Santana steps out of her car for her first day at her first job. Her mother has forced her into getting a summer job for 'experience' or whatever. Santana is sure that that saying is something parents use just to get their lazy boned teens out of the house.
She was planning on working on her tan all summer, but instead, she's been dealt the task of making pool ID's and checking said ID's. All day long in a room watching people walk by her ready to go sunbathing and swimming. At least, she reasons, the stupid office is air conditioned.
After getting her name tag and ugly ass park shirt on, she makes her way to the front office of the pool. Just outside on a bench are five of the pool's lifeguards. Two of them have been here since she was a toddler and her house didn't have a pool yet. Three of them are from school which only makes this job more annoying.
Mike Chang and Finn Hudson, two of the school's jocks, are passing a football to one another even though they're only sitting barely ten feet away. The other two, a guy in his mid-thirties who everyone calls Mr. Schu because he used to be a teacher at McKinley and it's a hard habit to break. The other woman, Holly Holiday, the towns own wild child. She may be forty years old, but she still goes to frat parties and talks like a teenager.
Then, there's Brittany.
Brittany S. Pierce, also known as Quinn Fabray's arch nemesis and by proxy Santana Lopez's as well. It's been a while since Santana has had an actual conversation with her, but, they tend to be able to be civil when in close proximity. They sort of have to be considering they are both on the Cheerios.
Santana walks right by them, not even bothering to say hello and make pleasantries because she literally just saw most of them last weekend at a party. When she walks into the office it is nice and chilly. April Rhodes, the town drunk, is sitting at one desk pouring the rest of her flask into a coffee mug and a bright smile on her face as she does so. In the other corner is Rachel Berry.
Rachel Berry is one of those girls that nobody likes, almost zero people tolerate and who everybody ignores. If they can help it.
"Hey Santana." Rachel says all bubbly. Santana bites her tongue and forces a smile. Rachel's own, sincere smile, fades when she takes in Santana's outfit. "Aren't you going to get in trouble for this?" Rachel wonders as she tugs at the part of Santana's t-shirt where there used to be sleeves.
"It's a million degrees outside. I'm sure they'll get over it." Santana scoffs and slaps Rachel's hand away from her personal space.
"You're not off to the beach you're at work." Rachel points out, realizing the cut off sleeves are less to worry about compared to the short shorts and the way Santana's tied her shirt up at the bottom revealing her midsection.
"Dwarf," Santana sighs. "Is my ensemble going to affect the way you do this meaningless job?" She quirks an eyebrow as she sets her things down.
"Well, no. But…"
"Then can it."
Rachel huffs, never being one to accept a brush off easily. Eventually she sucks it up and goes back to her desk. Santana's taken the first two hours checking people in and filling out stupid papers for their passes. She figured the more the day goes on the more irritable she will become. Better to get faux kindness out of the way sooner.
"Hey Santana." She looks up and sees Mike Chang. She smiles, mostly because she has to considering she is going to see him for the next few months every single day. "You got the sign in sheet?"
She looks around for the sign in sheet for the lifeguards. With a sigh she slides it across the counter and hands him a pen.
"I didn't know you were working here." He comments as he fills out all the boxes and then signs his name.
"Yup." Her lips pop and she rolls her eyes.
"Well, at least it's air conditioned." He says before dropping the pen to the counter.
Luckily, Finn fills his stuff out in silence, only taking a little too long because he is gawking over at Rachel who is sitting behind Santana. Santana rolls her eyes at how obvious he is and how annoying they would be if they ever actually got together. Yeah, she laughs in her mind. Like that would ever happen.
She thinks the train of lifeguards is over until there's a tap of the pen on the counter. She looks back up and finds Brittany Pierce standing on the other side of the counter. They make eye contact, but, it's short lived as they both quickly look away.
"Didn't know you were a lifeguard." Santana says and she catches a slight twitch in the corner of Brittany's mouth.
"Didn't think you'd ever have a summer job." Brittany bites back rather quickly. Santana can't fight the smirk that takes over her lips. "Guess we're both full of surprises." She says, pressing her lips tightly together and raises her eyebrows.
When she's done, she holds the pen out to Santana instead of dropping it to the counter like everyone before her did. She looks up and into Santana's eyes, waiting for her to take the pen back. Santana slowly reaches out for the pen only gripping the end with her two fingers.
"Good luck." Brittany says with a light tap of her hand to the counter. Santana doesn't say anything because Brittany is walking away before she can.
"Didn't you two used to be friends?" Santana shivers at the sound of Rachel's voice. "I always wondered what happened." She says and Santana just ignores her, hoping it will go away. It does.
Eventually.
At 4:30 pm Santana is clocking out. However, she has no idea how this ancient contraption works and all it keeps doing is beeping at her. She's two seconds away from just walking out and dealing with it tomorrow when a long arm reaches across her. It's Brittany and she easily slides her punch card in and out with a simple clock then she puts her card away.
"How'd you do that?" Santana asks in a quick breathe and with wide eyes. Brittany chuckles and takes Santana's card from her hand.
