NYU bound

“Pretty much, yeah. It’s a thing I do,” Dani said casually, trying to repress the urge to burst out laughing. “I take a very casual stroll through the entire apartment, try to check every single room, including closets, bathrooms, and kitchen – because you always want to see the kitchen, you know?” She continued, her eyebrows rising as she gave Santana a knowing look. “And of course I had to look at the terrace as well to make sure it looked as gorgeous as I imagined when Kurt said it was a penthouse apartment,” She shrugged, before taking another drink from her champagne. Looking back up at her girlfriend, Dani couldn’t control herself any longer and began to giggle as she leaned in against Santana. “And I’m totally kidding, babe. Kurt showed me while you went to get us drinks after we arrived,” There was hardly any time to respond to the fact that time had flown by, because soon she was being looked at with a smirk playing on her girlfriend’s lips, and it only fuel a smirk of her own. It rather quickly turned into a whole hearted smile when she heard what Santana had to say, and she looked down for a second as she let her teeth sink into her lower lip. Looking back up at the gorgeous woman before her, Dani nodded slightly as her cheeks appeared to become hotter. Why she was acting like a12 year old who had never been kissed – she actually knew. This meant something. And not just because it was New Year’s Eve, but because it was New Year’s Eve in New York, at an amazing apartment, with her stunning girlfriend who she loved. More than Dani hardly dared to admit. “I’m already planning on kissing my own model,” She grinned, before leaning in to let her lips brush against Santana’s in a light kiss. Yes, the compliment was tacky as hell – but it was also true, because no one could take away Santana Lopez’ beauty, even if they tried their hardest.

It wasn’t on many occasions that Dani’d had the pleasure of enjoying the gorgeous sight that was indeed Santana Lopez in a dress. Not that you really mind her slacks, because they’re so fucking easy to get off of her plus you can always tell when.. hey! Sure, her girlfriend wore them every once in a while, but mostly under somewhat formal circumstances such as tonight. The people from Vogue all looked stunning, Dani questioning just how much someone would make from just stealing all of the coats in the hostess’ hallway. Not that she was going to do it, but it was a scary thought in itself. One of her favorite parts of Santana’s body had always been the woman’s never ending legs, so the simple fact that Santana was putting them on full display tonight only made her grin wider.

“So you’ve basically scouted out the entire apartment since we arrived?” Santana asked teasingly. Everything in this place was beautiful and expensive looking. When she got her own apartment, she’d probably be furnishing it with items from flea markets and ebay. Or maybe ebay was a bit too expensive. The only thing she really cared about buying brand new was the mattress and bed frame because those were essentials. For sleeping of course. “Shit. Only an hour? We’ve been here longing than I thought. I suppose that guy in the leopard jacket did go on for a while about…” She paused and thought for a few seconds before shaking her head. She couldn’t remember. Didn’t care that much. “Whatever it was. So…” Her smile turned cheekier and she looked down at the beautiful younger woman. “You are gonna be kissing me at midnight, right? Not one of these glamorous Vogue models.” It wasn’t a jealous comment because she knew that Dani loved her now. They’d confessed it to each other a few days earlier and she just knew. She’d never felt like this before. She didn’t know if Dani had but she had certainly believe the woman when she’d whispered gentle words while the snow fell.

NEW YEARS EVE → DANTANA

Glitz and glamour weren’t really words that Santana Lopez acquainted with herself. Sure, she could make all clothing look flawless but she’d never really considered herself to be at the height of fashion. However the people at this party were the height of fashion because this was Vogue. Strike a pose. Nope, now is not the time to start humming Madonna. Maybe it’s their theme tune at work. It’s a missed opportunity if it isn’t. As expected, Kurt had not stopped ranting and raving about this party since he’d delivered the news in a pitch only dolphins could hear. He had gone over his own outfit again and again until Santana had literally been begging Dani to end her life with a half eaten pizza slice on the table in the loft. Despite all the complaining she may have done at the time though, Santana actually felt rather honoured to be spending her New Years night in this swanky apartment. Top designers and creators alike were here and she could tell just from one look that their clothes were probably insured. And not good around red wine. Perhaps they were made of wine resilient fabric. They probably had fabric technology at Vogue that rivalled the technology over at NASA. Wow….how much have you had to drink? To be honest, if this booze costs so much it must have spelling drink abilities. Like getting you fucked faster. No wait, not fucked because her girl had already sorted that out a few times today. More like wasted.

