#quintana

25 Days of Sleighpairs: Quinntana | Quinn Fabray x Santana Lopez (Glee) + “Shopping”

It wasn’t meant to escalate quite so far. Really, Santana had never expected that one drunken fumble in a hotel would be enough to turn Quinn's head. She thought they'd forget all about it and go back to "hating" each other like normal.

Instead, they'd kept in contact. Like, a lot. More than they ever did in high school, which was really weird, but it was also kind of nice. Santana had visited Quinn's dorm a few times, too. That was something a little more than just nice. She had no idea what was going on, but she figured it would end the second that Quinn found herself a new man to latch onto. They didn't talk about what they were doing or "what they were" and that was absolutely fine.

Until Quinn said, "I was doing some shopping, and I figured you were going to be busy Christmas day, so, I wanted to give you your present early."

"You got me something?" Santana said, stunned as she pushed herself up onto her elbow. Her heart was also racing in panic because she had talked herself out of getting Quinn a gift, thinking it was inappropriate in the little grey area they had found themselves in.

"It's not much," Quinn said with a shake of her head, highlighting her new haircut; she cut it short again, falling just below her chin. It looked really good. She eyed Santana's expression and grinned, her eyebrows furrowing. "Relax, it's not a ring. I told you, I'm not the U Haul type."

"Alright, first of all, that's incredibly offensive. And let's not pretend you weren't considering marrying Sam while we were still in high school. Yeah, he told me about that."

"Completely different," she argued.

Santana rolled her eyes but didn't press her on the how and why it was different. She wasn't sure she actually wanted to know; she didn't mind whatever it was they were doing and the fact that it would definitely end with less than a moment's notice, she also didn't want to psychoanalyze something she was actually enjoying. Feelings ruined things. She knew that all too well.

She waved a hand to say, come on, then, and Quinn retrieved a small white bag from under the bed. Santana immediately grabbed it and peered inside before pulling out the sleek black box. Inside was a simple yet surprisingly beautiful heart-shaped necklace inset with shining stones.

"I don't..." she shook her head and clamped her mouth shut, trying to block out the words that flowed in. "I don't know what to say. It's beautiful. Thank you."

She didn't admit that she hadn't gotten her anything. Instead, she promised herself to go out as soon as she left and pick something up. She could always make the excuse that she wanted one last "visit" before she had to return home to Ohio to see her parents. Quinn was planning on staying at Yale for the holidays, seeing as how she hadn't properly spoken to her parents since leaving. From what Santana knew, the truth was that she had barely spoken to them at all since Beth was born.

Immediately, guilt flooded her. Should she invite her to spend Christmas with her and her family? It would be a little weird, but... it had to beat spending it alone, thinking about everything she didn't have around her.

Just as she opened her mouth to pop the question, Quinn spoke again.

"I have another present for you, actually." Her sheepish smile had transformed into something wicked. Santana could imagine it was a look that went down well with all the guys back in high school, and she certainly wasn't immune, either. "Sort of."

"You're spoiling me, Q. Careful, there's still time for me to get that U Haul."

Quinn laughed, and that definitely went down well. Her laugh had always entranced Santana, all the way back to when they had first met in elementary school and she had fallen just a little bit in love with her because she had heard that laugh.

"Trust me, you'll like it," she said, and reached down to pull out another bag.

Santana immediately recognized the pink and white stripes and the black writing. She raised an eyebrow, and Quinn's expression had lost all of the former cheerleader innocence now.

"I figured you might want to... unwrap it now."

"Oh, I definitely do."

"Then" - Quinn slipped off of the bed, taking the Victoria's Secret bag with her- "you stay here, and I'll be back in a minute."

Santana grinned back, her stomach fizzing with that familiar excitement. She watched Quinn disappear into the bathroom, her heart thumping in anticipation of her return. She shot her parents a text to let them know she'd back a day later than planned, then waited while she tried to think of what to buy for her.