"You're holding it the wrong way." Brittany tells her and she turns it right ways up before slipping it in and having it make that perfect click. "See." She shows her and Santana nods, taking the card back and puts it on the wall with the rest.
"Yeah." Santana sighs. "Thanks." She half smiles at Brittany who had been smiling kindly at her, but then rolls her eyes.
"See ya tomorrow." Brittany shakes her head and walks to the door. "Hey," She stops at the door and turns to look at Santana. "We have this thing, every Friday we go to the diner after our day shift." She says and Santana stays standing there staring back at her. "Brittany giggles and shrugs her shoulders. "There are long, hot days Santana. It's just a way for us to chill out and wind down.
"Uh, well, I have plans." Santana stutters out and Brittany smiles.
"Sure." Brittany says and it comes out sounding like she doesn't believe Santana or she really doesn't care. Maybe it's a little bit of both.
Santana watches Brittany walk away until she can't see her any longer. She rolls her eyes both at Brittany and herself. Why in the world would Brittany think to invite her to a stupid gathering of McKinley High School's group of misfit pool workers? She may as well ask Santana to join the glee club,
She reaches into her bag, grabbing her keys and her sunglasses. While walking to her car she casually slips her shades on and presses the button on her keyring to unlock her car. The walk through the parking lot is stressful due to all of the geese waddling by, hissing at her. This is going to be a long summer for sure, Brittany was certainly right about that one.
Before she knows it she is home, peeling her work clothes off of her body before hopping into the shower. As she washes the days 'hard work' off of her, she wonders what the rest of the evening is going to bring her. Last year, she never had to worry about work any other activities that she had to be responsible for. Just parties and parties, oh and the pool of course. Not the gross town pool where tiny humans pee and dirty hairy men try to pick up just turned eighteen year olds. The pool she most enjoys is the one right in her very own backyard.
The weekend cannot come soon enough for her to fully enjoy the built in pool that her father had put in when he finally became chief of pediatrics. It was a dream for the whole family to finally get a pool and show the rest of Lima that they were worthy of being a part of the town.
Her eyes flicker down to her phone as she wraps her towel around her and she sees that she has one missed call and two text messages. With a quick wipe of her hands she grabs her phone and flicks the screen with her thumb to open it up.
Puckerman.
Her eyebrow arches up and her hip juts out as she already knows what the call was for and what the messages say. She turns around to take a quick seat on the toilet seat lid. She opens the messages and smirks.
'hey hot stuff. Lets meet up before the party tnite'
'pickin Quinn up at 8 so let me know asap'
In the summer, there is always a party to be had and always a party to go to. No weekend necessary. She looks up and tries to remember exactly whose party this is and when she remembers hearing about it. Oh yeah, boy Chang is having a party. At the beginning of every summer the Chang's go back to their Asian homeland to visit grandma Chang. It's kind of a tradition. Jocks and Cheerios galore.
Her thumbs type quickly across the keyboard and she hits send.
'give me an hour'
She checks the time again to make sure that it's not too early to get her mack on and most definitely not too late. Last time they met up before picking up Quinn, they almost got caught.
Picking out an outfit is pretty easy for Santana Lopez. She is not out to impress anyone but more so everyone. Something tight, something short, something plunging and something easy to take off. It's a really good check list. Within minutes she is in front of her mirror putting her make up on. Plumping her lips to apply her lipstick and gloss. Closing one eye at a time to apply her eye makeup and then a quick run of her fingers through her hair to give her that perfect look.
Before she knows it she is opening the passenger side door to Puck's 1991 Mustang. It's basically a heap of junk, but it has wheels and it works. So for all intent and purpose it is perfect. They don't talk much as they drive. They know what they are about to do and there is no need to work up to it.
Puck pulls in to the abandoned parking lot east of the train tracks. For some reason, no one ever goes there. He flicks the lights off and pushes his seat back. He looks at Santana and wriggles his eyebrows as he wraps his arm around the back of the passenger seat. Santana shifts in her seat as she brings her hands up and under her skirt and wiggles her panties off, placing them into her purse for the time being.
Seeing this, Puck instantly brings both of his hands to his belt and unbuckles it. With the same fervor her unbuttons and unzips his pants, pulling them down ever so slightly. Just enough to expose a certain area to be made available to a very willing lady. Santana removes her shoes before she slides over to straddle Puck who is still sitting in the drivers' seat.
Their lips meet instantly. It's hard and rough. Santana wonders if they could ever do this without the actual kissing. Every time they hook up and kiss, it really just feels like they are going through the motions of what they are supposed to do. She would be more than okay with just having sex and not having any other contact. But, as long as she is getting laid she reasons that there's no reason to change the way they've been going about it thus far.
His hands move over her body as though they have had years of experience. They are amateur and clumsy, but she does not stop him from grabbing her breasts or her ass. It's all part of the dance they are about to dance so why start complaining now she figures.