It’s pretty hard to ask about something you have no clue of, Lopez. Do I even want to know why you have one of those?

I just happen to have one, y’know. Simple as that, babe. 

And you haven’t told me this until now because?

You never asked.

It might be your hand, but the expression goes ‘get back on your feet’, so that’s what I’m going with. Wait.. You have a candy stripe outfit and you’ve never told me?

Fine, I’ll hand it to you. Yeah, I wore it to school once.

The more you piss her off, the more she’ll come at you, San. Now you just have to rest it for a week or so, and you’ll be back on your feet. Plus, this gives me an excuse to nurse you a little, and you wouldn’t mind that, would you?

It’s still very rude and D, it’s my hand, not my feet so I can be back on them all the time. A personal nurse, eh? Want to borrow my candy stripe outfit?

You love me too?  That simple question was something she’d been waiting for, for what seemed like an eternity. Falling in love with Santana had taken her mere months, and when the woman hadn’t seemed to feel the same way, her heart had burst and she had been left with this aching feeling in her chest, like small pieces were trying to fight their way out of her body. The pain had been unbearable, almost as if it was weighting her down, and it didn’t stop until Santana sat foot in their little, messy dorm room. There had been yelling, fighting in some way, though it had ended with tears of joy, and that was what mattered. What mattered were the days they spend in bed, fingertips grazing over soft skin, as quiet words were mumbled from swollen lips.  What mattered were those moments where Santana would be occupied by homework, but still made room for Dani’s body next to her own, in the small bed. It was the small moments where they would laugh at each other, teasing one another about being dorks before ending the little fight with soft kisses, and quiet voices. Dani had loved her for so long. For so long that the words didn’t seem like something that belonged in the real word, but rather some imaginary place where feelings were mutual. They were, though, they were and the only thing she could do was nod in return to her beautiful, beautiful girlfriend’s question. “Yes,” Her voice seemed breathless, even if it should have been impossible, but Santana had knocked all of the air out of her lungs, with her revelation. “I love you too, Santana.” Her thumbs kept moving over the woman’s cheeks, as a soft chuckle fell from her lips. Convenient was one way to put it. 

In all of the time she had known Santana, she had never seen or experienced the other woman acting anything remotely close to how she was behaving at the moment and it scared her out of her mind. In the rather short amount of time, Dani had seen her girlfriend in various states of emotions but this was different. Santana was literally frozen in front of her, and even as those big wonderful and warm eyes looked back at her, there was no such thing as an actual connection. It made her frown turn into a much more concerning one, and her thumbs had started to brush against the older woman’s cheeks in comfort, still without clue of what was going on. The empty look made a knot twist in her stomach out of fear that something was wrong, except you already know that something is wrong because you’ve never seen her like this. She’s always so collect and certain about everything, even in her weakest moments she is the strongest woman you know, and you will always admire her for that. It’s not even a possibility for you not to. “San? Baby.. Please?” The fear was now evident in her voice as millions of thoughts ran through her head, maybe she’d done something wrong, or maybe Santana was in pain? Then Santana blinked and seemed to zone back to reality, because it wasn’t much longer before she saw the warmth that was specially reserved for her – in the eyes she adored, and a smile subconsciously crept upon her face.

