A/N: I'm having an interesting time with writing lately. I don't exactly know what's going on, but I'm trying not to force things and get lazy with the story because of it. As a result, I should probably warn you to expect sporadic updates over the next little while until I push through whatever this is; but, just know that I certainly haven't forgotten about this story, which is pretty much the love of my life these days... in fact, I have the majority of it planned out already.

TL;DR: I will update as often as I can without compromising the integrity of the story. I hope that sounds like a good enough deal :3

This one's a loooong one, fyi.

It's another half hour before the girls are actually ready to leave the Lopez house, and they're beyond fashionably late at this point. The original goal was to get to Puck's for 9 o' clock, but by the time the threesome walk up to the front porch, it's closing in on 10. Santana smiles as she opens the front door and the pounding bass of the music rattles through her bones, already sensing that the night is going to be every bit as good as she had hoped.

The girls haphazardly dry their shoes on the doormat and shed their jackets before Puck glances over from the kitchen with a broad, excited smile.

"Well it's about fucking time!" he shouts down the hall with a laugh before disappearing into the kitchen for a moment. All three girls know what's coming at this point.

It's mere moments before he emerges into the hallway with an open bottle of vodka and three shot glasses.

Santana's eyes widen at the sight of the bottle and she looks up with a questioning eyebrow. "Belvedere? What, you big ballin' or something now?" she teases.

Puck scoffs a laugh before letting his mouth settle into a smug smile. "Babe, it's New Year's Eve... go big or go home," he winks, earning nothing but a roll of the eyes in return. His expression grows tender as he looks over to Quinn, though. "Hey," he says softly.

"Hi," she returns a bit shyly before Puck leans down and they share a chaste kiss.

Santana smiles at the sight and wraps her arm around Rachel's back, the girl instantly relaxing into her side, feeling oddly satisfied with how well things seem to be going between Puck and Quinn at the moment.

"Ok," Puck says simply as he straightens up, balancing the three glasses upright in one of his hands so that he can fill them. He carefully places the bottle down on the ground, being extra mindful not to spill the shots. "You know the deal," he smiles when he stands back upright, earning nods of understanding in return as he doles out a glass to each girl.

The girls clink their small glasses and shoot back their drinks, and Santana's actually surprised that Rachel makes it through it without coughing. Quinn seems just as surprised and releases a bit of a laugh.

"Looks like 'Little Miss Innocent' is finally learning how to handle her liquor," she observes with a playful smirk, but there's still a bit of a condescending tone there. It's not meant maliciously, and Santana's almost sure it was purely reflexive, but she still shoots the blonde an unimpressed glare as she leans down slightly to kiss the diva's head, squeezing her hip reassuringly.

"That's my girl," she smiles.

Rachel looks up with sparkling eyes and a bit of a blush, and Santana feels that flutter again.

"Ok," Puck breathes out, clearing his throat. "So, I'll take your jackets," he says simply as he reaches out for the items in question, collecting them over one of his arms. "And you ladies can take the vodka and yourselves into the kitchen, where the fridge is fully stocked," he emphasizes with an incredibly wide smile. "Beer, wine, wine coolers, a bar rail worth of the hard stuff, whatever you want."

Santana's eyes widen again. "You really weren't fucking kidding about going big."

"Well, you know me," he says playfully with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

It's all he says before turning to take off, and Santana really doesn't need elaboration, she just chuckles and shakes her head. As much as she'll tease him at every possible turn, and as smug as he'll act about it all, she does know him, and she knows exactly why he's going all balls to the wall tonight. While a good half of this is just his usual commitment towards throwing a completely kickass, memorable party, the other half is him trying to impress Quinn. Though Santana thinks it might be a slightly misguided way to go about it, she still appreciates the fact that he's really trying.

As Puck disappears around the corner she shakes the train of thought, bringing herself back to reality. "Alright," she says cheerily, looking down at the girl on her arm before glancing over to Quinn. "Drinks?" she questions simply.

"Fuck yeah," Quinn smiles, and when Santana looks back to Rachel, the girl smiles and nods.

"Fuck yeah," she echoes with a broad smile of her own, unsure she's ever been this happy in her entire life.

It's about an hour later when all of the gleeks except for Finn―for whatever reason, Santana could really care less―have settled into the sitting room with their drinks, trying to decide on a drinking game to play. The usual suggestions of 'Truth or Dare' and 'Kings' come up, both shot down, before a lightbulb goes off in Santana's head.

She smiles, "How about 'I Never'?"

"Yes!" Mercedes agrees, nodding emphatically at the girl from her position on the couch before looking around the circle. "Does everyone know how to play?"

A few people shake their heads, and it's Quinn who clears her throat before explaining.

"Ok, so we go around in a circle," she points around the group in a clockwise motion. "And when it's your turn, you say 'I Never' followed by something that you've legitimately never done. Anyone who has done that thing has to drink."

Puck nods in agreement with the blonde's words before expanding on her description. "Obviously the point of the game is to get everyone nice and sauced, so you wanna try to say things you've never done, but that you think other people have done."

Nods happen all around the group, people seeming to like the premise of the game, but it's only a matter of seconds before Puck's face drops into a bit of a frown and he leans past Quinn towards Santana. "This is a really, really bad idea," he nearly whispers.

Santana swallows her mouthful of beer before turning to look at the boy with an eyebrow arched. "What are you talking about?"

He shakes his head lightly with wide eyes. "Look at who we're playing with," he gestures his head slightly. "Me, you and Britts are gonna get totally fucking hammered while everyone else stays sober..."

Santana's eyes slightly widen as she looks around their little group―the circle consisting of Quinn and Puck to her left, followed by Brittany, Tina, Artie, Matt, Mike, Kurt, Mercedes, and, finally, Rachel to her right―and she groans in realization, suddenly starting to think that she should've just kept her mouth shut. Playing a game like 'I Never' with the straightedge brigade that is New Directions is a one way ticket to alcohol poisoning and sharing a lot more personal information than she would prefer. Really, as much as she likes glee club, these are still just about the last people in the world she wants to know all her deepest, darkest.

Much to her delight, the first couple rounds pass by tamely, with mentions of rollercoasters and camping and other equally innocuous things, everyone starting to get a feel for the game and a bit of a buzz on. But when it comes to Quinn's turn, she decides to be the complete and utter bitch she loves to be.

She looks pointedly at Santana and she speaks with a smug grin. "I've never made out with a girl."

Santana groans, knowing she's not even going to have a chance to get back at Quinn until her turn comes back around, but drinks. Everyone else around the circle follows suit save for Mercedes and Quinn.

Quinn's eyes nearly pop out of her head. "Tina!" she laughs out in disbelief, prompting everyone else to look towards the girl too.

Tina swallows her mouthful of wine cooler before just shrugging. "I sang 'I Kissed A Girl' for my glee audition, what did you expect?"

"She's actually a really good kisser," Brittany adds, causing Tina to look down with a bit of a blush.

Artie glances between the two girls a few times before staring at his girlfriend in utter shock, his mouth slightly agape and his eyes completely glazed over. Puck leans over and punches his arm lightly before shooting him an approving nod and thumbs up, and Santana just chuckles at the scene.

Another round passes by―a round where Santana has had to take a drink every single time as people start trying to one-up one another―before it finally comes around to her turn and she decides to exact her revenge. She turns toward the blonde at her left with a highly satisfied smirk.

"I've never popped out a fucking baby. Drink up, fatty!" she laughs out, earning a resounding slap on her shoulder from the girl at her right.

Quinn grins and shoots an appreciative nod towards Rachel before taking her drink, and Santana just rolls her eyes and drops her brow as she turns towards the diva. "Whose girlfriend are you, anyway?" she asks in annoyance.

Rachel smiles wide, "Yours. That's why I keep you in line," she adds with a smirk and a raise of her eyebrows before settling her head onto the ex-cheerio's shoulder.

Santana groans and the rest of the group gets a good laugh out of it.

"Ok, Q. Your turn already," she breathes out through gritted teeth.

The blonde furrows her brow for a moment. "Ok, I've never failed a class in school."

Brittany and Puck take a drink.

Puck furrows his brow, trying to think of what he wants to say, before he clears his throat slightly. It seems to be pick-on-Santana day, though, because he turns towards her with a grin. "I've never seen a musical," he says with a wink, knowing full well what she and the diva did for Christmas.