He lowers his boxers with one hand and soon enough they are grinding into one another like wild animals. They don't talk or even make eye contact. Their breathing gets heavy and their hands grip harder at arms and hips, not even bothering to explore the others body. It's not about connecting with them. It's about getting off and not even with one another. Santana could care less if Puck gets his and Puck is definitely not thinking about Santana reaching orgasm.
It's nearly over before it starts. They don't cuddle or pull the other close as they come down from their high. Santana instantly rolls away from Puck and back to the passenger seat, reaching down to grab her panties from her purse. Puck rolls the window down and tosses the condom out to the concrete. There's no talking. The only sound in the car is their heavy breathing and the sound of Puck buckling up his belt.
Santana pulls the visor down to look into the mirror to fix her makeup and her hair. She grabs her shoes and pulls them back on, clearing her throat as she does so. She ignores the sound of Puck putting the driver's seat back into the right position for him to drive and the annoying humming sound he makes after they get it on.
"Ha, we just beat our last time." Puck says with a chuckle and points to the clock on the dashboard. Santana glances at the time with furrowed eyebrows and then looks at him.
"Yeah, I don't think that's something you'd want to broadcast Puckerman." She tells him and she waits to see the realization to come over his face before looking away in annoyance.
When they pull up to Quinn Fabray's house Santana moves herself to the backseat. She learned the hard way not to get in Quinn's way, especially when it comes to her boyfriend. Well, when his car was involved. His manhood, well that's a different story since Quinn had pledged her virgin allegiance to the big man upstairs three years ago.
She watches as Puck leans over to give Quinn, his girlfriend, a kiss once she is safely in the car. There is definitely zero jealousy and only a mild amount of regret when it comes to the couple in front of her. Quinn may be her best friend, but she is most certainly not the best person in the world. Santana sometimes wonders if they are even really friends or just forced friends because of the status they hold at their school. Both being cheerleaders, it kind of holds you to a standard on who you hang out with.
Santana quickly averts her eyes from the couple because Puck is trying to jam his tongue down Quinn's throat and she can barely fit a whole stick of gum in her mouth without gagging, so it is very difficult to be a spectator. Her eyes wander to the house across the street. It usually has a yellow Volkswagon Bug parked in front, but not tonight. Her eyes flicker up to the window on the second floor of the yellow bug house and the light's off.
Brittany and her bug are not home which most likely means that she is at the party already. It's no wonder that Brittany is there. All the Cheerios are to be at these parties, regardless of where they fall in the food chain. Before she can continue thinking about the other blonde, the car pulls away and her mind is off elsewhere.
When they pull up to the Chang residence the usual suspects are already there. The whole football team, all of the Cheerio's and some various other groups of people from their high school. Once through the doors the music gets louder and the smell of alcohol hits Santana's senses. She bids her friends goodbye as her legs lead her to the backyard where all of the liquor is.
A lot of people are hanging out in the back. The Chang's yard is tremendous with a pool, a Jacuzzi, a tree house and a swing set for Mike's little sisters. Her eyes wander around the yard as her fingers graze over the bottles of rum she is deciding on.
"Are there any wine coolers in there?" Quinn's voice comes from out of nowhere, stealing Santana's attention. She looks to her right and sees Quinn and Puck staring down at two tubs full of melting ice and a lot of bottles. Puck shrugs. "Well, check!" She shoves his shoulder.
He steps towards the tub and reaches in to fish anything out that is remotely close to a wine cooler. She looks at Quinn who gives her an eye roll. Not towards her of course, but at Puck. Santana nods and smirks, shaking her head as she turns her focus back to what she is going to drink.
"Why does she insist on coming to these things?" Quinn asks as she sidles up next to Santana. Her irritation palpable. Santana looks up and around to see who her friend is talking about.
Brittany.
Brittany is about twenty feet away talking to the host of the party and his girl Chang counterpart. No relation. There are a few other semi-cool people around them and they are all laughing and smiling. Santana wonders what they could possibly be talking about. Girl Chang is about as interesting as watching paint dry, Finn is as dumb as a bag of hair, there's absolutely no excuse for Sam which makes Santana curious as to how anyone talks to him to begin with.
"I mean, she is a Cheerio." Santana shrugs, finally being able to take a sip of the concoction she has just created. Quinn cuts her eyes at her friend in disgust.
"Oh, are you friends with her now?" Quinn asks in a mocking yet accusatory tone. Santana laughs almost spitting her drink into her cup.
"As if." She shakes her head and looks up at the blonde. "I'm just making a statement and a point. Cheerios are A class. She's a Cheerio. So unless you can get her kicked off the squad, I'm pretty sure we're stuck seeing her at these things." Quinn tilts her head, her thinking pose.
"You may have just given me my life's mission for this summer." Quinn smirks evilly.
"And what's that?" Santana queries, sipping her drink and glances around.
"Make Brittany S. Pierce's life a living hell this summer making her not want to join the Cheerio's next year." She explains.
"And I thought that I was a bitch." Santana comments and gets a giddy grin from Quinn. They hook arms, leaving Puck behind with frost bite up to his elbows from the ice tubs to greet the party goers.