New York during Christmas was unique and Dani had loved each second of it. The glowing lights, the snow that seemed to appear more off each day – the entire setting was too beautiful to start to describe, and she knew that she’d never think of Christmas back in Texas as the real deal ever again. Not that she ever had to begin with, but when you knew nothing but that, The Big Apple could just take your breath away, or what remained of it. It hadn’t been without fear in her eyes that she’d agreed to come along with Santana to visit her parents in the New Year, but she knew it was inevitable. With the fear of judgemental parents however, it wasn’t odd but after some convincing and a lot of sweet kisses and promises, Santana had made her nod her agreement. It was a big deal, but even as she feared it Dani couldn’t hide the small butterflies that occurred each time she thought of the trip. In Santana’s arms was where she belonged and nothing or rather no one would be able to take that feeling away from her. In the older woman’s embrace was where she felt the most like herself, and it felt like home. It was where she wouldn’t get judged from being a dork, or clumsy. She wouldn’t have to fear about having one of her breakdowns, because Santana understood and protected her. Santana took care of her and cherished her in ways she’d never experienced before, and Dani knew not so deep down where all of these feelings were coming from.

THREE WORDS, EIGHT LETTERS || DANTANA

Dani was completely lost in the little fuzzy guy in her arms, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that their dorm seemed small and messy enough with the two of them, she would have tried to charm her way into convincing Santana about them getting their own little kitty. It wasn’t like she was delusional, but she would be lying if she didn’t admit to a small thought about her and Santana, in their own apartment at some point, didn’t cross her mind in that moment. Of course, things weren’t even close to being that serious between them or.. well.. it should have been too soon for her to wander around and imagine their future, but it was honestly hard for her not to. “Right,” She teased with a knowing grin, her head shaking lightly from side to side at the woman by her side. There was only one Santana Lopez, and Dani couldn’t imagine there ever being another. Watching in awe as the bracelet was carefully wrapped up, she leaned into her girlfriend’s side as she felt a smile grown on her face. This all seemed too good to be true, with everything that had happened over the past few weeks but here they were. Together. “Together,” She agreed with a small nod as she looked up at the older woman, before standing on her toes to press a soft kiss to the woman’s icy cheek.

Growing up in Texas, Dani had never been used to the cold but it was safe to say that she got a bitter taste of it now. New York was absolutely gorgeous with snow covered streets, but if it meant that she would walk around for months looking like Rudolph, and with a teasing girlfriend, she would hardly be able to wait for spring to come around. She rolled her eyes at the comment, shaking her head at Santana, but chose to ignore it all the same. Those pervy comments were what made Santana, well.. Santana and she loved every moment of it. Just as much as you love her. Wait! What? The kitten had crawled further into her embrace, and she couldn’t stop herself from cooing when he began playing with the ends of her scarf, his tiny paws catching the strings before he began biting at them. Her parents had never allowed her to have pets growing-up, but that hadn’t stopped Dani from playing around with their neighbors dog at each chance she’d gotten. Being called adorable, she turned her head to look up at her girlfriend with a wide smile on her face, beaming of complete happiness as she leaned up to apply a kiss to Santana’s icy cheek. “You’re pretty adorable, too,” She said softly, before returning her attention to the little furry guy in her arms, and the elderly woman in front of them. “Yeah..” Dani nodded her agreement, looking up at the woman with a crooked smile, “It’s really beautiful,”

Santana was still flustered from the comment the woman had made and she barely managed to get any words out from between her chattering teeth to help the situation. She was glad Dani appeared not to have heard or she was at least grateful if her girlfriend was pretending the conversation had never happened. She didn’t know about love but it was something stronger than she had felt before; even for Brittany all that time ago. “Don’t say such things, I know exactly what no means. It means try again in five minutes, right?” She teased as she licked her frigid lips and just looked at Dani with Marco pressed against her. “Hey, of course I don’t have to but….” She gave the woman the handsome sum of money and watched as she neatly wrapped it in the most beautiful cloth and ribbon. “I want to. Not that material gifts are everything but you can look at that bracelet and remember that we came here. Together,” It didn’t feel like a monumental occasion but there was something beautiful about the glittering lights of the park and the way Dani’s breath came to life in the air. She was stunning, even while bundled up in practically everything warm she owned. She was just as beautiful now as she was when she woke up in the morning, blinking sleep from her eyes and telling Santana off lightly for breathing too close because she hadn’t brushed her teeth yet. “Now, let’s get you back to where you belong before that scarf gets turned in to a shoelace, huh?” She grinned as she took the bag from the elderly woman and tucked it in to the pocket of her coat. Then she leant out for the small kitten and made the finally removal of his tiny grasping paws from Dani’s clothing. “Say bye bye,” She whispered against Marco’s ear as she took hold of his tiny paw and moved it to give Dani a little wave. The woman rose as Santana passed him over and within second he was happily purring against her parka. “Ready?” Santana asked Dani as she pulled the wrapped bracelet out of her pocket and held it out, followed by her free hand for Dani to take too. “We can explore the whole of New York tonight if you like. The possibilities are endless. Or at least they are until one of us gets frostbite,”