Santana shakes her head warningly at the boy before taking her drink, but it doesn't really have the desired effect as Puck just laughs. Rachel, Kurt, Mercedes and Tina all drink as well.

Brittany seems to stare off into space for a long while, though it's unclear whether she's doing so in thought or distraction. Puck lightly elbows her and she snaps to.

"Ok!" she smiles cheerfully. "I've never tied someone to the bed and then used a strap―"

Santana's eyes widen and her face instantly reddens. "Brit!" she squeaks out in embarrassment, successfully silencing the girl. "Stop talking, I'll drink!"

Snickers and muffled laughs happen around the circle and Rachel just stares at her questioningly. She takes a longer swig than is probably necessary, hating the way she's suddenly been thrust into the spotlight again, before clearing her throat.

"Ok, Tina's turn," she says insistently.

Tina is still lightly laughing but seems to have her turn at the ready. "I've never had a one night stand."

Brittany, Puck, Quinn, and Santana take drink.

Artie thinks for a moment before he speaks. "I've never had a hangover."

Santana laughs and bumps Rachel's shoulder with her own. "There's one for you, princess," she winks before taking her own drink.

Rachel rolls her eyes and drops her brow, but she takes a drink along with pretty much everyone else around the circle.

"I've never smoked a cigarette," Matt says simply.

Puck, Brittany, Quinn, Santana and Tina drink.

Mike lightly smirks as he looks back over to Matt. "I've never smoked weed."

Matt groans and shoves the boy's shoulder but drinks, with Puck, Brittany, and Santana following suit.

Rachel's eyes widen and she slaps her girlfriend's shoulder in reprimand. "Santana!" she chides in utter disbelief.

Santana almost laughs out her beer but manages to choke it down before she turns towards the diva with an arched eyebrow. "Well, what did you think that smell was, because it most definitely wasn't garbage," she laughs out, Puck and Quinn slightly laughing along.

The wheels seem to be turning in Rachel's head for a moment before it finally clicks, and, when it does, she huffs and crosses her arms in front of her body, her lips dropping into a bit of a pout. Santana smiles a bit apologetically (though, if she's honest, she's kind of entertained by it all) and she snakes an arm around the diva's slight body before leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

"Gross," Quinn mutters out, and Santana just reaches her bottle holding hand blindly out to shove the blonde's shoulder in reprimand, making a mental note to find some way to get back at her later.

It's Kurt's turn, and the boy's brow furrows for a long while before he looks up with a bit of a shrug, seemingly at a loss. Santana smirks, seeing the opportunity she was waiting for present itself a lot sooner than anticipated.

"Kurt," she says simply, waving the boy close as she leans across the coffee table to whisper in his ear. When she pulls away the boy nods, and Santana grins even wider, keeping her eyes on Quinn as he speaks.

He clears his throat lightly. "I've never had a sexual fantasy about a girl."

Everyone around the circle except for Kurt and Mercedes drinks... including Quinn.

Puck's jaw drops and Santana slaps the blonde's shoulder excitedly.

"HA! I fucking knew it!" she laughs out, earning a groan in response. "There is no way that someone as sexually repressed as you hasn't had homosexy fantasies!"

Quinn shoots a murderous glare at Santana, and Puck is stone still, staring at Quinn like she's just grown an extra pair of breasts.

"Oh my god," he breathes out unsteadily before realization hits him. "Oh my god! Can we please, please, please have a threesome?" he questions excitedly, practically bouncing up and down in his seat, clapping his free hand against the side of his bottle. "I promise I can split my attention equally between two chicks..." he pleads.

Kurt raises a hand to his chest. "I think I'm going to be physically ill."

Santana laughs and Quinn just shakes her head as she abruptly stands, shaking her empty bottle in indication.

"I need a refill," she says pithily before turning to leave, taking the opportunity to get away while she can.

A few others decide they need to replenish their drinks as well, and it's agreed upon that the game should end, there being less than half an hour left before the New Year, anyway.

Santana and Rachel head towards the bathroom, neither having taken a pee break during the game, only to find that there's a long wait to use the single washroom in the house. Santana just shakes her head, Fuck that, before grabbing Rachel's hand and leading her towards the front of the line, knowing exactly who to zero in on. Like clockwork, all it takes is some simple batting of her eyelashes and a bit of the Lopez charm to convince a couple football players to let them cut in.

Rachel watches in slight amazement as Santana works her magic, suddenly wondering how anyone could resist her and feeling incredibly lucky that Santana chose her out of the crowd.

When it comes Santana's turn to go, she tugs Rachel in with her, figuring it'll work out faster this way. Once the door is locked, Santana heads towards the toilet and drops her pants to the ground without a second thought―the alcohol having stripped away the few inhibitions she actually has while sober―while Rachel steps towards the mirror to fix herself up a bit.

"So, how is Noah always able to have these parties? It almost seems like he has them at bi-weekly intervals..." she trails off curiously, using her hands to fluff her hair slightly. "Where's his family?"

"They're with his grandma in Cincinnati," Santana answers without elaboration as she grabs some toilet paper. Rachel looks over questioningly, though, so she continues. "His Aunt Gal lives with his grandma full time and looks after her because she's..." she pauses, trying to find the right words, the slight buzz in her brain doing nothing to help the search. "Well, she's too old to take care of herself anymore." Rachel nods in understanding. "So, every couple weeks his mom and sister go down there for the weekend to visit and to give his aunt a break," she explains as she stands and pulls up her pants.

"Oh," Rachel breathes out in return, turning her head away with a bit of a blush at Santana's slight state of undress. "Well that's nice of them."

"Yeah," Santana replies simply, flushing the toilet and zipping up her jeans before stepping around the diva to use the sink. Rachel doesn't move, though, and Santana arches an eyebrow when she moves to dry her hands. "Don't you have to pee?"

Rachel looks down, the redness across her cheeks slightly deepening. "Well, yes."

Santana's brow furrows. "Well... we're in the washroom now, so now would be the ideal time to go unless you're planning to drop trou in the living room..." she trails off with a bit of a teasing smile.

Rachel looks up with a shy, slightly embarrassed smile of her own. "Can you turn around?"

Santana can't stifle a laugh. "You're serious?"

The diva nods and Santana chuckles softly at the girl's continued modesty, though she does as requested.

She feels kind of awkward as she stares at the wall, the only noise echoing around the small room being that of liquid hitting porcelain. Out of respect, though, she still doesn't turn around when she hears the toilet flush, but only when Rachel lets out a soft "Ok."

Santana turns to see Rachel struggling to do up the button on her pants, though she does eventually get it and the zipper done.

"These jeans are far too tight," she says simply as she smoothes her hands along her denim-clad thighs.

Santana arches a playful eyebrow, letting a grin set across her face as she reaches out to grab the diva, pulling her close by her belt loops. "Would you be more comfortable if I took them off of you?" she lets out with a seductive lilt, shooting her stare down the girl's body at the piece of clothing in question.

"Yes," Rachel breathes out softly, and for a moment Santana's not sure whether she actually heard the word or if it was just wishful thinking.

She pulls back slightly and searches out downcast eyes, keeping her fingers tangled in denim. "Uhh, did you just say... yes?" she questions, part of her wondering where the girl's modesty went (though, to be real, the majority of her doesn't care.)

Rachel looks up and settles a hesitant lip between her teeth before nodding.

Santana's eyes darken and her thought process suddenly shifts to: Oh my fucking god, I'm getting laid tonight. She looks up slightly, silently thanking whoever the fuck is up there for looking out for her. Happy fucking New Year to me! she muses with a wide smile as her heart starts to thump violently against her chest.

She tugs roughly on Rachel's belt loops, this time pulling their bodies flush, before tackling the girl's lips with her own. Rachel's hands hook around her neck and her own hands start to drift up the back of the diva's shirt, sliding to rest under the band of her bra. Their tongues dance in a quickly established rhythm, Santana relishing the familiar feel of Rachel's tongue sliding against her own, though the taste afforded her from the wine coolers Rachel has been drinking is a little more tart than usual. It's a few long moments before Santana pulls her lips back, if only to speak.

