He'd been absent for the rest of the week. A sprained his wrist, 3 broken ribs, the worlds worst hangover and possibly the worlds worst ever tattoo had made sure of that, not to mention a life-sentence of grounding issued by his mom and Burt. Apparently truanting, under-age drinking and blood-poisoning tattoos aren't the best ways to make your parents proud….

Every day, noticing his empty chair in class and glee club, she couldn't help but feel guilty, and it surprised her how much she longed for his return.

She thought about going to visit him at home but the idea of having to face his mom kind of threw her off. She did however attempt to redeem herself by having Kurt deliver him a letter. Well, it was more of a note than a letter, with $50 enclosed, but it eased her conscience all the same.

Finn,

I'm sorry you got in trouble.

If it helps you won. Here's my forfeit money for the truth I never told.

(I was always going to lose that part of the game.)

Come back soon.

S x

P.S You probably will want to get that tattoo checked out. Someone lost their leg from there once.

She didn't get a reply. And when she thought back over the day they had spent together she felt sure he'd never want to see her again. She figured he was right. She was a bitch.

Exactly seven days had passed since their notorious day of 'sinn'. She'd come to terms with the idea of Finn never talking to her ever again. He was better off without her. The boy was Peter Parker through and through and deep down she liked him better for that. Besides, she had Puck's transsexual birthday bomb to distract and entertain her for a while.

It was a new week. Well no, it was an old week. Striding down the halls of McKinley, striking fear into all who weren't on the football team and dared to make eye contact with her, it was as if everything was normal.

Nothing had happened and nothing had changed.

Her day out with Finn never happened. She never had fun with him, nor grew to find his dorkiness completely endearing nor fell in love with his goofy grin and adorable dimples. There had been no playful ice-cream war, no adrenalin–pumping duet, no perfect kiss that electrified her from her body to her soul and she most certainly didn't feel any guilt or begin the day leaping out of bed because of the possibility that he might be back in school.

Nope. None of it ever even existed. This way, when he did come back and blame her, hate her and reject her, it would be inconsequential to her.

That was her game plan. And it was working pretty well as she made her way to her locker to begin her morning ritual of retouching her make-up and mocking passers-by with her locker neighbor, Brittney. The first of which, to her delight, was of course Rachel Berry.

"What a surprise Berry, you look absolutely tragic today. I'd be more comfortable slipping into a coma than that outfit."

"Well your insults are about as interesting as one. Surely you must know by now that I won't even remember your inferior name when mine is written in big electric lights!"

"Oh really? How's that, are you going to change your name to 'exit'?"

Victory. Yup, this was just a normal day.

"So what do you wanna do after school today?" Brittany asked her as they both began simultaneously opening their lockers.

"We're going to breadsticks. We haven't been since like, Friday, and I'm starting to get-"

Despite it being about her favorite topic Santana completely lost her train of thought when a large black box decorated with a giant honey-golden bow spilled out of her locker. She caught it just in time before it reached the floor and began to scrutinize the mysterious object.

Brittney looked over, confused as ever. "I thought Christmas was like a month ago. You should get whoever gave you that a calendar in return. Maybe like, a hot calendar of you."

"It's probably another sex gift from Puck. You know how he like to sneak lingerie into my locker."

At that moment Artie showed up across the hall, providing Brittney with the perfect distraction, as the excited Santana sneaked off into an empty classroom to open her suspected 'Puckerman sex gift'.

She set the box down on a table and gently opened the lid, keeping an eye out for any intruding teachers or students. She was smirking in anticipation of what was inside but her smirk was soon replaced with a pleasantly heart-warming look of astonishment.

It was the red dress from the mall, pristinely folded inside the box with Finn's stolen tribal bracelet lying on top of it and a note that simply read:

Because this dress deserves someone of equal beauty to wear it.

Because even the Queen of Badassness deserves to feel like a Princess.

Because you made me feel like a superhero for a day.

And because you will never be alone.

No regrets,

Finn

Never before had she felt such appreciation and adoration for another human-being.

And never before had she almost shed a tear for a present that wasn't even lingerie.

After putting her present carefully back into her locker, she strutted her way back down the corridor on her way to class with a proud smile that seemed to frighten the other students even more than her usual scowl.

He was standing at his locker putting books into his backpack and trying to avoid the interview Jacob Ben Israel was attempting to get concerning his injuries and absence.

She half-strode/ half-skipped her way over to him and planted a lengthily, tender kiss on his cheek before delivering her trademark ponytail flick and marching on down the hallway, with his stolen artifact clearly attached on her wrist.

She counted the seconds and soon enough she could hear the sounds of Finn hastily picking up his backpack, fending off Jacob Ben Israel and clumsily running after her.

And to think…

She now had that favor he owed her in hand….

So i'm thinking of leaving it here... However i may decide to revisit these two if inspiration hits when the new episodes return in the new year!

Big thank you to all reads + reviews

Hope you enjoyed!