Can't Take My Eyes Off You || Quinntana

Eleven

"So how did you end up back here, performing in the musical?" Quinn twirled her spaghetti on a fork, waiting for a response. For someone who'd just gotten off a flight, rushed to a school musical, and spontaneously gone out to dinner, she looked impressively put together. She wore an elegant dark green dress, and her blonde hair met her shoulders in loose curls.

"It's— complicated. Finn texted me a couple days ago. Apparently their original choice for Rizzo fell through and there was no understudy, so they needed me to save the show. So, I came back."

"To see Brittany?" Quinn spoke slowly and carefully, trying to measure Santana's reaction.

"No. Well, yeah, at first. You know how much I missed her. But as soon as I was back in the choir room, I realized that I'd moved on." Santana looked down, studying a piece of ravioli. "I'll always love her, but the real reason I came back was for myself. I missed performing. As dumb as glee club is, it made me really happy in high school. I needed that again. God, that sounds so cheesy." She blushed and shook her head.

Quinn grinned. "Cheesy? Yes—but I get it. But I still don't get why you didn't tell me." Her smile faded.

Santana sighed. "I don't know. I guess I didn't want you to feel bad because you couldn't make it to the show."

Quinn nodded, then smoothed out her dress. There was a beat of silence.

"What about you?" Santana asked.

The blonde cocked her head to the side, some of her hair swinging dangerously close to the tomato sauce.

"You still haven't told your side of the story. Why did you come? I thought you were too busy."

"Well, I didn't lie about being busy. My classes this semester are, like, crazy hard. But I really missed you, and I figured I could take a day or two off. It was pretty last minute, though, so I thought I'd surprise you." She let out a shy smile.

Santana blushed, looking down at her lap. She wasn't used to grand gestures like this. Most of the time, she pushed people away when they started to care too much. Brittany was the only person she'd let become that close, and she wasn't one for big gestures. Dating her was more about Friday date nights and a lot of making out while Lord Tubbington creepily watched. Santana shivered. 

Looking back up, she found Quinn's green eyes fixated on her brown ones. Her breathing stopped for a moment, butterflies forming in her stomach and traveling up to her chest.

"Great food, right?" She said with obviously fake enthusiasm. 

Quinn's gaze finally moved away from Santana's face. Her pale cheeks were becoming redder by the minute. "Yeah, I had almost forgotten why everyone came here for dates in high school." A flicker of instant regret appeared in her face after her last remark. She shifted awkwardly in her seat. "Anyway, I have a flight back to Connecticut to catch, so I should probably be heading out."

"Yeah, of course." Santana stumbled over her words. "Wouldn't want you to miss that because of me. I'll—walk you to your car?"

Once the bill was paid, they made their way outside to the parking lot. Arriving at Quinn's car, they stood in silence. Despite the cold weather, the air between them was rapidly heating up. In fact, everything felt more intense. The leaves rustling in the trees were louder. The streetlights were brighter.

Santana's gaze flickered between Quinn's green eyes and her soft lips. The girl was unfairly beautiful in the glow of the streetlights. Santana felt her body begin to lean in before she realized what she was doing. Quinn's body responded, the space between them quickly shrinking. Santana was about to press her up against the car when—

"I—I really need to get going." Quinn pulled away from Santana and reached for her car door.

Santana was frozen in place. "Oh. I—"

"Goodnight, Santana."

Quinn's car pulled out of the parking space, and as abruptly as she'd arrived, she was gone.

"Goodnight."