As they walk towards the far back of the yard where some people are smoking, Santana looks to the left. Brittany is still smiling from ear to ear, nodding along while Sam Evans is most likely doing one of his horrible, horrible celebrity impressions. She watches as her head flies back, her hands clap and her shoulder shake. The moment Brittany catches her looking at her is when Santana finally tears her eyes away.
The night goes on as it usually does at one of these things. Someone gets too drunk, tonight it is Quinn. Hair is held back. Water is had to wash down crackers. The ride home is annoying because Puck insists on talking about getting it on with Santana while his girlfriend is passed out in the backseat. Santana ignores most of his advances because their, whatever this is, is pretty cut and dry. You have an itch, then scratch it. Otherwise, there's nothing else going on.
Pre-summer job Santana would be as hammered as Quinn and typically stay at her friend's house. But she has work in the morning so she no longer has this luxury. When she steps out of the Fabray house after having put her friend to bed, she looks across the street to see that yellow bug parked out front. Looking up to the window, she sees the light it off which tells her that Brittany is most likely sound asleep. So fucking responsible.
The ride to her house is mix between batting Puck's wandering hands on her thigh away to wondering how she is going to get through this summer. Work and play are not a combination she wants to have to mix. She feels like she is going to miss out on the most important summer of her life. This is her last summer of freedom. Her last summer of fun and last summer of doing whatever the fuck she wants.
The next day comes and goes by rather quickly. Thank God.
It was a pretty uneventful day at the town pool. Well, except around noon when they had to take photographs of four thirteen year olds who were found to be stealing money from people wallets as they were swimming. That was actually a fun craft project for Santana. She got to make a board with their pictures posted on it to permanently ban then from the pool. Not forever though. Just for the month of July. Would have been way cooler if it was forever Santana thought the whole time as she was stapling their photos to the board.
The next day was filled with sitting in silence in the office as she mindlessly checked pool I.D.'s. Well, silent for her as she did not speak. But, Rachel Berry spoke a mile a minute without even a clue that Santana was not listening and April was passed out.
There were actually a few of those days. It grated on Santana's nerve to have to be in a small space with this girl. It was somewhat tolerable when April was awake and only buzzed, because then Rachel would bother someone else. But for the most part, Santana was the target to Rachel's incessant chatter.
The mornings started and ended the same way every single day. It really made Santana wonder how people could actually say the words 'I love my job'. She basically wanted to rip her eyelashes out one by one every day. But instead of that, she just made fun of Rachel Berry.
Days would begin with her setting out the sign in sheet and making sure that all of the life guards signed in. It was even almost done in the same order too. Mike Chang, Finn Hudson, Mr. Schu, Holly Holiday and Brittany Pierce. And then the same when clocking out. She always seemed to be the last one to leave because she had to bring the sign in sheet to Teri, the assistant manager.
Every week for the past month Brittany has told Santana about the diner. Yet, each time Santana has blown her off with some lame excuse. Well, one was a legitimate excuse. Santana had an emergency 5:15pm appointment with Shelly for a manicure. She had already put it off for too long.
But this time after she's already made up a reason why she won't be there, Santana admits she's kind of curious. The lifeguards seem to always be having fun and even Rachel freaking Berry goes and talks about it all day the next day.
With a peeked interest, Santana finds herself pushing the doors open to the diner around the block from the pool. The door makes that annoying ringing thanks to a stupid bell as she opens it. She looks around, unable to spot the town crew until she hears laughter. Her head snaps in the other direction and sees the familiar faces of her co-workers.
"Santana!" Mike cheers and gets up like a gentleman. "You actually showed up." He is all smiles that it feels infectious and soon Santana's cheeks hurt because she is smiling back.
"Come on, sit here." Rachel tells her as she scoots her own chair closer to Finn's and taps the empty chair beside her.
Santana groans inwardly. There's no way she can show up and just leave simply because she doesn't want to sit next to Rachel. Her eyes nervously scan the table while she moves to the offered seat.
"There's one here too." Brittany speaks up and nods to the seat next to her which not only has way more room but is as far from Rachel as possible. Brittany smirks at the way Santana's expression turns into one of relief and she bypasses the first seat to take the one next to Brittany.
"Thanks." Santana mumbles while she scoots her chair in. She glances around the table to see that there are no dishes out and menus still in front of everyone. She mad it just in time.
"You actually showed up." Brittany repeats what Mike first said only she says it quietly and with a tad of an attitude to her tone.
"Yeah, well," Santana shrugs and turns to hand her bag on the back of her chair. "Plans fell through. Had nothing better to do." She says a bit bitchy. Brittany chuckles and lifts her water to her lips.
"Thank you for gracing us with your presence." Brittany counters before sipping her water. Santana gawks at her surprised that Brittany Pierce had this much bite behind her words.
"Anytime sunshine." Santana says with a quirked eyebrow, opening her menu to distract her.
Her eyes flicker to the blonde beside her and she notices that Brittany is smiling. She rolls her eyes to herself and clears her throat as she shifts in her chair.