"Ugh, can we just get out of here?" she breathes out gutturally, the alcohol in her system quickly threatening to turn the spark within her into a full on fire.

Rachel's eyes slowly slide open though they stay heavy-lidded, almost all their colour having vacated in favour of darkness. "What about Quinn?" she questions softly, not even a hint of genuine objection in her voice.

Santana scoffs. "Fuck Q, she'll be fine."

"What about New Year's?" the diva pushes on, and Santana lets a grin set across her face.

She rakes her nails lightly down Rachel's back, earning a bit of a moan, before slipping one hand smoothly into the diva's back pocket and letting the other play along her lower spine. She leans in impossibly closer, ghosting her lips over the diva's teasingly before trailing hot breath up her jawline and leaning into her ear. "If we go back to my place, I can show you much better fireworks than the ones on tv..." she husks out, letting her teeth graze the diva's lobe.

Rachel shivers in her arms, and when she pulls back the diva's eyes are dark and her breathing has regressed to something resembling a shallow wheeze. Rachel unconsciously licks her lips in anticipation but her eyes are hesitant. "What about your mom?" she breathes out with incredible softness.

Just like that, every bit of awesome, every bit of want and need buzzing through Santana, completely flushes out. True, Maria's already been back for a week now, but she hasn't been a factor for the past seven months. The fact is, regardless of whether it's because of the alcohol or just purely routine, Santana had already forgotten that she doesn't have her house to herself anymore... and Maria might not be too fond of her bringing Rachel home for some quality fucking. She groans heavily at the realization and drops her head to rest on the diva's. "I forgot," she lets out honestly.

"Sorry," Rachel says in return as she drops her stare, having sensed the shift in mood.

Santana raises a hand and hooks it under the girl's chin, bringing deep, brown eyes up to meet her own again. "You have nothing at all to be sorry for. It's not your fault she's back," she smiles softly.

Rachel nods lightly, though she still looks guilty as fuck.

Santana just shakes her head, her smile not faltering as she leans in to kiss the girl again. The kiss doesn't progress too far this time, though, as it's abruptly interrupted by a pronounced knocking at the door.

"Remember, no fucking in my house unless I can watch!" Puck's voice comes through the wooden barrier.

Santana laughs, pretty much into Rachel's mouth, the diva also laughing softly as they pull apart.

Santana looks down at her watch. "Yeah... we should probably get out there anyway. It's not too much longer now before the New Year."

Rachel smiles and nods, lifting to her tiptoes and brushing her lips against the ex-cheerio's before settling back down. "I can't wait," she smiles in return.

After Rachel washes her hands, they exit the small room to be greeted by a smirking Puck as well as some relatively angry looking line occupants. Santana grins in satisfaction at the pissed off people and Puck moves between the girls to throw a weighty arm over each of their shoulders.

"Alright, so you ladies have to come join the rest of the group in the kitchen to grab shots... then we're gonna watch the ball drop―"

Santana smirks and pokes at the boy's side. "Aw, Pucky's finally going through puberty."

Rachel laughs and Puck rolls his eyes as he uses his arm to pull the ex-cheerio into a bit of a headlock for a moment.

"Anyway," he presses on as he loosens his grip on a still-grinning Santana. "After the countdown and all that, I've got something special planned for us," he smiles wide at each girl, squeezing both their shoulders in emphasis.

Santana arches an eyebrow, but it's Rachel who looks up at Puck like he's absolutely insane.

"We're not having a threesome, Noah," she says bluntly.

Santana laughs again, looking past the boy to her girlfriend with an adoring smile. Puck lets out a bit of a laugh as well.

"It's nice that you went there, and I'm definitely banking that information away for future reference..." he smirks. "But that's not even what I was getting at."

Both girls look up curiously and he laughs lightly.

"You'll see."

The threesome reach the kitchen, where the rest of the gleeks have gathered again, and Puck lets go, rather moving to the fridge to pull out a tray of jello shots. He meticulously doles them out, two a piece to each of the gleeks, before taking the rest of the tray out into the living room to offer the leftovers up to whoever's willing, waving for the group to follow after him.

Once the entire party has essentially assembled in the living room, Puck flicks on the tv to the countdown, where they find out they've only about five minutes left before the big moment. He turns off the stereo and turns up the volume on the tv so that they can hear the last musical performance before the count, which happens to be some soft, acoustic number that Santana vaguely recognizes.

A soft smile pulls at the corner of her lips at the song, and she suddenly doesn't care that she's surrounded by a room full of people. She turns to face Rachel and she slightly bends at the knees, leaving herself eye level with the girl she's managed to progressively fall for. "May I have this dance?" she asks sweetly, with a nervous eyebrow raised, actually feeling a bit vulnerable as she does.

Rachel's face lights up and, finding herself wordless, she just nods.

Santana's smile spreads further and the tension runs out of her body as she steps in close, wrapping her arms loosely around the girl's torso. It's slightly awkward, given that she has a plastic shot glass of alcohol-laden jello in each hand, but she really doesn't care, and Rachel doesn't seem to mind either as she moves her equally-full hands to wrap around the ex-cheerio's shoulders. Their bodies nearly flush, Santana starts swaying from side to side, guiding the hips between her arms to match the rhythm of her own, and Rachel releases a bit of a giggle as they start to move in a slow circle.

"I feel like we're at a middle school dance," she says softly with that damn sparkle in her eyes again, and it makes Santana's knees feel a little weak and her head feel a little clouded.

She shakes her head gingerly before she softly smirks. "They never would've let us dance this close in middle school," she breathes out before closing the small gap between their lips.

The kisses are chaste, just gentle brushes of sensitive skin against sensitive skin, but they make Santana's chest tighten and her stomach flutter. Despite the loud chatter surrounding them courtesy of the numerous underagers displaying varying levels of intoxication, it almost feels as if they're the only two in the room, in the world, the only sound making it to either of their ears being the song emanating from the tv.

Let's not lose our way
Let's not wait to say
How we feel inside,

'Cause today is a great day for falling in love.

Santana pulls her lips away and their eyes lock, brown on brown, freckle mirroring freckle, seemingly having an unspoken conversation as their expressions shift between disarmingly soft and slightly nervous smiles. Santana's eyes drift shut again as she drops her forehead to rest on the diva's, and Rachel's eyes soon follow suit.

When you're falling, falling
Just don't let go.

Let's not lose this chance
Hold onto my hands
Let's not waste this time,

'Cause today is a great day for falling in love.

Santana's heart feels like it's attacking her ribs, and she seriously wonders when her feelings, her actual feelings, started to get so intense. It's a little off-putting, but, if she's quite honest, it's one of the best feelings she's had in a really long time. She doesn't feel like a shell anymore, she feels like a living, breathing human being; she feels fucking alive and it feels fucking fantastic.

As the last notes of the song strain out through the television, she leans forward to capture Rachel's lips again, feeling like they're a part of her own being and she needs to bring them back.

Falling in love.

Quinn seems to finally look over and notice the pair as the song ends, her sharp scoff cutting through Santana's complete haze.

"You two are so fucking gay."

Santana smiles against Rachel's lips, holding back a bit of a laugh, before she pulls back, leaving one arm wrapped around her girl as she looks over to the blonde.

"This from the girl who just came out of the closet."

Quinn rolls her eyes and Santana's mouth settles into a grin.

"Guess you know how to recognize your own kind, huh Q?"

Quinn laughs, leaning further into Puck's side, pulling his arm more firmly around her body. "You just keep dreaming, S."

Santana arches an eyebrow. "Well, apparently you're the one who's been dreaming about it," she smirks before wiggling her eyebrows teasingly.

Quinn rolls her eyes again and Puck turns his head to face the rest of the room. "Shut the fuck up, everyone! The countdown's about to start!"

He says it loud enough for everyone to hear, and when the final count does begin, the entire room joins in.

"10!"

Santana looks towards Rachel with a soft smile.

"9!"

Rachel returns the smile, and Santana's heart reaches a gallop again.

"8!"

Santana turns her body towards Rachel again, letting her wrists rest against the diva's hips.

"7!"

Rachel's arms take residence around Santana's neck once more.

"6!"

Rachel shifts both shots into one hand, letting the other tangle in Santana's hair.

"5!"

Santana shivers and her eyes blacken, though she doesn't move an inch, as Rachel's fingers gently massage the back of her head.

