She had just seen Brittany today in at the Cheerios, then in class, and then at glee club – why Mr. Schuester thought that the club would enjoy a meeting at 2:45 on a Friday is beyond her, but, he has always been a little enthusiastic – but she cannot help feel giddy. Tiny butterflies, or maybe baby ducks, are fluttering all through her stomach, as she gets ready. First the shower, letting the almost scalding water flow over her muscles, allowing the endless Cheerios practices and harsh, defensive looks roll off her body. She shampoos and conditions her hair and scrubs her whole body with a loofa. Sighing, she slowly turns off the water, feeling the temperature drop as the steam dissipates from the enclosure. She grabs a fluffy red towel and dries herself before wrapping up her hair and putting on a robe.
She meanders around the house – still in her robe-, checking on everything. She had candles set up, placemats set out, glasses and silverware polished and ready. She had made the bed in her room and straightened up. Before coming home she had stopped and gotten a bouquet of lilacs for Brittany, knowing that she preferred the unusual to the ordinary. Plus, roses never seem to smell as nice and Santana knew that Brittany would have her nose in the flowers half of the night. Santana went over to the cupboard and took out a small vase to put the flowers in when they got home. In the refrigerator was champagne and there was a bottle of red wine already set out onto the table – her parents had so much wine that they would never even know a bottle was missing (and the champagne was left over from the holidays, her father and his colleagues just seemed to trade bottles of the stuff and her parents said that occasionally she was welcome to use one).
As she climbs back up the stairs to her overly neat room (if Brittany didn't know something was up before, she definitely would when she saw how organized everything was) she glanced at the time. 6:00.
Perfect. She thought. That gives me an hour to get ready before I have to leave. She was picking Britt up at 8 pm from her parents' house; about a 5-minute ride from Santana's. And I want to be perfectly on time. Any time she and Brittany had gone out on a date she had made sure that she was at the Pierce's exactly when she was supposed to be. Respect, it is important when you are dating someone.
Her parents were gone for the weekend. Not a shocking turn of events (she was left alone probably once a month – well, maybe more) but normally they left on overlapping business trips during the week. When Santana was younger they would leave her with her Abuela, but ever since she turned fourteen she would stay in the house alone. She liked the privacy. This time, however, her parents were gone for the weekend. And not just any weekend: a long weekend. That happened to coincide with her 3-month anniversary of officially dating Brittany. Her girlfriend. Oh, and it might have been almost exactly 3 years ago that they first started sleeping together. Her parents have the best timing (who would have ever thought she would say that)!
Santana walked into her bathroom, unwound her hair from the towel and ran a comb through her slightly damp locks. Blow dryer – check. Straightener – check. Curler – check. Bumble and Bumble DeFrizz Lotion – check. Mousse – check. Her hair bounced and swayed, down and free, curled around her shoulders. Brittany always says she prefers Santana's hair down for three reasons:
"San, first, it is super pretty down. Second, I like to, you know, beabletorunmyfingersthroughit. And third, I love it when you get the cutest post-sex hair. It just has so much volume." Santana just chuckled at the memory. Now it was time for make-up. Light on the bronzer and primer, but with plenty of mascara and eyeliner – Brittany always compliments her eyes. A light coat of lip gloss and she is ready to pick out an outfit. It is not so much picking it out as it is putting it on. Santana already knows what she is going to wear. She opens up her closet doors and grabs her Cynthia Steffe asymmetrical maroon dress. The hemline stops mid-thigh, showing just enough of her leg to Britt. Plus, it looked perfect paired with her leather jacket and black gladiator heels.
Hmmm, it is Lima, Ohio in the dead of winter. Santana wondered if she should put on a cardigan before smirking to herself. This was supposed to be a romantic evening, not the kind of date that her parents would go on. No cardigan. She would just have to not spend too much time outside.6:59 PM. She grabbed her car keys off the table on her way into the garage – at least her seats wouldn't be cold. She had 50 minutes and 5 stops to make. This was totally doable.
Santana pulled back into her driveway at 7:46 PM with her bags. Definitely too much. She thought, but knew that it would be worth it. Scooping everything out of the trunk she ran inside and quickly unpacked the bags. 7:51. She ran upstairs, grabbing her perfume, spritzing it on her wrists and neck, before checking her hair and make-up. She looked hot. Perfect. 7:53.
Santana sprinted – well, sprinted as well as she could in these 4-inch heels – down the stairs, hand periodically gripping onto the handrail. She turned down the dimmer on the lights so that there was nothing but a soft glow illuminating the room. 7:54. Car, now, Santana. She opened the door to the garage and stopped. Flowers!
7:55. She wasn't late. She was nervous. Brittany deserves everything. Santana knew that she was not always the easiest person to be around and that sometimes Brittany needed a little extra patience when Santana decided not to have any patience with the glee clubbers. So, when she could, she tried to make perfect moments for Brittany. God, I hope that tonight is perfect. Or, at least, I hope that I don't mess up. 7.58. She was one block away from The Pierces' house. At least she was on time. It is always good to start things off on a positive note.