It is an okay time eating with this band of weirdos. None of them have anything in common except for this one thing, yet they seem to have so much to say to each other. She did find it a bit interesting. Though she is quite happy when it comes to a close. They all pay their bits of the bill and move along like they had just had a family gathering after not seeing each other for the longest time.
Making their way to the parking lot each one heads towards their respective cars. She notices that her car and Brittany's car are in the same direction. The walk is not far, but the silence that lasts between them makes it feel like they are walking miles.
"So," Santana starts. "You guys do this a lot?" She asks and she looks over to Brittany who nods.
"Yup." Brittany confirms her nod with a verbal cue. "I mean, we have all basically been working together since we could first become junior life guards." Santana nods. It is a long time. She remembers when her parents tried to get her to become a junior life guard at fourteen. But, she clearly had better things to do. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She says when she reaches her car. Santana looks over and nods.
Once in her car she looks at her phone to see what messages she has missed. Quinn sent her a few texts, Puck sent her a few sexts… she has options.
The next day Santana walks in, well, runs in is more like it. It's pouring outside yet she is still at work. It's ridiculous. What's even more ridiculous is that the air conditioning is blasting full force and she's soaked. She's freezing. Also, Rachel and April called out, so she's the only one in the office today.
Tossing her bag to Rachel's empty desk, she walks over to the counter and looks out the window. The parking lot if basically empty except for her car, Brittany's yellow Volkswagen beetle, Mike's Jeep and their assistant director's Tercel.
There isn't even a full staff of lifeguards on duty for Christ's sake, but here is Lima Town Pool, open for business. With a groan and a shiver, Santana walks out of the office because even if it is raining outside it is a lot warmer. Plus, the overhang keeps the rain far away from her.
Around the corner Brittany and Mike are sitting on the floor playing Yahtzee. Brittany found it in the office opposite the main one and thought it'd be a good way to waste time while they wait out the rain. After a big laugh and clapping, Brittany looks around the corner when she hears shuffling against the cement.
Brittany spots Santana, standing by herself looking the opposite way staring at the rain. She has her arms wrapped around her stomach, obviously she stepped foot into the office which is an iceberg when Brittany went in earlier.
"Britt, your turn." Mike says as he tries to shove the cup into Brittany's hand.
"Yeah, one sec." She says and quickly gets up.
"'Kay, but I'm practicing." Mike tells her as she walks away.
"Doesn't count though, even if you roll a Yahtzee." She calls out over her shoulder. When she looks back she sees Santana turning to look at her. "Hey." Brittany greets with a small wave and a crooked smile. She jams her hand back into the pocket of her zip up hoodie the closer she gets.
"Hey." Santana says and raises her eyebrows instead of her hand.
"Cold?" Brittany asks even though she's sure she knows the answer.
"It's like fucking Titanic weather in there." Santana scoffs and nods to the office of ice. Brittany laughs at the comparison.
"Well, here." Brittany unzips her hoodie.
"What?"
"Wear this until you get warm." Brittany offers, holding her sweatshirt out. Santana eyes it skeptically.
"It's okay. I'll be fine." She waves it off and Brittany laughs only shoving it further her way.
"Don't be a baby. It's just a sweatshirt." Brittany assures her in a smartass kind of way.
"Thanks." Santana mumbles quickly taking it and zipping it up.
"Mike and I are playing Yahtzee." Brittany changes the subject. "Wanna play?" Santana eyes her up, wanting to say 'fuck off' quickly, only, she doesn't. "Come on. They won't officially close the pool until noon." Brittany points out. Santana looks into the office and at the clock which tells her she has about four more hours to go.
"Fine." She huffs. Brittany rolls her eyes as she sits back on the floor and tugs at Santana's wrist.
"Just sit down and roll." Brittany tells her and hands over the cup with the dice.
They place for a few hours and Santana actually finds herself having a good time with Brittany and Mike. She even laughs a few times and even gets excited when she gets Yahtzee. But eventually they grow weary of sitting there on the ground and Mike offers to go get lunch for all of them. They all hover over the menu for a deli that's in the next town over, deciding on what to get.
"Come on." Brittany says with a poke to Santana's shoulder. Let's see what other games they got around here.
"I am not playing Monopoly. That game is time consuming and boring." Santana states and her seriousness makes Brittany laugh.
"Well, it looks like these are the only games they have here." Her lips twist in thought. "But, there is a storage closet where they keep some things." Brittany tells her and shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe there are more games in there."
"I doubt there are games in the storage closet." Santana says, leaning against the wall and checking out her nails. "It's full of towels, pool supplies and paint." Brittany looks over her shoulder from the shelves with the games they have already deemed not playable.
"Oh, come on. Let's just go look." Brittany huffs and brushes by her. Santana rolls her eyes and pushes away from the wall to follow.
They enter the storage closet, flick the light on and look at the opposite wall shelves. The door shuts behind them and drowns out the sound of the pouring rain. It is virtually silent in the small room as their eyes scan over the boxes, containers and towels.