"4!"

Rachel tugs lightly on the ex-cheerio's neck, pulling her closer, preparing for the climax.

"3!"

Santana's temporary haze breaks at Rachel's insistence, and she tightens her hold around the diva's body, pressing their pelvises together.

"2!"

Rachel's smile spreads at the contact and she wets her lips with a quick swipe of her tongue.

"1!"

Santana's heart is beating in a frantic rhythm as she thinks of the ramifications of the kiss that's about to happen; the weight of it, the meaning behind it. It's a promise, a guarantee that the next year is going to be spent the way this moment is being spent―just Rachel and Santana and nothing fucking else matters. Quite frankly, Santana's starting to think she prefers it this way.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The loud shout reverberates throughout the room, followed by a roar of cheering, but the echo hasn't even dissipated before Santana's lips are on Rachel's again, her hands wanting desperately to drop the shots in their grip to feel out skin instead. The kiss, which Santana originally planned to keep chaste, turns out to be anything but. Rachel's tongue runs along her lower lip, and, when she denies entry, the diva tugs firmly on the hair in her grasp and lets her teeth enter the fray. She urgently bites at the ex-cheerio's lip, and Santana really can't fight the soft moan that slips out―though it's effectively drowned out by the familiar strains of 'Auld Lang Syne' playing in the background.

Their tongues meet again, and Santana's almost sure she's losing control of her bodily functions when an embarrassingly guttural moan escapes her lips; not that she would care to stop it right now, even if she could. Right now the only thing on her mind is the feel of Rachel pressed against her and the gentle throbbing that's starting to settle between her thighs. She finds herself lost in the abyss; that is, up until a hand tugs at her arm.

"Hey," Puck's voice comes, softly but urgently.

Santana audibly groans and rolls her eyes beneath closed lids before turning to face the boy with an absolute glare.

He still has an arm wrapped around Quinn, but he raises both hands up in submission. "Just wanted to remind you that I've got a surprise for us all," he smiles softly. "And also," he drops a hand to point. "To let you know that you're slacking on your New Year's shots."

The smile is charmingly good-natured, and it makes Santana sigh heavily. She pushes back the reflexive anger of being interrupted (because, really, Rachel's lips, Rachel's tongue, are about the last things she wants to be pulled away from) and lightly nods. She reluctantly pulls away from Rachel, only letting about a foot of space between their bodies, before lifting one of the plastic cups to her lips and taking the gelatin into her mouth. She quickly chews and swallows the shot before the other cup meets the same fate.

Rachel watches with wide eyes before looking warily down at the shots in her own hands. "Uh..." She flips one of the cups upside down, noting how the shot stays nestled in the glass, before looking up questioningly.

Santana smiles softly, unable to resist leaning in to kiss the diva's cheek. "Just squeeze the cup and the jello will fall out."

Rachel nods and does as instructed, downing both shots quickly before shaking her head with a bit of a grimace. "That tastes nothing like jello."

Santana, Quinn, and Puck chuckle at the display, and when Santana looks over to Quinn she's smiling.

"Happy New Year, S," Quinn says softly, stepping out of Puck's grasp and closing the small gap between their bodies.

Santana gladly accepts the hug, wrapping her arms tightly around the girl who's been, for better or worse, one of her best friends for the past ten years. "Happy New Year, Q," she says simply in return before pulling back with a smile.

"Best year ever, right?" the blonde questions with a smirk.

"Fuck yeah," Santana smirks in return.

"What, no love for el Puckarone? I see how it is," the boy says in mock-hurt.

Santana rolls her eyes before stepping into Puck's waiting arms.

"Happy New Year, San," he smiles, wrapping his arms firmly around the girl's shoulders.

Santana lets her own arms drift around the boy's midsection. "Happy New Year, Pucky," she lets out playfully.

Puck rolls his eyes with a smile as he pulls away, and Santana glances over to Rachel, surprised to see her in a loose hug with Quinn. She smiles at the sight but arches a curious eyebrow.

"So... should I be worried about the two of you getting cozy now, then?" she questions, unable to fight the shit eating grin that crosses her face.

Quinn pulls out of the embrace with an absolute grimace that is soon followed by a glare, but Puck's hand comes down firm on Santana's shoulder.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to properly repay you for that mental image," he drawls out, drawing a laugh from Santana and a pair of dropped brows from the two other girls.

Quinn comes by Santana's side, and Puck and Rachel share a quick hug before Puck turns towards them with a smile.

"Alright, everyone ready for the surprise?"

"Ok?" Santana lets out questioningly, glancing over to Quinn, who looks equally confused, then over to Rachel, whose expression matches.

He just waves an arm for the three girls to follow along, "Come on."

Santana arches an eyebrow, and Quinn and Puck make it a few steps away before she takes any action at all. She shakes her head slightly before stepping towards Rachel and sliding a hand down her forearm to take a small hand within her own. She just squeezes it reassuringly, wordlessly, putting on a soft smile before turning to walk, pulling the slight girl along behind her.

Puck leads the foursome to his room, which makes Santana grow wary again. She's only ever been in Puck's room for two reasons: sleeping and fucking, and she's sincerely hoping he's not actually thinking of the latter.

Puck walks over to the mini-fridge in the corner of the room, cracking it open and pulling something out before turning with a smile. "Champagne... for the fancy bitches," he amends with a smirk.

Santana shoots him a glare, and Quinn mirrors it physically by slapping his shoulder, which makes Santana smile.

Puck ignores the impact, rather heading to the nightstand to grab four plastic champagne flutes that he, seemingly, had as the ready. He starts to make quick work of opening the bottle, and Quinn's eyes widen when she actually notices the label.

"Moët?" she questions as the pop of the cork echoes throughout the room.

Puck smirks lightly as he starts pouring the first glass. "Only the best for my best bitches."

Santana laughs, but Quinn slaps his shoulder again.

"Hey!" he chides firmly, stopping his pour before turning towards the blonde. "This shit is seriously expensive, please don't make me spill it."

Santana smirks. "Yeah, that'd be alcohol abuse."

Quinn rolls her eyes, but speaks only to Puck. "Stop giving me reasons to hit you and I'll stop hitting you."

Rachel lightly chuckles, and Quinn gives her a nod of appreciation once more.

Santana walks over towards Puck to help with the glasses, and she lowers her voice as she looks at him questioningly. "How much fucking money did you spend on tonight?"

He grins as he starts to pour the final glass, the volume of his voice matching Santana's own. "I charged twenty bucks a head for everyone to get in here tonight." He turns to hand her two of the glasses with a broad smile. "Believe it or not, I'm actually making a profit."

Santana laughs and shakes her head as she takes the drinks proffered. For a boy who's not so book smart, he's still pretty fucking clever when it gets right down to the nitty-gritty.

She makes her way back over to Rachel and hands her a drink before dropping to take a seat on the edge of Puck's bed. Rachel manoeuvres herself to take a seat on the ex-cheerio's lap, hooking an arm around her neck, and Puck and Quinn assume a similar seating arrangement a little bit further down the bed.

"Alright," Puck smiles as he raises his glass. "Here's to surviving another year and hoping we make it through the next!"

"And to making new friends," Quinn says, raising her glass in kind, looking kindly towards Rachel, which makes the diva blush a little.

"And to health and happiness," Santana smiles, raising her own glass.

"And to the New Directions winning Nationals this year," Rachel smiles impossibly wide, lifting her own glass up to meet the other three with the gentle thud of plastic on plastic.

"Happy fucking New Year, bitches," Puck smirks, earning another slap on the shoulder and a few chuckles before they each take their first sip. He starts to tickle at Quinn's sides a little bit and they fall into their own little fight as Rachel turns her attention towards Santana, lifting her hand up to run it the length of her girlfriend's hair.

"So... what's your New Year's resolution?"

Santana's brow furrows. "Isn't that one of those things that you can't tell anyone else or it won't come true?"

Rachel's brow knits to match and she shakes her head. "Uh, no, that's a birthday wish," she says with a bit of a chuckle.

"Oh," Santana lets out as she drifts off into thought for a moment, taking a sip from her glass. Truth is, she's never really thought about it because, to her, it's about as stupid a concept as making birthday wishes. And if there's one thing she's learned in her sixteen years of existence, it's that her wishes never come true. After a short while she shrugs. "I don't know, I guess I don't really have one."

