Chapter 33

"So what's the deal with you guys?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you seem pretty close, and you're other best friends are married, so are you guys headed in the same direction?"

Quinn grimaced. "Uh…no. Been there done that."

"Oh I see, so you're going to be one of those couples who tried it in their teens, think they're over it and spend years of their lives looking for love and then realise they're in love with each other in their thirties."

Quinn frowned, unable to believe she was even having this conversation. She looked around for Brittany or Santana to save her, but Santana was in the house, and Brittany was sitting on the edge of the pool, facing the wrong direction.

"I don't get what the problem is." The woman, whose name Quinn had already forgotten, continued. "You obviously like him, you're best friends."

"We're not really best friends. We're old friends with a lot of history, and have best friends in common."

"But you are friends" Quinn sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I guess if he died, I'd be sad."

"So what's the issue?"

"There isn't an issue. Noah and I just aren't good together. We don't like each other like that, we barely like each other at all. There are some things you just can't get passed."

"I think-"

"I don't really care what you think. I don't know you, you don't know me, and you don't know Noah." She took a moment to stare at the woman, who was gaping wordlessly at her, then she walked away.

"Who are all these people?" she asked Santana as she walked into the kitchen.

"Some friends from the label and Brittany's dance friends. I didn't know so many of them were going to come, she told me she wanted a few people over but…I don't know half of these people, and they're all touching my babies." Santana shook her head in disgust and continued icing cupcakes.

"Is that why you're hiding inside?" Quinn asked, taking a cupcake and spreading icing on it as well.

"Yeah. I told Britt they need to take a nap and I could take them since I needed to do this anyway"

"Makes sense. Why don't you tell them all to leave though?"

"Britt was super excited about showing off our family and house and everything, and just look at her" Santana pointed out of the window to the pool, where Brittany was wrestling with one of her friends.

"I'm impressed" Quinn said, picking another cupcake.

"Why's that?" Santana asked, returning her attention to the icing.

"Because the old you would have gotten really jealous seeing Brittany like that with a guy."

"Yeah well…I have three things that make it pretty hard for my insecurities to flare up like that."

"Which are?" Quinn asked, intrigued.

"Those two trouble makers" Santana said, pointing to the twins in their carriers on the kitchen counter.

"Of course" Quinn said, laughing. "And the third?"

"This baby" Santana held up her left hand and wiggled her ring finger. "Nobody else could have given me this ring. This is literally the only ring for me, and only Brittany could have picked it. She knows me better than anyone else in this world, and when she gave it to me it made me realise that I know her just as well. We're perfect for each other. There's no way she…or I, would throw that away for anything. So what if that guy wants to wrestle with her? I don't, so somebody should."

"Very mature" Quinn said, nodding her head. "But now your maturity has you hiding in a kitchen, using your children as an excuse."

Santana looked up, a grin on her face, but was stopped from saying anything by Brittany's squealing emergence into the kitchen. She was dripping wet from head to toe, and her colliding with Santana was the only thing that stopped her from falling as she slid across the floor.

"BRITTANY" Santana yelled, laughing loudly. Quinn had pulled the tray of cupcakes away fast enough, so the only thing that fell was an empty tube of icing. Brittany steadied herself, then bent down and hoisted Santana over her shoulder. Quinn's scream mixed with Santana's as Brittany slipped and slid back across the floor and out the door.

"Britt…Brittany put me down. What are you doing?" Santana was trying to grip onto any part of Brittany that she could reach, but as she could feel Brittany's shoulder pressing into her belly button, there wasn't anything for her hands to hold. As the got closer to the pool, their friends began laughing and clapping, many cheering Brittany on.

"No. No! NO BRITTANY no you're going to mess up my hair" Santana shrieked, but Brittany only laughed. She finally reached the edge of the pool and stopped walking. "Brittany I swear to god"

"Stop moving so much babe, or you're going to fall"

"As long as I fall on the floor and not in the pool, I don't really care." Brittany laughed and tilted forward, pretending she was about to drop Santana in. "Brittany…baby…baby" Santana said, breathing heavily and trying to sound calm. "Baby…please, please don't-"Brittany grabbed Santana's waist and lifted her off her shoulder, launching her into the pool. In a last stitched effort to save herself, Santana grabbed Brittany's jacket, sending her flying into the water on top of her.

When they emerged from the water, it was to loud laughter and applause.

"That wasn't supposed to happen" Brittany said, swimming to the wall.

"Yeah well…that's what you get" Santana said, pulling herself out of the freezing pool and wringing her hair. "You realise I'm going to have to straighten my hair again now."

"Why? I like it curly" Brittany said, dragging herself out of the pool and sitting beside her. Santana rolled her eyes and stood up. Brittany stood up as well. "Are you really mad?" she asked quietly so that none of their friends would hear, though this was unlikely anyway because the noise coming from people trying to escape being thrown into the freezing pool would have drowned her out even if she shouted.