"Hmm." Brittany hums and shrugs her shoulders as she turns to face Santana. "Guess you were right."
"I usually am." Santana mumbles and grabs the door knob. It doesn't turn. Left, nothing. Right, nothing. Santana's hand flattens against the cold door and her eyes widen. "Oh no." She jostles the door knob a few more times, pulling at it frantically. "Oh my God it's locked." She freaks out."
"What?" Brittany asks and lightly moves Santana out of the way. She tries the door knob, but of course, she gets the same results. "Dang it." She drops her hand from the knob and kicks the bottom of the door.
She can't help but laugh when Santana rushes to the door and starts slapping and banging at it furiously, screaming for help. She does this a few times before turning around to Brittany to give her a scowl.
"It's not funny." Santana huffs and starts pacing.
"I don't know who you're yelling for. Terri is in the main office and the only other person that would even hear us is Mike, but he can't because he is in his car getting lunch." She explains but this only sends Santana into more of a panic and she starts to hyperventilate. "Relax, he'll be back and he will let us out."
"Brittany, he is in the next town!" Santana seethes. "It's like a half hour there and a half hour back."
"You're the one that insisted we order from Dalton's Deli." Brittany reasons with a shrug and shuffles back to lean against the back wall.
"I am going to die in here." Santana whines. "I am going to die in here, with you and it is all your fault because you're a silly child who wants to play operation." Brittany's head jerks back, her brow furrows and her eyes follow the girl who is throwing a temper tantrum. Santana goes to the side of the storage closet, leans against the shelf and crosses her arms over her chest.
"You need to take a chill pill." Brittany states matter of factly. Santana throws her eye daggers at her best she can. "You are not going to die in here. Someone is going to come and let us out. Besides, I'm sure there are worse people to die in here with than me." She says that last part a little soft and her eyes fall to the ground.
"You're right." Santana finally says after a few beats. "I'm just… I freak out in small spaces." She admits defeated. Brittany looks up and her face softens when she hears the innocence in Santana's voice.
"It's okay. I get it. I remember that time in cheer camp when you started to freak out in the tent." Brittany reminisces with a grin. Santana feigns offense.
"That tent was supposed to only be for one person and they stuffed three of us in there." She defends. Brittany chuckles as she slides her back down the wall and sits on the ground, grabbing a towel on her way down to place beneath her.
"We were six, we basically made up one whole person." Brittany reasons and it makes Santana laugh a bit. She shakes her head at herself, gets her breathing to a steady rate and follows suit to sit down but opts to sit on a cardboard box diagonal from Brittany.
They sit in silence for a few moments. Looking from the floor, to the door, to each other and then to the floor again. They make little comments here and there about the storage closet, but that topic is just something to discuss to avoid the awkward silence.
"Ya know, just because there are no board games in here doesn't mean we can't play a game." Santana suggests. Brittany tilts her head and looks at her curiously.
"What'd you have in mind?" Brittany asks with a nervous smile.
"Truth or dare?" Santana suggests. Brittany bites her bottom lip as she studies the girl staring back at her. She squints her eyes and then shrugs.
"Okay." She replies. "But, two rules." She says and she can tell this peeks Santana's interest. "Whatever is shared here, stays here." Santana pauses for a moment but then nods.
"Fine." Santana says when Brittany raises her eyebrows, clearly wanting a verbal response. "What's the other rule?
"Complete honesty." Brittany tells her the second rule and Santana purses her lips while she tilts her head. Her expression, semi annoyed.
"Deal." She relents. There are clearly no other options here as they have nowhere to be anytime soon because they are trapped.
So, they play truth or dare while locked in the storage closet. Well, it mostly becomes a game of truth because a dare is hard to execute in such small space. There are only so many dance moves someone can be forced to do. They share stupid truths from their childhood that they had been able to never really share with many people. Like the fact that Brittany once was dared to eat a worm when she went on vacation with her family one year by her cousins. She was afraid she would be pegged that bug eating kid that no one would talk to. This truth made Santana actually cry she was laughing so hard.
"You're not as annoying as Quinn makes you out to be." Santana admits when her laughter dies down. "I know we all sort of gang up on you." Brittany scoffs at this lame attempt at an apology
"You guys barely talk to me and when you do it's to make fun of me… Didn't think I picked up on that did ya?" Brittany laughs it off, but Santana can tell by her eyes that it does hurt deep down.
"I'm sorry." She says. Brittany looks up at her, studies her face and then nods.
"Besides," Brittany smirks and looks down at her shoes. 'If anyone's annoying it's a toss-up between you and Kitty." Santana's jaw drops.
"Well, color me offended." She acts as if she is hurt.
"The both of you are so far up Quinn's ass." Brittany adds, this time leaving the sugary sweet joking tone out of her voice.
"Tell me how you really feel." Santana mumbles and looks away. Brittany watches the way Santana avoids her eyes and studies her for a moment.