"Santana," Rachel lets out in that overly naggy voice that Santana's become all-too-familiar with. "You can't not have a New Year's resolution. It's important to give yourself something to strive for."

Santana rolls her eyes before arching an eyebrow. "So what's yours then?"

"My what?"

Santana rolls her eyes again. "Your resolution, Einstein," she replies with a teasing smile.

Rachel pouts briefly before a smile starts to a tug at her lips and a bit of a blush spreads out across her cheeks. "It's pretty general..."

"And it is...?"

Rachel sighs as she looks deeply into brown eyes that seem to mirror her own. "To get it right this time. To make things work. To make us work."

Santana's heart flutters and she tightens her arm around the diva's waist, reaching her glass-holding hand out to draw lazy patterns on the girl's thigh with her finger. "Really?" she asks with uncharacteristic softness.

Rachel nods. "Yeah," she answers softly.

Santana's heart thumps heavily against her ribs and she closes the small gap between them to brush her lips against the diva's. When she pulls away, Rachel is wearing a soft smile.

"If you need a suggestion for yours..." she trails off in offering before taking a sip of her drink.

Santana wants to roll her eyes but finds herself feeling curious instead. "Why, what would you suggest?"

Rachel shrugs lightly. "Well, maybe that you stop doing drugs."

Santana's brow furrows and she huffs a bit of a laugh. "I don't do drugs."

Rachel shakes her head, not taking the answer as adequate. "You're a pothead."

Santana just laughs, full out this time, her eyes wide. "Rachel, smoking weed, like, twice a year does not make me a pothead."

"It's still illegal," the diva says tersely.

Santana arches an eyebrow as a bit of a smirk tugs at the corner of her mouth. "I've done a lot less legal things than smoke a little weed..."

Rachel looks unimpressed. "You know, it's a gateway drug..."

Santana can't help but laugh again. "Thank you, McGruff the Crime Dog."

Rachel rolls her eyes and shoots back the rest of her champagne before pulling out of Santana's grasp, rising to her feet and moving to leave. Santana quickly stands, reaching out and grabbing a belt loop to pull the diva back to her. Rachel's back comes to rest on her front, and she lets her hands drift to the girl's hipbones, massaging the skin found there.

She leans into the shorter girl's ear. "Where are you going?" she lets out breathily, making sure the air rushes across the sensitive skin of Rachel's neck.

Rachel visibly shivers. "To get a drink," she offers weakly.

Santana places a soft kiss on the girl's neck before spinning the slight body in her arms. She shakes her head. "Nope, we're dancing," she smirks with a raise of her eyebrows.

They dance for an hour or so with the rest of the gleeks before Santana finds herself needing a bathroom break again, starting to think that she might have broken the seal a little too early on in the night. She takes off and does her thing and when she comes back she can see Rachel talking to Finn off at the side of the dancefloor, his hand gripping around her upper arm. Santana's brow furrows and she can feel her blood start to run a little hot, the scene on display stirring up a whole fuck load of déjà vu in her mind. Part of her is already prepared to rip Finn's balls off and feed them to him as a late-night snack, but she walks over as calmly as she can.

Rachel looks up excitedly when she notices her approaching. "Santana!" she smiles impossibly wide, starting to get a bit of a drunk face on, using a hand to wave her over.

Santana arches a wary eyebrow, chancing a glance over at Finn, who drops his hand and shrugs, before looking back to her girlfriend.

"Ok, I'm glad that I have you both here because I have something that I wish to discuss with you both." She pauses to smile at each of them. "I was hoping that we could together next weekend."

She says it simply but it causes both Finn and Santana to look at each other before looking over to the diva with wide eyes.

Santana arches a disapproving eyebrow and shakes her head slightly. "Who's the 'we' in that sentence?"

"The three of us," Rachel smiles.

Finn's arms instinctively cross in front of his body and Santana's arms automatically clasp on her hips, neither seeming particularly pleased with the suggestion. Fact is, despite the fact that Santana and Finn are going to be working together on their revenge plan against Karofsky & co., what Rachel's suggesting sounds an awful lot like friendship, and that's something that neither of them are particularly interested in.

"Uhh," Finn lets out, looking at the diva like she's gone completely off her nut. "This sounds like a really, really bad idea."

Santana nods and gestures her head. "Douche Magoo is right."

The boy turns his head and looks at her pointedly. "Is that really all you're good for? A bit of revenge and the occasional insult?" he groans, his voice rising in volume.

Santana rolls her eyes. "Calm down, man boobs, there's no need to start lactating over it. I feel like you should be put on a farm and milked."

"Santana..." Rachel draws out, half in reprimand and half pleadingly.

Santana sighs heavily and rolls her eyes, waving a dismissive hand. "Fine, whatever."

Rachel's eyes light up and a disgustingly large smile spreads across her features, but, as much as Santana hates it, she can't fight the smile that tugs at her own lips at the sight. Rachel rises to her toes and leans to kiss Santana on the cheek, and Santana hopes that it's the heat of the booze and not a blush that runs into her cheeks.

Finn looks away before clearing his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, fine, I'm gonna go," he says simply, and, when met with no objection, he leaves just as simply.

Santana smiles and runs a hand down to twine her fingers with Rachel's, bringing the girl's hand up to brush her lips across its back. Rachel smiles bashfully and Santana steps forward to wrap an arm around the diva's waist.

"So... drink? Then maybe some more dancing?" she suggests with a quirked eyebrow.

"Sounds wonderful," Rachel beams before rising to brush her lips across the ex-cheerio's once more.

They only make it about halfway to the kitchen before a borderline overly inebriated Puck catches sight of them and pads over to meet them. "Shots!" he smiles excitedly, grabbing Santana's arm and tugging her along―by extension tugging Rachel, who is still attached to Santana's hand.

She rolls her eyes as they reach the kitchen and the bottle of vodka awaiting them. "Where's Q?"

Puck shrugs. "I think she's hanging out with B right now."

Santana nods, watching with an arched eyebrow as the boy sloppily pours the shots―managing to spill a little on the counter before haphazardly wiping at the small puddle with the sleeve of his shirt―and she wonders how much booze he must have packed away over the past hour to be this drunk already.

He turns around with a lazy smile, "Shots for my favourite girls."

Santana arches an eyebrow as she accepts a glass. "Quinn not one of your favourites anymore?"

He scoffs and waves out a thoughtless arm, almost managing to hit Rachel as he does. "You know what I mean," he slurs out.

Rachel takes a step back, one that puts her closer to Santana, before hesitantly accepting a shot glass from Puck. "Noah," she starts a little worriedly. "It seems as though the most judicious idea at the moment might be for you to not have a drink..." she trails off, pointing warily at the small glass that the boy has retrieved for himself from the countertop.

Santana's eyes widen, surprised that the diva actually said something, but she nods her agreement. "Rachel's right, Pucky, you're starting to look like you've had a few too many..." she trails off somewhat carefully, not wanting to rile him up.

Puck just scoffs and drinks back his shot before pointing a finger out at the girls with his now empty glass. "It'd do you two some good to drink a little more... maybe if you took the edge off, you'd finally get it in," he winks, nowhere near subtly, at Santana.

Rachel's eyes widen and she huffs before abruptly slamming her still-full shot glass down onto the counter, spinning on her heel and walking away. Santana groans and runs a frustrated hand over her face, watching the diva go for a moment before turning back to Puck, who is still grinning like a fucking idiot. Truth be told, if he were anyone but Puck right now, and if he didn't look like a fucking helpless little puppy at the moment, she'd probably kick his fucking ass.

"Thanks a lot, Puckhead. You're seriously starting to turn into the ultimate fucking cockblock, you know that?" she says with no small amount of venom in her voice.

He just scoffs, and Santana slams back her shot before grabbing and slamming back the second one. She shakes the burning sensation before stomping out of the kitchen, almost bumping straight into Brittany and Quinn as she does.

"Hey," Quinn greets with a smile, though it slightly falters when she sees the redness in Santana's eyes. "What happened?"

Santana rolls her eyes, not even wanting to go there right now. "Have you guys seen Rachel?" she asks simply, though it's laced with a bit of urgency.