Santana sighed and looked at Brittany. "No B. I'm not-"and suddenly she was falling backwards again, into the water.

"Good" Brittany said, before jumping into the pool after her.

Quinn stood in the kitchen watching as Brittany and Santana wrestled each other, splashing water everywhere and laughing so loudly she felt like she was right beside them. Sometimes, in moments like this, she hated her best friends. She had been watching them be so sickeningly cute together for so many years that it was easy for her to think she had gotten used to it. But then a moment will come, just like this one, where she is reminded forcefully that as much as she may be their best friend, she is still on the outside. One minute she's complaining about an overcrowded party with Santana, and the next she's standing alone in the kitchen watching Brittany drag Santana out of her shell. Even when she's surrounded by her friends and having a great time, Brittany would still rather be with Santana. It made her realise how alone she was. A different kind of alone than when she was at Yale, because her friends here actually cared about her, but it was still a loneliness that was hard to ignore. There wasn't anyone in her life who sent her good morning and good night texts, no one who always looked at her like she was god's gift to the human race, or constantly wanted to keep some sort of physical contact with her. She joked about Brittany and Santana ruining love for her, but the truth was that Quinn was actually deathly afraid of being alone for the rest of her life, watching the people round her find their soul mates and start families.

"Brittany goddamn it" Santana laughed, grabbing the door as she slipped on the water she was dripping on the floor. Brittany put her hands on Santana's waist, keeping her steady, but her own body was shaking both from cold and the force of her giggles. Quinn spun around pretending to be playing with Jesús so that she could pull herself together. New Year's Eve was not the time to depress her friends.

"You're so cute when you're soaking wet-"

"Wanky"

"You look even smaller than usual. Like a cute puppy"

"Shut up I'm not small"

"The only person smaller than you is Rachel Berry" Quinn said, finally turning around.

"Don't say that name in front of my kids" Santana said, trying to tear off the sweater that was sticking to her body and making her even colder. When she finally got it off, there were wolf whistles from a group of people walking in through the door at that moment. Brittany smirked, and Quinn groaned, turning back to the babies for real this time, and picking up Jesús.

"Jesús, I'm seriously sick of your mami." She cooed.

"Don't hate just cause I kept my banging body and you let yours go." Santana teased, wringing the sweater out in the sink.

"Excuse you, my body is still as awesome as ever." Quinn scoffed.

"You're all talk and no bite, just like always. Come here Jesús" Santana said, reaching for him.

"I don't remember that being the case when I slapped you. I think it had some pretty good bite."

"Yeah alright, you slapped me once like…five years ago, and you caught me completely off guard because I was so stunned by your disgusting affair with your old professor."

"Ok stop. You guys are working yourselves up into a fight over nothing, so I'm going to stop it before it can really get going." Brittany said, crossing the kitchen to where Kyler's carrier was. He smiled at her.

"Where's Noah?" Santana asked, as Jesús played with her hair, laughing when the water splashed on his face as he did so. He loved being held when there was skin to skin contact, and Santana's lack of a shirt was suiting him perfectly.

"Last I saw he was giving a tour of the house to one of Britt's dancer friends." Quinn told her, picking a cupcake and drawing a smiley face with icing.

"He better not be…" Brittany grimaced.

"Hell no" Santana said, shaking her head. "If I find out that he's been doing the nasty anywhere in my house I'm gonna-"

"What?" Puck asked, walking in from the dining room.

"I'm gonna get a restraining order so you can never come within 50 feet of my kids." Brittany said, turning to face Puck.

"Where have you been?" Santana asked.

"Relax ladies, I was going to, but she wouldn't stop talking, so I said I should probably come check on my god kids." He moved closer to Brittany, intent on kissing Kyler's check, but she took a step back. "Woah…?"

"You didn't do anything with anyone tonight? You swear?" she asked, frowning at him.

"Britt I swear, I didn't do anything." She continued to glare at him.

"Noah if you're lying to me and I hand you this baby, I will cut your dick off and force feed it to you."

Santana raised her eyebrows, her eyes wide, and Quinn's jaw dropped in alarm. Puck glanced around the room.

"Ok….alright. We made out a little…maybe more. But I didn't have sex with her."

"Did you wash your hands?" Brittany asked.

"Of course I did" she narrowed her eyes.

"Jheez alright. Lopez call off your watchdog." He said, turning to the sink and pouring soap on his hands. Santana laughed.

"They're both Lopez now Noah, get used to it" Quinn Said.

"Fucking Lopez-"

"Woah…watch that mouth" Santana said, no longer amused. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, that Britt was a sweet girl, even if she was often partial to your bitchy side. Yet, she takes the Lopez name and boom, she's a vicious-"

"Do you need me to wash your mouth too?" Santana interrupted.

"All I'm saying is that Britt's been up my ass this last month. That's all I'm saying."

Santana and Brittany looked at each other, remembering their early morning conversation.

