Can't Take My Eyes Off You || Quinntana

Twenty Four

After their date together at Breadstix, Santana and Quinn decided to call it a day. Quinn didn't particularly want to return to her house, so they found themselves cuddling in Santana's bed.

They'd intended to sleep, but it was 2 am, and both were wide awake.

"Hey Quinn," Santana grumbled. "Are you awake?"

"Yup."

"Wanna go to Gracie's?"

Gracie's was a diner downtown that stayed open 24 hours. Their food was nothing special, but it was a good hangout spot in times that nothing else was open.

"Sure."

The two got out of bed, and Santana readily walked toward the door.

"Wait," Quinn said. "I can't go out in this."

She was wearing a revealing tank top and short shorts, same as Santana.

"Okay, fine. Pick something out of my closet."

Quinn happily opened the closet door, her eyes falling upon one of the hoodies that Santana wore constantly. She quickly snatched it and pulled it over her head, the sent of Santana instantly engulfing her.

Santana also grabbed a hoodie, and they got in the car to drive to Gracie's.

As to be expected, when they arrived, they were the only customers. In fact, there was only one person working, Gracie herself. She was an old woman, probably in her late 70's, and she'd been working at the diner ever since she opened it at 20 years old.

The girls ordered a chocolate milkshake with two straws and a large fry.

Here, without spectators, Quinn and Santana could act like any other couple. They could share a milkshake, hold hands, even kiss. Away from unwanted eyes, they could pretend the world was a more welcoming place than it really was.

"I can't believe you're leaving for New Haven tomorrow."

Quinn looked at an old clock on the wall. "Today, actually. God, I'm gonna miss you. But it's only for a few weeks, and then it will be winter break."

"I'll be counting down the days."

"I'll call you every day and help you study for your exams. You'll get sick of hearing me talk."

"I could never."

Santana suddenly stood up, walking over to examine an old jukebox.

"No way this still works. It looks ancient."

"Actually," chimed Gracie, who'd apparently been listening, "It does. Here's a quarter. Pick any song you like."

Santana gratefully accepted the coin, then read the list of songs. Her eyes stopped on one in particular.

"No," she exclaimed.

"What?" Quinn said, jumping up beside her.

"They have the song from 10 Things I Hate About You"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "It's not from 10 Th—"

Her words were interrupted by a gentle shove to her shoulder. She laughed and pushed Santana back. Santana raised her arm, and Quinn braced for impact, but the brunette grabbed her waist and pulled her into a deep kiss.

As they were kissing, Santana reached over and pressed the button for the song to play. The familiar melody filled the room, bouncing off the mint green painted walls.

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much

Santana reached out her hand. "Dance with me, Fabray. For real this time. It's just us now."

Quinn looked around. Gracie had disappeared into the kitchen. It was just her and Santana in an empty diner with the most romantic song she knew playing on a jukebox. It couldn't have been more perfect.

She took Santana's hand, and soon they were holding each other closely, swaying along to the music. It took them a few tries to figure out the hand placement. It was Quinn's first time slow dancing with a girl, after all. There was a lot of giggling.

At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

"This is our song now," Santana announced.

"Our song?"

"Yeah. It's in our favorite movie to watch together, it played right after we confessed feelings for each other, and now here we are."

"I love it."

Pardon the way that I stare
There's nothing else to compare
The thought of you leaves me weak
There are no words left to speak

Quinn thought back to that night in the auditorium when she watched Santana perform as Rizzo. The girl had transformed before her eyes. She'd seen her perform many times, but she'd never seen her glow like that. Quinn couldn't look away.

Santana daydreamed about that same night, remembering the dinner at Breadstix with Quinn. She'd always been beautiful, but that night, she was somehow even more stunning. It was hard not to stare.

But if you feel like I feel
Please let me know that it's real
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

Santana recalled her disappointment when that night ended. She'd finally acted on her feelings, letting Quinn know how she felt about her. It had seriously backfired, scaring Quinn away. She remembered how much she'd beaten herself up over that evening.

The time spent crying in her dorm with Nora came back to Quinn. Realizing she had feelings for Santana had been startling. As someone who'd never considered that she could be gay, she was terrified to be open about how she felt.

The song picked up its tempo, and Quinn and Santana began to dance more extravagantly.

I love you, baby
And if it's quite alright
I need you, baby
To warm the lonely night
I love you, baby
Trust in me when I say
Oh, pretty baby
Don't bring me down, I pray
Oh pretty baby
Now that I've found you, stay
And let me love you, baby
Let me love you

After a lot of spinning around, Quinn found herself falling into Santana, who caught her readily. They were face to face, lost in each other's eyes.

"I love you." The phrase left Quinn's lips before she even processed it. But she knew that she meant each word.

"I love you, too."

Their lips met.

Applause broke out. Shocked, the girlfriends pulled away from each other. They turned to see Gracie beaming at them.

"You girls are so adorable," she cried. "Reminds me of the love of my life. Hold onto each other tightly, girls, and don't let go. True love is a special thing."

. . .

On the car ride home, Santana could not stop laughing.

"What is so funny?" Quinn asked, slightly losing her patience.

"We said we loved each other after being together one week. Actually, scratch that, we only officially started dating a couple hours ago. That's the most lesbian thing I've ever heard."

Quinn joined in the laughter. "You're not wrong."

She paused for a moment in thought.

"But," she added. "It's not like we just met. I've been thinking about it a lot, and I think I've loved you ever since we were kids. You've always been my person. It just took a lot of working on myself to be able to accept it."

"Stop making me cry, Quinn," Santana teased, "I can't see the road." She sighed. "But you're right. There's always been something about you that I couldn't get enough of. Every day, I just want to be around you as much as I can. I love you so much."

Before either girl was ready, the night ended, and it was time for both to return to their colleges, over 800 miles apart.