"I think you're a bitch to everyone because even if they did find out your secret, they'll be too scared of you to make fun of you." She adds. "Which, I don't know why you think they'd make fun of you. When you're not being a bitch you're kind of awesome. Even when you are being a bitch, you're still sort of awesome." Santana stares down at the ground for a long minute before she lifts her gaze to Brittany and looks into her eyes. She can see the sincerity in those blues. "Tell me something no one else knows about you." Brittany breaks the silence.
"I'm an open book." Santana shrugs and lets her hands fall to let her palms rest on the cardboard box.
"No you're not. Everybody's got secrets." Brittany points out. "I promise I won't tell anyone. Not like they'd believe me anyway. Nobody takes me seriously." Santana gets up from the box, grabs a towel and lays it out on the ground. She carefully sets herself to sit beside Brittany with her knees up to her chest and looks at the girl beside her.
"Maybe it's the lack of oxygen or the prolonged confinement, but, I think you're smarter than you think." Santana tells her and Brittany turns her head to look away from her. Santana smiles when Brittany finally looks back at her. "And I know you wouldn't tell anyone anything. Not just cause I would totally kick your ass if you did and make your life a living hell at school, but, cause we were friends once. I know for a fact that you never told Quinn about the third grade."
"Ah, yes. The third grade."
"You remember?"
"Like it was yesterday." They both laugh. "I swore I'd take that to the grave." Brittany turns her head to look up above them and Santana watches her own hand tugging at the edge of the towel she's sitting on. "So, you gonna tell me your big secret or are you hoping that you've distracted me?" Brittany asks again as she moves from sitting to laying down on the towel. She props her elbow up and rests her chin in her palm, looking up at Santana.
Santana follows her lead and lays down on her towel as well. Once she is situated beside her on the storage closet ground on her towel, Brittany turns on her back and looks up again.
Santana looks at Brittany who is still staring up at the dim light hanging from the ceiling, her hands on her stomach. She thinks of something that would be good enough to be considered a big secret and something she hasn't told anyone. Everything seems so small compared to the one thing that she's been hiding for some time now. The way Brittany's fingers drum on her stomach, patiently waiting for Santana to speak, only makes Santana's heart pound harder.
She can feel the words, pouring from her brain to her throat and to her tongue. It's there, on her lips just wanting for be said. If she says them, she feels like this weight in her chest will be lifted. Even if only a bit.
"I…" Santana's voice cracks and the fear in saying the words makes her clamp her mouth shut. She clears her throat, turns on her side and focuses her eyes on the towel she is now tugging at with her fingers. "I think I'm… a lesbian."
When the words come out Santana instinctively holds her breath and her eyes dart to Brittany's face. The corners of Brittany's mouth are slightly tugged up and the fingers on her stomach stop fidgeting. Her eyes shift to look at Santana and she can't help but laugh at the horrified expression on Santana's face.
This is mortifying. Santana lets her guard down and shares her biggest secret only to be laughed at. She covers her face with her hand and groans in emotional pain that somehow feels like physical pain. Before she can cry she feels Brittany's hand tug at her wrist, pulling it away from her face and is surprised to find some of the humor wiped from Brittany's face. Her eyes are sparkling under the dim light of the storage closet and her smile is soft.
"That's your big secret?" Brittany asks innocently. Santana's brow furrows, stunned that Brittany would mock her when she's in this vulnerable state. "That's… cool." She breathes out and turns her attention back to the ceiling. Santana is dumbfounded by this response. "I'm the first person?" She glances back at Santana who nods.
"I've never even said it to myself, like, out loud. You're literally the first person I've said those words to." Santana admits. "Which makes you the one and only other person besides me who knows my darkest and dirtiest secret."
"Hmmm." Brittany hums at the light. "I don't think it's dirty or dark. Well," She grins. "I bet it can get dirty. Some hot girl on girl." She giggles and Santana laughs even though she wants to crawl deep into a corner of this closet. "Hooking up with girls is definitely hot." Santana's brow knits and she focuses on Brittany's face.
"You've hooked up with girls?" She asks and Brittany hums and nods. "Wait, like, just made out… or?" Brittany turns her head in Santana's direction and gives her a serious look.
"Or." Brittany replies and arches an eyebrow.
"Are you a…?"
"I'm an equal opportunist." Brittany explains and Santana is impressed with her vocabulary. "Good sex is good sex and love is love. It doesn't matter if it has a penis or a vagina. Everyone has a heart." Santana figures that's a pretty good answer regardless of what everyone else thinks. "I'm curious, why do you think you might be a lesbian?" She turns on her side and mirrors Santana's position, propping herself on her elbow.
"Well, I've never actually done anything with a girl. So… I mean, I can't really be sure. You know?" Santana shrugs her shoulders.
"No. Not really." Brittany shakes her head, sincerely not following. Santana's lips twist and she sighs through her nose.
"I feel like…" She wracks her brain for a way to explain herself. "Take chocolate. Some people love it and some people hate it. But, unless you try it how can you be sure you hate or love it?" She reasons and watches Brittany decipher how she just used chocolate as a metaphor for lesbian sex.
