[[ TAKE A WALK ]]

“This feels an awful lot like sexual bribery.” Santana tilted her head. Not that she had any issue with that, obviously, but it felt worth it to point it out. Her eyes fell back to her book, absorbing another few sentences as Shane typed. She couldn’t help a small, real smile this time. She was half worried people would think less of her for going back to something she had already given up on, and yet she wasn’t finding that at all. “Do you want to borrow my cheerleader outfit for all this ass kissing?”

“--- ‘cause it fuckin’ was, geez,” Shane rolled her eyes in a playful manner, because why couldn’t she? Santana was basically the only person she could joke around with, just like that. If she ever attempted to do the same thing to some other woman, she’d assume it wasn’t going to be taken just as well as it does with her best friend. “Did that work, though?” She figured she would ask, because one might never know, right? 

“Quit complaining? It is like you don’t even know me.” Santana sighed. “However, I will not say no to booze and pizza.” She recovered quickly. She shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, you’re right, I could do this in my sleep.” Clearly her ego was still feeling okay.

Zach gasped, putting his hand over his mouth dramatically. “WOW, we’re practically twins. You’re basically my sister we’re so alike. And you can fuck off, I’m still not over Mick Jagger.”

“Are you saying I look fat?” Lizzy raised her eyebrows, but trying hard to hide the smirk on her face. “Oh gosh, what if it’s more than one?” The thought suddenly flashed through her mind, her eyes widening. “That would not be ideal.” She shook her head. “No. That’s not going to happen, I’m just getting overdramatic again.” She sighed, knowing she was going to keep thinking about various different scenarios until the baby was actually there.

Lizzy simply snorted. It was an image she wouldn’t mind seeing, actually. She leaned back, her hand running through her long hair as she thought. “Not really.” She sighed. Last time she had a whole list of names within a day of taking the test. But this time, doing anything of the sort felt like it would give her unnecessary hope. “I guess we are going to wait until we find out the gender.” Not that it made much difference, they could easily make a list for both, and one that could fit both. But again, not getting her hopes up. “It doesn’t feel quite so real, yet.” She admitted with a small laugh.

“The nicest.” Lizzy rolled her eyes fondly. “Yeah, I’m sure I’ll catch her in head to toe pink and heels one day soon.” She held back the laugh It wasn’t that she didn’t think Valentine could pull off such a look, she just knew it wouldn’t make her wife feel comfortable. Lizzy let herself fall into the embrace, the grin taking a full force onto her face. “Thank you.” It was the first time she had told anyone that wasn’t her wife or her doctor, and it felt good to get it out. Now it could start to feel real, she could begin to relax, stop worrying as much. 

“Yes, your style doesn’t exactly coincide with mine.” Lizzy tried to speak as diplomatic as possible, not wanting to cause any offence. She frowned over at Shane, as if the girl didn’t know her at all. “Again, not going to find much for me there.” She sighed, throwing herself besides Shane. “Besides, they wouldn’t fit either.” Biting her lip, she looked over at her best friend. “I, um, guess it is as good a time as ever to tell you; I’m pregnant.” She announced, the smile on her face one of happiness tinged with worry.

“Let’s have a Zach roasting party just so everyone can get it out of their systems. Maybe you should invite Max, Santana and Lizzy as well. And even Seb just for good measure.” Most things people said to him just rolled off his back now – he had stopped allowing the little things to get to him and it made him feel much happier. Obviously, he knew that nothing Shane said to him was serious (at least not often, anyway) but he KNEW what people used to say about him. And he wasn’t going to let it get to him. “Maybe Tinder isn’t the answer then. Threesomes were more of a younger me thing. I’d rather whoever I’m fucking focus on just me. Grindr sounds better, although…” He grinned sheepishly. “Never thought I would ever say this but I actually want a boyfriend. A PROPER boyfriend. I want to be in a dumbass happy relationship.”

Grinning, Zach pulled down the collar of his t-shirt to expose his collarbone so he could show his sister the ‘S’ shape inked on there. It was small but sweet and was actually a huge source of comfort to him while he’d been away. “Cry all you like. Again, you have four years of it to catch up with. May as well let the flood out now and dry yourself up a little bit.”

“Can I actually just have Santana on my team, please? Gal’s going to get you so good, you won’t even need to have to listen to my awkward attempt to roast the living shite out of you,” she asked. Well, to be completely honest, Shane would probably never let a chance like that slip past her fingers, so anything she was currently saying was a joke. At the mention of Zach wanting to get a proper boyfriend, the brit couldn’t help but smile. A giant, enthusiatic smile -- the one she never allowed anyone to see, ever. It was possibly meant for the ones that matter the most, and let’s be real -- her brother was definitely one of those people; if not the MOST important one. “Sounds like we’ve got ourselves a mission, then?” Shane inquired, letting a thin eyebrow lift up for a mere second before giving the other person’s shoulder a pat. “You can do this. -- With a little bit of help from your sister, I think it’s pretty fucking do-able. I believe in YOU.” 

“Zach is an idiot. A lovable one, but an idiot nonetheless. I would never take his advice ever,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve always been scared to dye my hair. It’s probably some sort of compulsory masculinity. Or maybe because it would look bad with NASA.”

“Fair point, but if I shave my hair I’m doing it for me. And I don’t want to do it if Zach wants me to,” Max shrugged. “He probably would. We’d look awesome. Let me know if you ever decide to do it. I’ll join you.” 

“I mean, it’d be a fun change and it’d be even more fun if we did it together,” Max joked. “But that also means Zach can’t make any more homeless jokes about me and I’m not sure if I’m ready for that. He only just got back.”

“Don’t tell other people that!” Santana exclaimed, as if scandalized that something like that could be spread about her. Maybe she could be nice sometimes. But she only wanted a select few to know that. “Of course I do, that’s not even up for debate.” She puffed out her chest slightly, as if proving a point. “Is that not what every movie is about? Like, seriously, we get to see the falling in love, but what happens after the credits roll?” She shook her head. “Arguments, children and the death of a sex life, that’s what.”