Brittany nods. "Yeah, she took off towards Puck's room. She looked angry... or drunk... or both..." she trails off, as if she's trying to figure it out herself.

Santana just nods, "Thanks," before quickly heading towards the side hallway, leaving two confused blondes behind.

When she gets to the room, Rachel is pulling on her jacket already.

She closes the door behind her. "Rach―" is all she manages to get out before the girl spins around.

"Why does Noah know about our sex life?" she asks sternly, approaching with long, slow footsteps, her expression as serious as a heart attack.

Lack thereof, is Santana's immediate thought, but she shakes it and sighs. "He's one of my best friends. We talk about everything," she shrugs, a part of her wondering why the girl's so upset about it anyway.

Rachel stops in her tracks, but she starts to button up her jacket. "Well then, you can also tell him about how I left the party and you went home alone with Quinn."

Santana's face drops impossibly further and she quickly approaches her girlfriend, placing her hands on smaller ones to stop their motion.

Rachel only has about two buttons done up when her hands are stilled, and she looks up with hurt in her eyes. "Why would you do that? Am I just a conquest or something to you? Something you can brag about to your 'best friend'?"

Santana quickly shakes her head, slightly nestling a lip between her teeth for a worried moment. It suddenly hits her that Rachel doesn't really have a best friend (or two, for that matter) to confide in like she does. "Of course not, you have to know that. I mean, come on..." Brown eyes look away. "Rach..." she says pleadingly.

Rachel doesn't look back up, but her posture does soften. Santana takes it as a good sign. She moves to the bed, lightly tugging the diva's hand so that she'll follow, and, thankfully, she does.

They settle side-by-side on the edge of the mattress, a disconcerting amount of space between their bodies. Santana runs her hands along her thighs somewhat nervously before chancing a glance at the girl next to her, who is looking straight ahead at the wall. She shifts in her seat, lifting a leg up onto the bed so that she can turn to face the diva fully.

"Rachel," she breathes out softly, raising a hand to tuck some hair behind the girl's ear. The diva still doesn't pay her any mind, so she raises her other hand to run it along the girl's cheek, gently coaxing brown eyes to meet her own. "Rachel, look at me," she pleads.

Rachel sighs but gives in, turning to look at her girlfriend, albeit with an exhausted expression. Santana smiles softly, gently, and Rachel's actually a little taken aback by how uncharacteristically tender the expression is.

"You're not a 'conquest'," Santana says first and foremost, needing to get that ridiculous idea out of the way. "You never were and you never will be. You're more than that." Rachel's expression still reads slightly vacant, and it actually causes Santana to chuckle softly and shake her head before she looks deep into her favourite mahogany pools. "You're my princess, remember?" she breathes out softly, feeling that uncomfortable vulnerability again.

It's said so softly that Rachel almost doesn't hear it, even with her superhuman hearing, but, when she does, she comes back to life. Her eyes focus on the warm ones in front of her, the deep, dark eyes that have come to mean so much to her, and she nods.

Santana nods lightly in return, running the pad of her thumb gently along the diva's cheek. "And I'm your knight in shining armour, right?"

A bit of a smile quirks at the corner of Rachel's mouth as she nods again, and it makes a bit of a smile start to take form on Santana's face as well.

"And we're gonna get through everything together. We'll fight the Davids, the cheer bitches, the Karofskys, the whoever- and whatever-the-fucks get in our way, and we'll win every. single. fucking. time." she enunciates. "And you know why?"

Rachel's head cocks slightly to the side and she shakes her head as she looks at the ex-cheerio longingly, curiously. "Why?" she whispers out.

A bit of a grin pulls at Santana's lips and she can't help the smugness of her voice. "Because I'm Santana fucking Lopez and I always get my way," she smirks with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Something in Rachel's eyes shifts as she smiles, and she barely pauses before she―quite surprisingly, to Santana―lunges forward, tackling the ex-cheerio down onto the bed, slamming her lips against the slightly thinner ones now beneath her.

Santana's frozen for a moment, half convinced that this absolutely cannot be happening, before Rachel's thigh happens to take residence between her own, bringing her right back to reality. She reaches her hands up, carelessly tearing at the buttons on Rachel's jacket as their tongues meet again―slipping and sliding with practiced expertise―and they exchange soft, almost frantic moans.

Rachel lifts herself slightly to remove the jacket and Santana pouts at the sudden loss of contact, but the diva immediately settles back down and bites down on the ex-cheerio's lip. Santana inhales a sharp breath at the sensation, but the slight pain feels so incredibly fucking good right now. Rachel shifts her thigh slightly, letting it make contact with Santana's core, and suddenly Santana's on autopilot. She runs her hands up the back of Rachel's shirt, letting them drift around the band of the girl's bra before starting to tease her nipples through the thin lace. Rachel moans deeply and thrusts her thigh even harder, and Santana starts to wonder if she can come from just dry humping the girl on top of her, her pelvis involuntarily thrusting up to meet the contact.

She groans, turning her hands around and hooking her fingertips into the girl's bra, tugging her down so that their bodies are flush. She hooks a leg around one of the diva's, quickly collecting her momentum before rolling them over onto the pile of coats on the bed. She lets her hands palm the diva's breasts beneath the fabric of her bra, earning drawn out moans and highly frantic breaths that she muffles with her own mouth. She drives her thigh down hard onto Rachel's centre and the girl practically squeals, pulling her mouth away for air.

Santana kisses, nips, and licks at the diva's throat as she slides her hands back down and out of the shirt, rather using them to rip open the vest―never planning on using it again, anyway―and start to tug up on the white t-shirt. She abandons Rachel's neck, rather shifting down to start kissing and licking her abs as the girl's hands tangle in her hair. She circles a skilful tongue around the diva's bellybutton as her fingers start to drift along the length of the girl's waistband. Rachel bucks up, and Santana smirks, shifting her hands to the diva's hips and pushing her down flat against the bed.

"Santana," comes a breathless, frantic voice.

Santana lifts her head to look up at Rachel, who is looking down at her with heavy-lidded eyes.

"Don't stop," is all the girl says before dropping her head back onto the pile of fabric, and it's all Santana needs to hear before setting back to work.

She lets her hands drift around to latch onto Rachel's ass as she runs her mouth a little further up again. She's just about reached the girl's bra when she hears the door slam open. She pulls back immediately, looking at the intruder with wide eyes, and Rachel tugs down frantically at her shirt.

Quinn doesn't even flinch. "I don't care if you two are in the middle of fucking right here and now; I need to get the fuck out of here."

Santana's breathing is embarrassingly heavy, and she stares at the blonde for a long while before her lungs allow her to speak. "Ok," and a nod is all she can come up with, and Quinn's already reached the bed at this point and is tugging at her jacket that is trapped underneath Rachel's body.

Rachel sits up to aid in the effort, and Santana arches an eyebrow.

"Puck?"

Quinn just nods as she pulls on the coat. "Remind me to never go near him when he drinks, ok?" she almost laughs out in frustration.

Santana nods in silent understanding, and also in agreement. "Sure thing, Q." Puck may be a great friend and all, but when it comes to drinking, sometimes he just doesn't seem to know when he's had enough... and that's something Quinn's had enough experience with to last numerous lifetimes.

Quinn pauses and looks over with a bit of a guilty smile. "I'm sorry for interrupting," she lightly shrugs.

Santana just waves a dismissive hand as she rises from the bed, reaching her other out to help her girlfriend up. "Don't worry, Q, you didn't interrupt anything. I live five minutes away, I consider this an intermission." She smirks before looking back to Rachel, who blushes, and shooting her a wink.

Quinn shakes her head with a disgusted expression, raising her hands up in front of her body. "Too far."

Santana chuckles softly as she pulls her jacket on, but can't fight the darkness in her eyes as she looks over to Rachel, whose eyes are dark to match. She's suddenly fucking ecstatic that she lives so close.

It's only a short while before they're out on the snowy streets, making the cold walk back towards the Lopez household. Rachel and Santana are walking in tandem, their arms linked together, leading the way with Quinn trailing close behind.

They walk on in silence for a few minutes before Santana feels something cold and hard make impact with the back of her head. She reaches a hand back to feel the icy wetness of snow spread throughout her hair, and she turns around with wide eyes to see Quinn smirking at her.