"It doesn't really work that way though does it?" Brittany obviously has a counter argument stewing in her brain. "I don't think that that makes much of a difference. I mean, everyone is presumed straight from birth. Having sex with a certain person or gender proves nothing. So even though you haven't had sex with a girl it's definitely possible that you are a lesbian just as much as you can be straight without having sex with someone of the opposite sex." She stares at Santana who is clearly trying to find a way to rebuttal.
"I don't know." Santana mumbles and stares back at the towel she's been pulling apart thread by thread. Brittany shifts in her spot and readjusts the way her head is resting in her hand and she grins to herself.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" Brittany asks and the question quickly catches Santana's attention.
"What?" She laughs out not quite following.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" Brittany asks again. Santana stares at her and then rakes her eyes down the length of her body before coming back up to Brittany's face.
"Yeah." She replies.
Before she is finished saying the tiny word, Brittany leans in and presses her lips to Santana's. It's soft, not over bearing but gentle, and also quick. Brittany pulls back to gauge Santana's reaction finding a confused and slightly dazed look in return.
"Wha…"
"I don't know if it's the lack of oxygen or the prolonged confinement… maybe it's this moment." Brittany whispers with a smile and her eyes look down at Santana's lips. "But, I'm so turned on by you right now. And I figure," She leans closer. "We can test out your theory."
Brittany pauses for a moment, her lips grazing Santana's. She is giving her the chance to pull away. Only, she doesn't. With this, Brittany takes that as a cue to lean in and press her lips gently to Santana's. She closes her eyes and soon enough, Santana is kissing her back. Their mouths open a little more and then their tongues touch. Santana's tongue is wet and warm.
As the kiss deepens Santana's hands find themselves wandering. Brittany shifts her hips forward, giving Santana the go ahead to grab her waist. She grins into the kiss when she feels fingers grip her side and it causes her hand to come up and cup Santana's cheek, pulling her deeper into the kiss.
Brittany takes the initiative and rolls over on top of Santana, making them both grunt in pleasure and in sudden movement. Santana's hands move up and down her back, over her shirt while she carefully hovers over her. With a smack their lips part and Brittany sits up, straddling the girl beneath her. She smirks when she looks down at Santana who is dazed and breathless.
"I'm gonna take my shirt off, okay?" Brittany tells her, her own hands already at the bottom of her shirt. Santana nods furiously as she shifts impatiently beneath her. Brittany giggles and in one swift motion her shirt hits the floor.
Her smile fades a bit as she watches Santana's eyes run down the front of her topless body. There's a bite of a lip, a shift of a hip and a small sigh. Without another thought she lowers her body back down so that there is no room between them.
"Ya know, this would probably be better if you lost this too." Brittany comments between kisses, her hand inching beneath Santana's work shirt. Their kiss again is broken by a nod and bodies moving.
Brittany sort of falls back when Santana pushes up from the ground so she can pull her shirt over her head and it meets Brittany's on the ground. They giggle at one another when Brittany even gets up and shimmies out of her shorts, giving Santana a pointed look to do the same. Soon enough, they are back in position topless and bottomless. Safe for bras and underwear.
Their kisses are anything but soft and gentle. They are fast, sloppy and hard. Every now and again, one of them tries to control themselves to slow it down. But that's not what this is. It's not exactly either of their first time being intimate with someone and it is also pretty fair to say there are no feelings being exchanged here. Other than the feelings between their legs.
Sweaty skin slides against sweaty skin. The sound of kissing and tongues moving in and out of mouths echo in the storage closet until finally, there's silence briefly disturbed by moans of pleasure.
"You sure you've never done that before?" Brittany asks, still winded and reeling from her orgasm. Santana shakes her head, trying to keep her boastful grin under control.
They both lay on their backs and stare at the ceiling. Bare chests heaving as they try to catch their breath. They sigh in relief and release. Brittany clears her throat, shifts and pushes herself up. She grabs her clothes that are all scattered over the floor. This prompts Santana to follow suit.
"We should do this again." Brittany says as she pulls her shorts back up.
"Yeah?" Santana asks as she reaches around to hook her bra on. Brittany shrugs with a nod before pulling her shirt over her head.
"Yeah, I mean. I had fun. Seemed like you enjoyed yourself." Santana can feel her cheeks grow hot. "I never knew lady sex could be so..."
"Wait... what? I thought you've been with girls before." Santana stops in the middle of putting her shirt on and glares at the blonde.
"I lied." Brittany smirks and shrugs. "I've always wanted to and you were so sad looking about your secret, I just..."
"So... you used me?" Santana huffs accusingly and tugs the rest of her shirt down.
"You used me too." Brittany counters with a stare. "Look, I'm hot and you're hot. What we just did was very hot." She smirks. "And I wouldn't be opposed to doing it again... with you. We can have an arrangement."
"Fuck buddies?" Santana asks.
"If you can be honest with me." Brittany says, stepping closer to her. "Now that you have had sex with a girl, do you think you're a lesbian?" Santana looks away and bites her bottom lip.
Before she can respond they hear Mike's voice on the other side of the door calling for them.