Dani heard the quiet sniffles, but knew better than to comment on it or even act like she’d noticed. It wasn’t often that Santana would show off her soft sides; of course they would cuddle up all the time and be total saps together, but weaknesses were not something her girlfriend showed a lot of. It was a quality Dani admired, amazed with how much her girlfriend could contain at times. However, she also knew that behind all of the badassness, was a heart of gold that needed comfort every now and then too. They both had baggage, their pasts not only containing rainbows and happy memories. Every single time something dark would appear though, they were there for each other. “Good,” she breathed, her breath visible in the air as it came out like a tiny cloud, “because I want this to be a happy memory for the both of us,” The Santana let out that wonderful chuckle, and she pouted when she was compared to her all-time favorite Christmas-character, looking up at her girlfriend with an unamused look in her eyes. “Don’t call me Rudolph.. Or I might not give you those extra kisses, because only sweet girlfriends are allowed those.” She stuck her tongue out at her, but ended up giggling when the other woman leaned down to kiss her nose, “Okay, maybe you can get like, one little kiss,” She offered, not able to even keep her pout as Santana was literally being the most adorable girlfriend ever. Not that she was surprised or anything, because ever since they had gotten together, the woman had been nothing but perfect. There were days where she would wake up to the feeling of fingers curling in her hair, with soft words being whispered until she would open her eyes, and plump lips would press careful pecks to her lips. Then suddenly the kitten was mentioned, making her eyes widen in excitement as strong arms guided her towards the elderly lady.

Santana laughed when Dani stuck her tongue out because she knew her girlfriend couldn’t resist those extra kisses at the end of the day. Santana would just have to wait to call her Rudolph until later though. “Oh one little kiss? Baby, what you give me with your mouth late at night is more than a little kiss,” She chuckled but just moved with the flow anyway. Her girlfriend could give her whatever she wanted and San would be happy. She was especially happy when she got to watch the younger woman take the kitten into her arms. Yeah, there was such a thing as too cute and it was right in front of her. “He’s very adorable but not as adorable as you,” She agreed with a big smile because she was roused by the elderly female’s voice. Santana had just intended to walk Dani around until she wanted to go home but there was something about the way that Dani’s eyes flickered over her bracelet that made her mind click. “Yes dear, I make everything you see. I feel it’s more special that way don’t you? When you spend time and effort on something,” Her eyes flittered to Santana who felt her cheeks go a little warm. She wondered whether the woman’s words had more underlying content than she was directly letting on. “Well I think she likes that one,” Santana breathed as she looked at the bracelet before licking her lips and leaning forward to stroke the small kitten’s head. He looked very content but anyone snuggled that close to Dani had to be happy. “It’d really suit you baby,” She added with a broad smile before the elderly woman leant over and selected the bracelet from the stand. She ran it through her fingers and Santana couldn’t help but watch with intrigue. “You really love her don’t you?” The old lady asked quietly and Santana felt her cheeks go hot instantly. Her eyes went wide and she was pretty sure she nearly choked on air. The woman’s returning smile was enough to tell her everything she needed to know. “I-I-uh…if she likes and wants that one then we’ll take that one,” Santana blurted as she pulled money out of her pocket and held it out, looking at Dani for confirmation she wanted the bracelet. Or maybe she just still felt so flustered about what the old woman had said…because yeah, she was pretty sure she was head over heels for the girl.