"Was she wrong though?" Quinn asked.

"What?" Noah said absentmindedly.

"Was she wrong about any of the things she's been on your ass about? Sleeping with girls, drinking, smoking weed, cursing…was she wrong when she called you out?"

"Whatever, it's my life though. I am who I am, she shouldn't be-"

"First of all, I'm standing right here. So both of you need to stop talking about me like I'm not." Brittany interjected, but neither of them heard her.

"It's your life, yeah, and if you want to be high and sleep with all the women in the world, then whatever. As long as it's in your own house on your own time. You can't expect her to let you around her children while you act like one yourself Puck."

"I'm young, I'm allowed to have fun. She had kids, not me. And I never come here high or drunk."

"It's not just about being high or drunk. It's about the people and things you expose the kids to. It's about having their backs. You've been at this party for almost three hours and all you've done is chase and hit on random women. Then you waltz in and try and kiss and carry infants with your gross hands that are probably covered in all kinds of fluids."

"Gross" Santana said, taking a step away from Puck.

"It's no wonder Britt's been up your ass. Think about how many times you've been allowed to come over. Think about how many times they've come over to your place." Quinn continued. Puck clenched his jaw, but didn't speak. "If you want to keep acting like a wild teenager Puck, go ahead. But don't expect the rest of us to put up with it, especially not when there are children involved."

There was silence for a long time. Brittany and Santana stood awkwardly looking at each other, pretending to be engrossed in the babies they were holding. Jesús was resting his head on Santana's chest, tapping the top of her boobs, and Kyler was looking over Brittany's shoulder at all the activity outside. Quinn glared at Puck for a few minutes, then went back to icing the remaining cupcakes. Puck stared down at his hands, his jaw still clenched.

"I love those boys" he said in a menacingly low voice. "I love them, and I'm always there for them."

"No one is denying that you love them" Santana said. "We know you love them very much-"

"It's the same argument we had when I was pregnant" Quinn said harshly and suddenly. "All these years later and you still can't remove your head from your ass long enough to understand that it's not just about love. Yeah, you love them, good for you. But there's more to it than that. You have to think about the consequences of what you're doing, and of how you're acting. Playing your music at ridiculous volumes hurts their ears, constantly smoking in your house and having tons of random people coming over at all hours means they can't come over. It's time for you to decide Puck, if you want to be young and free, or if you want to be a part of their lives." Quinn placed the cupcake she was icing down and picked up the tray. "Whatever you decide, stop complaining about the consequences. Being 16 isn't an excuse anymore." She walked out of the kitchen.

Puck continued to stare at his hands. For a few minutes nobody but the babies made any sound, finally, Brittany caught Santana's eye and nodded her head towards Puck.

"Puck…" Santana started, but had no idea where she was taking it. He looked up sharply.

"You agree with her?" he asked aggressively.

"Don't talk to her like that" Brittany warned.

"Shut up Brittany."

"Who do you think you are telling me to shut up?"

"Ok…let's all just relax. B, why don't you go help Quinn out there?" Santana said, stepping in between Brittany and Puck who were glaring at each other. Brittany turned away from Puck and walked out of the kitchen, not even looking at Santana.

"That's the first time you've kinda been on my side" Puck said, most of his previous aggression gone. Santana cocked her head.

"Let's get one thing clear, you talk to Brittany like that again, and I won't be so nice about it, understand?"

"Yeah. Sorry" Puck said quietly, looking back at his hands.

Santana sighed. "Look Noah, there aren't any sides here. I understand that you aren't the one who had kids, and you have all the right in the world to still want to party and have fun. God knows there are days when I want that too."

"Thank you!" Puck exclaimed. "This is why you're my best friend."

Santana smiled. "Yeah ok." She chuckled lightly. "But the difference is that, I did have kids. So when I feel like I want to go to a club, I remember that I have two infants at home who are waiting for me, and I would much rather come home to their huge smiles and watch some weird cartoon about talking ducks, than spend my night in a stuffy club with loud music that'll give me a headache all night and a hangover the next day. What me and Britt want to spend our time doing is different now, and Quinn has decided that she wants to spend her time doing our type of things too. She didn't have to, but she did. So now all of us are growing up Puckerman. Your best friends are growing up, and it's fine if you don't want to, it really is. It just means that we'll probably be seeing less of each other that's all." Santana stood a foot away from Puck, both of them staring into each other's eyes, when finally she decided to leave. She lifted Jesús a little higher up, so that he was at eye level, then turned him to face Puck.

"Say bye bye to Uncle Noah, Jesús" she said, waving his hand for him. Jesús smiled at Puck, stretching his arms out for him to carry him. "No mijo, Uncle Noah has some things he needs to think about." Puck took the hand Santana had been waving and kissed it.

"I'll see you around little man" he said, looking into Santana's eyes.

"I hope so" she said, then turned and walked out of the kitchen.