I didn't know that walking into that club would change my life forever. I'd always been the same, free-spirited, not all that bothered about anybody else; I didn't need anyone else but myself. Becoming very good at not letting people in made life easier, there was less to worry about, less to get stressed about. Looking out for number one, that's one thing my mother taught me. Thank god she did. Lots of people liked me, but only a few of them I'd call my friends. Not many stuck around that long as soon as things got tough, that's what real friends are supposed to do. Nobody had ever taken the time to even get to know me, not until that night, the night in the club.
Everything happens for a reason right? I never believed it until she came along. She was one of the dancers, but not the ones who'd let you touch them or make any inappropriate passes at her. Not that I ever would. Another thing my mother taught me, don't take advantage of people. That one I try my hardest to do. No, this girl was classy, only stared at you for a short time before moving on to someone else's gaze. Maybe she wanted to tease me.
I went out that night after I found out my first serious girlfriend, Lucy, had cheated on me with her first serious girlfriend. Needless to say, I was pissed and felt the need to go out and get as drunk as Puck would allow me. It definitely didn't help when I walked up to the bar to see her kissing said first girlfriend. While I tried my best to stay calm, Puck had to pull me back to stop me doing something I'd no doubt regret.
Then I saw her, the dancer who I later learned was Brittany. On stage with very little on, I caught her staring over to me, something I certainly didn't mind and I quirked my eyebrow at her. When she laughed slightly, I knew she'd seen it and as she turned to sashay down a pole, I walked over to get closer to the stage. Losing Puck on the way, I kept my eyes on the blonde. Her hair was flying all over the place but my main viewpoint remained, shamelessly, on her ass. Well, what did she expect from such tight fitting shorts?
The dancing seemed to finish after a good half hour of stepping into the club and I watched as the pretty blonde made her way off the stage through a small door. Feeling slightly disappointed, I turned to see Puck was laughing at me.
"You might want to wipe that pool of drool off the floor Lopez,"
"Shut it Puck," I shook my head, walking over to the bar again. A drink would settle this, then I could enjoy my night, maybe I'd meet another hottie. Maybe not.
"It's not like I blame you, she was hot,"
"Hmm," I mumbled, handing the over-tanned boy behind the bar the money I owed and turning back to face Puck. He'd been my best friend for as long as I could remember and no matter how much we argued we'd stayed the best friends. Nothing seemed to break us up.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around slowly, not really wanting to face Lucy or anyone else I may or may not have hooked up with in the past. As soon as I realised who it was, I smiled and laughed turning to see if Puck was still there. He wasn't. It was then that I saw him dancing with some small, Jewish looking girl. Good I thought, more for me.
"I'm Brittany," she smiled. For the first time in my life, I felt something tug in my chest as her smile grew.
"Santana," I stuck my hand out, immediately regretting it. Who shakes someone's hand in the middle of a club? Not just 'someone's', one of the dancers. Regardless of how stupid I must have looked, she took it and laughed again before flicking her hair over her shoulder. I made her laugh, who knew I could do that?
"Do you fancy going somewhere a little quieter? It gets a little depressing staying where you work after you've finished, you know?" I nodded and grabbed her hand before leading the two of us out of the club. As always the club was bouncing, people I recognised yelled out my name and I tried my best to move as swiftly as possible out of the double doors. Realising I'd left Puck alone, I whipped out my phone and texted him telling him to meet me the next morning.
"Sorry about that," I said to the girl after putting my phone back into my small jacket pocket.
"It's fine, need to look out for your friends right?" my head tilted and I looked at her, she was more than just some dancer. She surprised me and I tried my hardest not to laugh at her.
"Yeah," I nodded and began to walk along the road, she followed and I looked over to her, catching her staring back to me I asked, "do you have any ideas about where we could go then?"
"My place?" I felt a blush creep onto my face. A blush? I never blushed, I laughed and looked back up to her, "Oh, not, like,"
"It's OK, if you want to," I quirked my eyebrow again and she stopped walking, "or not, whatever is fine,"
"I'm not into that," she shook her head and I kicked myself mentally again, no matter what I did, I always did the wrong thing, "so if that's all you want you might as well leave me now." I reached out and held her arm. I didn't know why I did it, I just felt like it was the right thing to do.
"No, no it's not," since when did I care what people thought about me? Never mind people I'd only just met. Someone who wasn't even going to get me laid. No way was this me, it creeped me out. But still I was stuck there, looking into the eyes of the blonde who'd persuaded me out of the club just as the night had begun. Blue, her eyes were blue.
"Cool, well come on then, I live just down here," she grabbed me by the hand and started to sway her hips like she'd done on stage. I felt her pulling me to dance with her, so I did. Twirling under her arm and being pulled closer I allowed her to guide me into shapes I'd never been before. Who knew you could literally dance your way home? I thought briefly about people staring at us but dismissed them almost instantly. Dancing to this girl was more than a job, more than a hobby, it was the way she lived her life. The way she showed people the way she was feeling. It was enthralling, it was confusing. She lead me down the street and soon all the cold seemed to disappear, I even began to wish I'd left my jacket at home.
As soon as we stopped dancing, I realised Brittany was pulling out the keys for her home. Walking into the apartment building, Brittany held onto my hand again and lead my up the stairs. No words were said but it wasn't in the way which made you think you'd be leaving in less than two hours after a round of meaningless sex, this felt comfortable.
"You coming in then?" I nodded simply and followed her into her simple but incredibly sweet apartment. Photos of dancers were on the walls, one particular one of a naked ballet dancer took my fancy right off, "Beautiful isn't she?"
"Yes," I looked back to Brittany, "yes she is." I could see a blush crawl onto her cheeks and my heart fluttered again, like it had done when she told me her name.
"Yes, a drink?" she offered, walking around into the kitchen area and pouring a glass of wine, presumably for herself.
"Please," I smiled and she lifted the bottle, asking me if that was OK. I nodded and took a seat in the living room waiting for her to join me.
"So Santana,"
"Brittany,"
"Cute," she commented, sipping on her wine, "so how old are you?" I'd never done this before, the life story thing. Not with someone I met randomly at some club. Yet I felt comfortable with Brittany.
"19," I told her, also taking a sip of the wine she'd given me. Sweet, like her, "how about you?"
"Same," she smiled, crossing her legs on the sofa after kicking her heels off, "you go to college?"
"I do, I'm studying Literature at Berkeley,"
"No way," she laughed, her eyes rolling slightly as she did, "I'm doing Dance and Performance Studies, at Berkeley,"
"That's crazy,"
"Yeah, maybe I've seen you around," she suggested to which I had to laugh.
"I think I would have remembered," I winked and again the blush rose in her pale cheeks, "yes, I'm sure I would have remembered." She stood up from the seat in front of me and joined where I was on the couch.
"I would have remembered you too, Santana," What I was feeling in the pit of my stomach and quickly in between my legs was not normal; we weren't even touching. How could a girl have this affect on me when she wasn't even doing anything? My breathing turned a little ragged but not enough, or so I thought, for Brittany to notice. Now she tells me she did notice, and that she was feeling the same way.
That night, nothing extraordinary happened. Not to other people's measurements but to me, and to Brittany, it was the start of everything. The real start of our lives and the start of our relationship. For all I knew, that night I was going out to try and somehow get over Lucy. Turns out, I did exactly that. However, what I wasn't counting on was meeting the love of my life, the mother of my children and the woman I'd grow old with.
This is the journey; the journey to me and you.