"Thought you might need to cool off," the blonde chuckles, and the look she's sending is almost challenging.

Santana shakes her head. "Don't get yourself into something you're not prepared to get yourself out of, Fabray," she says warningly.

Quinn just laughs before launching another snowball at the ex-cheerio, one that meets Santana's shoulder with a thud. She looks down at the spot of snow before looking over to the blonde with an absolute glare.

"You're fucking dead," she says menacingly before pulling away from Rachel and grabbing a handful of snow herself. She launches the ball at a laughing Quinn―though, of course, it goes nowhere near her target.

"Empty threat," Quinn laughs out, though her laughter stops when something makes impact with her chest. She looks down to see a patch of snow before looking up with wide eyes to see a particularly smug Rachel grinning.

"You forget, Quinn, that she has backup," the diva smirks.

Santana smiles wide, looking at her girlfriend with absolute adoration. Rachel returns the smile, but gestures her head towards the blonde, and Santana nods in understanding.

Quinn seems to have a feel for what's about to happen, and she shakes her head. "Don't even fucking think about it..." she draws out warningly.

Santana and Rachel just share another nod before they both rush towards Quinn, who tries in vain to retreat. Santana tackles her around the waist into the snow bank behind her as Rachel tosses a handful of loose snow onto the fallen girl. Both Santana and Rachel fall into laughter as Quinn struggles to escape.

"This isn't fucking fair!" the blonde breathes out, launching handfuls of snow up at her attackers.

"You started it, Q," Santana laughs.

Quinn groans. "It's two against one!"

Santana smirks, "Untrue. You said we were one person. That sounds like a pretty fair fight to me, no?" she says playfully, looking over to Rachel for verification.

Rachel nods but also shivers, and Santana immediately stops her assault on Quinn as her expression drops. She stands from her position straddling Quinn and rather offers the blonde her hand.

"It's getting pretty cold out here, we should probably get home."

Quinn arches a wary eyebrow as she stares at Santana critically, not sure if she believes her or not, but she takes her hand nonetheless.

The threesome spend a few moments brushing snow off of themselves before they finally do make the rest of the walk to the Lopez house. The house is dark, and Santana thanks her lucky stars that Maria seems to have gone to sleep already.

They enter quietly, and Rachel heads upstairs to change while Santana heads into the living room with Quinn to help her get her bed for the night set up.

Neither really talks until they're tucking a flat sheet around the couch cushions and Santana arches a curious eyebrow, unable to bite back the urge to ask. "So... are things gonna be alright between you and Puck?"

Quinn groans in response as she tucks in a corner. "I really don't want to talk about it."

Santana nods as she turns her attention back towards the couch. "I'm sorry," she lets out softly, solemnly.

Quinn shakes her head. "Forget about it," she says simply as she pulls the sheet taut to tuck in the final corner. "I'll worry about all of that later. Right now I just wanna get this shit done so I can change into dry clothes and pass the fuck out.

Santana just nods, grabbing the comforter and pillow she had put out earlier from an arm chair and tossing them to the blonde. "Thanks for taking the couch, Q," she says a bit sheepishly.

Quinn scoffs. "I don't cockblock... even if I think that the idea of you and Rachel together is pretty much the most disgusting thing I've ever heard," she trails off teasingly.

Santana just chuckles and shakes her head, following along as Quinn grabs her bag and heads out into the hallway. It comes time to separate when they reach the downstairs bathroom, and the blonde turns around with a bit of a smirk.

"Remember not to fuck too loudly, your mom's in the next room."

Santana rolls her eyes with another chuckle. "Thanks for the reminder, Q. You're really helping out with the sexy feelings right now."

Quinn lets out a bit of a satisfied chuckle in return as she shrugs. "I do what I can," she says smugly, but it's only a few moments before she slightly nods and her expression grows soft, and, for the first time, Santana can actually see that Quinn is happy for her.

It makes Santana smile wide and she takes a long step forward to pull the girl into a hug. "Good night, Q."

Quinn returns the hug before pulling back with a soft smile. "Night, S."

When Santana gets upstairs, the door to her bedroom is closed and she figures that Rachel must already be in there. She heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth quickly before heading back to the room. When she pulls the door open, her heart starts to beat a little faster and she takes to leaning onto the doorframe for a moment to steady herself as she stares at the scene in front of her. Rachel is seated on the edge of the bed, leaning back onto her hands, her bare, days-long legs extended in front of her, wearing only a t-shirt and a pair of underwear. Her hair is slightly wet and mussed from the snow fight and she's biting her lower lip quite seductively.

Santana swallows thickly before she finds herself actually able to produce sound. "What are you doing?" she lets out as a playful whisper, keeping in mind that her mother is in the next room.

Rachel wears a bit of a lopsided grin as she speaks. "Waiting for you," she lets out at an equally soft volume.

Santana smirks lightly, running her thumb down the wood of the frame supporting her at the moment. "And what if I were to keep you waiting?" she asks teasingly with an eyebrow raised.

Rachel glances over at the clock on the nightstand. "Well, that really depends on how long we're talking..." she draws out playfully as she locks eyes with the standing girl once more.

Santana's heart starts to beat even faster, but she steps into the room completely and closes the door behind herself with a soft click―Zee narrowly managing to scurry in without getting her tail clipped by the door. Rachel pushes herself further back onto the bed, bringing her outstretched legs up onto the fabric and crossing them daintily. She reaches one hand forward to run it up the length of her thigh, drifting past her centre, pulling her shirt up along the way as she moves up her stomach, letting the shirt drop back down as she trails the hand further through her cleavage, up her throat and across her lips, before nestling the tip of her index finger between her teeth.

Santana licks her lips slightly at the sight. She doesn't want to tear her eyes away from the girl ready and waiting on her bed, but she suddenly remembers that she's still in wet clothes. She keeps her eyes locked on Rachel's as she quickly pulls off her top, dropping it to the floor, leaving her in her bra and jeans. She reaches clumsy hands down towards her waistband and starts to struggle, embarrassingly so, with the button of her jeans. She begrudgingly turns her attention down to the abysmal piece of metal safely nestled in its denim home, once again thinking that someone should hang for having invented this shit.

Rachel watches the display with a smirk and raises a questioning eyebrow. "Having trouble?" she teases airily.

Santana stops the movement of her hands, which seem to have gone completely lame, anyway. "Uh, yeah..." she draws out as she looks back to the girl on the bed. "I seem to have forgotten how to work a button fly..." she explains with a bit of a blush.

Rachel smiles wide before she pushes off of the bed and starts to slowly approach. Santana immediately notices how the girl's nipples are poking through the thin fabric of her shirt and becomes utterly aware of the fact that her bra is no longer an obstacle. She can feel her eyes darken at the realization and she unconsciously licks her lips.

Rachel walks right up to her, in so amazingly close, and nips lightly at her chin before speaking in the sexiest voice that Santana's sure she's ever heard.

"Let's see if I can help you with that," she husks out before biting and tugging at Santana's slightly agape lower lip.

At this point Santana's half sure her knees are poised to give out, but Rachel tugs firm on the waistband of her pants, keeping her upright. Their lips meet again, though there's far less tenderness this time, a seeming sense of urgency having set in. Santana runs her hands under the diva's shirt, along her bare sides, and Rachel's hands deftly dispose of the button and fly on the ex-cheerio's jeans.

Once they're undone, Rachel's hands slide beneath the waistband of her jeans, drifting around to start to palm her ass. Rachel uses her slight weight to push Santana back against the door and Santana almost gasps into the girl's mouth in surprise. She quickly decides that she kinda loves this slightly inebriated, super aggressive version of Rachel that she's only met once before.

Rachel's hands slide down a little further, pushing the jeans down with them. She breaks the kiss to tug the jeans down to Santana's knees, and Santana takes over from there, kicking them the rest of the way off as she reaches a hand down to pull Rachel back up to her faster. Their mouths meet again, and a surprisingly bold Rachel lets her hand brush over the thin lace covering Santana's centre. That's all it takes to effectively awaken the pent up yearning within her.

