𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 | s. lopez

New New York

Juniper felt a pair of soft lips press to her shoulder. She hummed at the contact and leaned into Santana.

"Morning, sleepy head," the Latina whispered, trailing the kisses upwards to the younger girl's neck. 

Juniper shifted so that she was laying on her back, her brown eyes looking into Santana's mocha ones. 

"I've missed this," the older girl whispered as she straddled the brunette and connected their lips.

"I've missed this," Juniper mumbled between kisses, gripping Santana's thighs.

"You know better than to start something you can't finish, babygirl," Santana rasped as she kissed down her jawline and reattached her lips to Juniper's neck.

Bear jumped up on the bed and let out an unamused bark. The Latina groaned and moved off of the brunette. She picked up the frenchie and went out to the living room.

"Lady Hummel, take care of this thing that Juniper insisted on keeping," said Santana, placing Bear into Kurt's arms.

"Why?" asked the brunette boy.

"Because I said so."

"I'm not watching Bear so that you can fuck my little sister," said Kurt.

"Just do it!" Juniper yelled from the other room.

"Fine," the boy sighed. "But none of your kinky shit, Santana. If you hurt her, you're dead." He looked at the dog in his hands. "Come on, Bear. Let's go to the park."

"Thank you, Kurt, you're a life saver!" the Latina called after him with a smirk.

"Fuck you," the brunette boy scoffed as he left.

****

Juniper was sitting on the couch with Finn and Bear when Artie came through the front door looking paler than a ghost.

"Artie, are you okay?" asked Juniper as she got up and went over to her friend. "What happened?"

"I was just mugged," Artie said, his voice shaky.

"What?" Kurt gasped.

"Dude, are you okay?" asked Finn as Blaine turned on the soda machine.

"Blaine, do you have to use the Sodastream machine right now?" Kurt asked, annoyed. "Artie is in a very fragile state."

"Sorry," said Blaine.

"He just needs his bubbles," Juniper mumbled. She sat down on the floor in front of Artie.

"Hey, guys," said Rachel as she came into the loft.

"Hi, Rach," said Juniper.

"Hey, Rachel," Blaine greeted. "Do you want a homemade, sparkling, sugar-free soda?"

"Oh, no thanks. The carbonation's bad for my vocal chords," said the older girl. "But you know what I will take? Just some hot water with, like, a little lemon. Thank you so much."

Blaine nodded and went back to the kitchen. Juniper rolled her eyes at the diva's order for lemon water.

"Rachel, you missed it," said Kurt, his annoyance growing. "Artie was mugged in the subway. And now it's like an episode of SVU over here."

"What?" Rachel gasped.

"Except for not at all," said Artie. "I wasn't touched. I was robbed."

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

"No. Not really. I don't know what I'm gonna do about replacing that computer. I need a new school ID, and to be honest I don't know if I feel safe going in the subway anymore. I just felt so vulnerable, and I don't know... alone."

Blaine turned on the soda machine.

"Blaine, I'm gonna throw that machine out the window!" Kurt snapped as he stormed over to the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry," said Rachel, leaning down in front of Artie. "I know exactly how you feel."

"Here we go..." Juniper sighed.

"When I first moved to New York, I gave this homeless person $10 when I just meant to give him one, and when I asked for it back, everyone hissed and they booed at me, and I felt so violated and vulnerable."

"That has absolutely nothing to do with what Artie went through," said Juniper.

"Wait, so you were out nine dollars?" Artie asked, raising a brow at the older girl.

"But look, the next day, I just got right back on that subway," Rachel continued, ignoring the comments from her friends. "Overcoming experiences like that is what makes you a real New Yorker."

"Your beverage, milady," said Blaine, holding a glass out to Rachel.

"Oh, are those Meyer lemons? No, I can't have that."

"You know what, Rachel?" asked Artie. "Don't lecture me about being a real New Yorker with your lemon water and your chauffeured limousine. You're not even a real person anymore. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to figure out how to put my life back together."

"It's a town car, not a limousine," Rachel said as Artie angrily wheeled out of the apartment. Juniper stood up and headed to the kitchen. "Juni, you saw it right? It's a town car."

"Whatever you say, Rachel," Juniper mumbled as she got a snack from the pantry.

****

Mercedes moved to New York, so everyone was over at her place helping her move in. Juniper and Santana were inside helping her unpack.

"I mean, LA is okay if you like sunshine all the time, which I don't," said Mercedes.

"I hate the sun," Juniper said, slightly shaking her head.

"Why?" asked Santana.

"Because the only sunshine I need in my life is you."

The Latina smiled and placed a quick peck to the brunette's lips before continuing to unpack.

"You two are so cute," Mercedes smiled. "Anyway, so then I got to thinking about all of you guys and all the fun that you must be having. And I ain't ashamed to say it, I got a little lonely out there. I missed you guys. I missed everyone."

"Even Rachel?" asked Juniper.

"Yes, even Rachel," Mercedes chuckled. "That girl, she keeps my head in the game. So I told the producers that my album needed an East Coast, Harlem, bebop uptown kind of vibe. I don't have any idea what that means but the suckers bought it."

"Harlem bebop has a nice ring to it," Santana chuckled.

"So, here I am," Mercedes finished. "Two bedrooms and a refrigerator."

"So, what are you gonna do with the other room?" asked Juniper.

"Well, I was thinking of storing my hair and my weaves in there. But then I got to thinking, maybe I should rent it out to a couple of nerds that I knew back in high school."

"Nerds?" the younger girl scoffed, placing a hand on her chest in mock offense.

"It's nothing personal, little Juniper," Mercedes chuckled, lighting tapping the brunette's nose.

"Juni and I have been thinking about getting our own place since the loft is getting kind of full," said Santana. "You could rent to us."

Mercedes gave them a knowing look.

"Oh, you were talking about us."

"Yes, I was," said Mercedes. "And before you ask, munchkin," she pointed a finger at Juniper. "Yes, Bear is welcome too."

Juniper smiled and looked at the frenchie laying on the floor, who wagged his tail.