she didn’t even blink. She didn’t care. She had grown unattached. All the town held for her were bad memories, and a life she wanted to forget. She could finally do that now. 

“Somehow I don’t think an all-access pass to heavens in my cards Q.” Santana playfully quipped as she settled into the leather of the car seats interior and got comfortable for the ride ahead “Pretty sure I’m headed further down than that so you’re gonna have to see if there’s some kind of long distance instant messaging service we can both make use of.”

With the ‘You are now leaving Lima, Ohio’ sign getting further and further away in the distance she could feel all the residual pent-up tension seep from her body, head lulling languidly to the side as she took a second to appreciate her current situation.

An endless road of possibilities, her best friend beside her singing along quietly to the radio looking more peaceful than she can ever really recall seeing her look before – why they hadn’t just motored it out of Lima earlier was beyond her but she wasn’t going to beat herself up about it too much now.

It was better late than never- at least that’s what she’d always been told.

It was insane, really. Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez ditching town and running off together. Quinn had an entire week to think about, so her thoughts were more rationalised, although she knew that if she breathed a word to anyone, they would say she’s crazy. She had been in panic mode for the entire week. She was packing and unpacking things, knowing she wouldn’t be able to take too much. She ended up with one large suitcase full of clothes, and other belongings. She didn’t know where she’d end up, so she needed to make sure she was covered for whatever situation or place the two girls found themselves in. Quinn was thankful that she was eighteen now, and had full control over her money and her accounts. Her parents couldn’t stop her if they tried, and her Dad was out of the picture anyway. She had a feeling her Mom may be slightly understanding after she got over the initial upset.

Sneaking out wasn’t a difficult task by any means. Her Mom drank so much that nothing would wake her. Quinn left her a short note, telling her not to worry, but to also not come after her. She explained that she was better than Lima, and that she was finally doing something to prove it. She hoped she understood. A small part of her felt guilty, because now her Mother didn’t have anybody else, but she knew she couldn’t carry that weight on her shoulders. She would be leaving soon enough anyway. 

It just after midnight when Quinn pulled her car up outside of the Lopez household. Her suitcase was in the trunk, leaving plenty of room for Santana’s beside it. She knew that between them they probably have more clothes and shoes than most. She drummed her fingers against the steering wheel, along to the song that was playing on the radio, and she anxiously waited for her friend. She hoped Santana was looking forward to their adventure just as much as she was. 

Some people might consider packing up and running off into the middle of the night with her best friend an impulsive decision,  but the thing was Santana Lopez rarely made any decisions, at least not life-changing ones without considering everything first.

And this...this was a life-changing decision.

The suggestion wasn’t as spur of the moment as it had seemed at the time, in the back of her mind, for longer than she could even easily admit, she’d been contemplating it, leaving and never looking back. In her head, though she’d always been alone so the fact that Quinn had been so excited by the idea, the fact that she’d been so ready to leave right alongside her had given her that extra push she needed to finally take the leap.

Bags packed and ready to go, cash hidden away and readily available - because she’d seen enough cheesy late night movies to know that the first way to track someone was to look at their account history – Santana was ready and fully prepared to take on every experience the open road and the big wide world had to offer.

Leaving in the pitch dark of the night seemed kind of covert and awesome until she realized with no one home anyway to sneak around the entire cloak and dagger routine wasn’t exactly necessary.  Her parents wouldn’t be back for days as it was and how long it took them to realize she wasn’t around when they did get home would be anyone’s guess.

She refused to let it get to her though; nothing was going to get in the way of her brand new start, not even her own slightly melancholic thoughts. So as she trudged along her hall towards the front door- overstuffed suitcase dragging behind her, sports bag heavy on her shoulder- she shook the feeling away concentrating on the future and all the possibilities that lay before her and her best friend.