She roughly tugs up on the t-shirt that the diva is wearing, and Rachel really has no choice but to raise her arms in acquiescence. Santana tosses the fabric aside, and as Rachel's arms come back down to rest on broad shoulders, her breasts settle with a bounce. Santana's eyes go incredibly darker and her mouth runs completely dry as her eyes drift over the girl, and her hands automatically latch onto newly exposed skin.

She starts to palm at Rachel's breasts as they kiss again, taking slow steps to push the diva back towards the bed. They move almost seamlessly from a standing position to Santana straddling Rachel on the bedspread, as she has so many times before, their tongues maintaining their fast, somewhat sloppy exchange. When Santana brushes her thumbs across Rachel's nipples, the shorter girls pulls away for air, and Santana takes to kissing down her throat once more. She gives Rachel's collarbone extra attention as she sucks on the patch of skin there and lets her hands start to run up and down the diva's abs, raking her nails lightly along the contracting skin.

Rachel muffles a moan with her hand, and Santana smiles against her sternum as she starts to work her way further down. She leads a trail of kisses down through the valley of the girl's breasts, continuing the tracks of her nails along firm abs. She kisses at the bottom of one of the diva's breasts before swirling her tongue up and around the nipple, soon taking the sensitive bud between her lips and rolling it gently between her teeth as she raises her hand to give the girl's other breast some love, too.

Rachel's breathing is rapid and uneven already, and Santana soon switches sides, lavishing the other breast with oral attention as well. She takes her time, wanting to make Rachel feel comfortable, feel ready for what's happening. She lets her hands linger as her mouth departs, lightly kneading breasts as she lets her tongue trail further down. Rachel's abs are already contracting violently, and when Santana lightly sucks on the muscled skin, the girl's hips cant up at her chest. She chuckles, and lets her hands drift down, pushing Rachel down flat against the bed again.

She spends a short while circling Rachel's bellybutton before moving even further down, and she hears the rustling of Rachel reaching out to grab a pillow and placing it over her mouth. She shoots her eyes up briefly to see it, and it makes her smirk. She runs her tongue along the waistband of Rachel's lace panties as she manoeuvres one of the diva's thighs to rest over her shoulder. She starts to place tender kisses along the inside of the thigh draped over her as her hands slide down and she hooks them under the sides of the diva's waistband.

"Santana," Rachel moans out breathlessly, making the ex-cheerio smile against taut skin.

Santana starts to trail her kisses further up the girl's thigh, inching ever-closer to her final destination.

"Santana," another moan comes, this one more frantic.

Santana readies herself before lowering and swiping her tongue up the length of Rachel's slit through the absolutely soaking wet fabric found there.

Rachel bucks up hard against Santana's mouth, and the sound she releases is absolutely indescribable... however, it's also released at an absolutely indescribable volume.

Santana stills and lifts her head, and silence passes over the room, both girls waiting to see whether they've roused any signs of life from the room next door. A few tense moments pass before Rachel's voice can be heard again.

"Santana, no," she whispers out firmly.

Santana's brow furrows, and she removes herself from beneath the diva's thigh before rising to her hands and staring down at her girlfriend in confusion.

"No," Rachel repeats with a shake of her head, reaching a hand down towards the girl. "Come back to me," she says softly, pleadingly.

Santana has no clue what's going on at the moment, her head clouded with lust and alcohol, but nods, doing as the girl requests. She slowly drags herself up the diva's body, letting her abs brush along the girl's centre as she does. Rachel's unable to control another moan, one loud enough that Santana actually reaches a hand up to clamp it over the girl's mouth. She starts to think that with how loud the girl is on a day-to-day basis, she probably should've figured that she'd be just as loud during sex.

Once she's eye level with the girl beneath her, she leans down slightly. "Shh," she breathes out. "We're not alone, remember?" she smiles, gesturing her head slightly towards the wall.

Rachel nods lightly, and Santana removes her hand, quickly replacing it with her mouth. She leans in and brushes her lips against full ones tenderly before starting to absolutely devour them. She kisses Rachel with all she has, all that she is, and she lets a hand start to drift down the diva's body as Rachel's hands tangle in her hair, pulling her impossibly further in.

Santana continues the path of her fingers, tiptoeing along the waistband of Rachel's panties, but when she flattens her hand to slide beneath the threshold, Rachel tugs firmly at her hair, ripping their lips apart. Santana stills, and her eyes slide open to see black eyes staring pointedly at her.

"No," Rachel repeats weakly with a shake of her head, and Santana sighs as she retracts her hand.

She wants to be angry... she really, really does. She's so drunk and horny right now that the only thing she wants to do is eat Rachel alive, but she knows she should have seen this coming. Rachel told her she's not ready, and being drunk doesn't change that. On the flipside, though, there is such a horrible frustration building within her that she's not even sure how to handle it. Essentially, Rachel has given her the green light twice now only to pull away again. It's all just really fucking confusing.

Santana's silent for a long moment, trying to sift through her conflicting emotions, and she's silent long enough that Rachel runs a hand down to her cheek. She leans into the contact and refocuses on the eyes beneath her.

"I'm sorry," Rachel says softly, and Santana bites back her reflexive groan, rather just nodding before rolling off of the girl and taking to staring at the ceiling.

Her heart is still racing and her mind is keeping pace. There's a heavy throbbing between her legs and the alcohol swimming through her body is doing nothing to keep it at bay. She wonders if she can keep doing this, if she can put up with all the touching and teasing without the payoff, but she doesn't have much time to wonder before Rachel rolls on top of her.

She looks up at the girl in utter shock―this has really just been a night full of surprises. Rachel is wearing a mischievous smile and she starts to let her hands wander over exposed skin.

"Rach," Santana breathes out hesitantly, but Rachel just raises a hand to her cheek before leaning in to kiss her softly.

"Shh," she lets out, making sure Santana's eyes meet her own. "Just because I'm not ready doesn't mean you're not ready, and I understand that," she says with a soft smile.

A part of Santana really wants to object, but she's just so fucking primed right now that she can't imagine being able to fall asleep without getting her end away. Once again, though, she doesn't have much time for thought as Rachel reaches down and cups her through her panties. Santana can't control the movement of her hips, which buck up hard, and Rachel smirks as she leans down to her ear.

"And you feel more than ready right now..." she trails off seductively before nibbling on Santana's earlobe.

Santana shivers, but sighs silently, looking up at the ceiling and wondering why she's doing this, something she honestly feels is a horrible idea, but soon Rachel's lips are on hers again, small hands working along her body, and she's just so fucking lost in it that she can't even fathom saying no.

With Rachel on top of her, she feels exposed, out of control, and uncomfortably vulnerable. It's the first time in a while and only the second person that she's let have her this way, but she lets it happen. When Rachel's fingers slide through her, into her, she falls into the feel of it, the familiarity bringing her temporary solace.

It's awkward again, Rachel not exactly being a practiced pro at getting down to business, but she seems to remember enough that she's pushing at least some of the right buttons. And, when it comes time for the big show, she remembers the most important button.

Santana comes hard, with Rachel's hand inside of her and Rachel's mouth on hers, muffling the sounds of her release. Once the sensation passes over, though, Santana feels oddly uncomfortable, slightly empty, and it's more than a little disconcerting.

It's a few moments before Rachel looks down at her, seemingly for approval, and she lets a smile set across her face. She tugs Rachel down for a soft, reassuring kiss before simply yawning and letting her eyes drift shut, feeling absolutely spent.

Rachel settles down onto her side―a head of brown hair in the crook of her shoulder, a small arm wrapped protectively around her midsection, a soft leg hooked around her own―and Santana uses her last bit of strength to crane her neck and place a soft kiss on the top of the diva's head, smirking as she lets her hand drift to lightly pinch the girl's ass.

Rachel squeaks lightly before slapping her shoulder playfully. "Go to sleep now. It's late," she whispers out against bare skin.

Santana nods with a yawn. "G'night, my princess," she sighs out.

Rachel chuckles softly against her shoulder, tightening the arm around her body. "Good night, my knight."

The simple term of endearment is just that: simple, but it makes Santana smile―a genuine smile this time―as she fully relaxes.

Yeah, I can make it through this, she thinks to herself as she yawns again, and she's almost positive it's true.

The song Rachel and Santana slow dance to is 'Falling in Love' by Taio Cruz. (I was picturing the acoustic version.)

Thanks for sticking with me, guys :)