Santana pulled her red Audi A4 into the driveway at 7:59. She paused before she got out of the car, briefly checking her hair, makeup and nails. It was a nervous habit. She pulled the flowers off the seat, knowing that instead of being ready to go or being outside Brittany was going to be waiting for her. She had said earlier that she mentioned to her parents it was their anniversary and that they were going to do something special. Santana loved Mr. and Mrs. Pierce, but she had never interacted with them when she was there to pick up their daughter for a date. With another girl. When she would be spending the night. Oh, this might be very awkward.
Santana took a deep breath, allowing the cold to fill her lungs and slow her down. She pressed down on the doorbell, hearing the ring vibrating through the house. "Be right there Santana!" Mrs. Plaintiff said from someone inside. Suddenly the door flew open and Mrs. Pierce was standing in the doorway, all smiles.
"Hey, Mrs. P. How are you?"
"Oh, I am fine Santana. How are you? You look stunning, really, beautiful. Daniel, come here and take a look at Santana!" Santana could feel a slight blush starting to form in her cheeks and she looked down at the floor.
"Hello Santana. Oh, you do look lovely this evening. Are you ready for your date?" Mr. Pierce is where Brittany got her piercing blue eyes and Santana felt a flash of familiarity anytime she looked at them.
"Yes, sir. All set. I am really excited," she replied.
"Well, I am not sure if you could be more excited than Brittany. She has been flying around here since she got home from Glee at 4. I think that she has actually spent four hours getting ready!" He appeared to be talking to himself as much as Santana.
"So, sweetie, Daniel and I wanted to talk to you briefly-" Mrs. Pierce started. Santana's heart froze in her chest. Did they not want her seeing Brittany? She felt her pulse quicken and the blush rapidly fade from her cheeks.
"Oh, no, sweetie. We love that you are dating Britt. We don't have any problem with that, don't worry. But, we want to talk to you about, well, is she staying over with you all weekend?" Mrs. Pierce asked.
"Yes, that was the plan. Is that all right? Brittany stays over all the time. Or, she used to stay the weekend constantly." Santana replied.
"Well, you two are dating now, things are a bit different," Mr. Pierce cut in. Santana tried to suppress a chuckle. If only they knew how not different things actually were – in some respects, at least.
"Of course," she agreed, not wanting to put off her girlfriend's parents. "Do you not want Britt to spend the weekend?"
"Of course not honey! We just want you both to be safe, and happy, and not do anything that you are not ready for!" Mrs. Pierce was so encouraging. Santana knew that if she had been drinking water she would have sprayed it all over the living room floor. Brittany's parents did not want them to feel pressured to have sex. Wow.
"Of course not Mrs. P. In fact, just to let you in on a little secret, I have gotten 8 different Disney movies on blue ray. Britt and I just want some time this weekend. I promise to take really great care of her."
"Oh, Santana, we know that you always take great care of her. Why do you think that we are so happy that…" Santana knew in the back of her mind that Mrs. Pierce had finished that sentence but the second Brittany appeared at the top of the stairs Santana couldn't think about anything else. She looked stunning. Navy is definitely her color. Her hair was done up, with height to the front. Her eyes looked smoky and the dress showed off every perfect inch of Brittany's body.
"Wow." It was all that Santana could manage. "Wo—I mean, amazing. You look amazing."
Brittany giggled. "You look great too, San. I love that dress – and the leather jacket." As she finished the sentence the tone in her voice dropped. Santana smiled, knowing that she must look good. Brittany was almost down the stairs with an overnight bag in her hand. Santana ran up to her and grasped the bag from Britt, handing her the flowers at the same time.
"These are for you."
"San, they are gorgeous. Thank you!" Santana blushed, again.
Mr. and Mrs. Pierce just smiled. The girls were so cute and Santana worked so hard, it was really adorable. The smile that spread across Brittany's face was the smile that seemed to be present only when Santana was around – like it was reserved just for her.
"Where are you girls going to be heading for dinner this evening?" Mr. Pierce finally asked, interrupting the ogling fest.
"It's a surprise!" Santana replied, a mischievous grin on her face. Britt's face lit up. She loved surprises.
"Shall we go, Britt?" Santana asked.
"Of course, baby!" Britt replied, like it was the most natural thing in the world to call Santana baby in front of her parents. Santana blushed, again.
"Brittany, you be safe and have fun. And don't feel like you have to do anything, but if you girls want to do things we understand you are 18. But, if you have any questions or if you need us for anything you can always call. You too Santana. If either one of you wants to chat or has questions, call." Mrs. Pierce said.
"Mom, what are you talking about?" Brittany said. "I am just going with Santana. You see Santana all the time." The blonde was clearly confused by what her mother was trying (rather ineloquently) to say.
"I just don't want you, or Santana, to feel like you have to, be together just because you are going to be alone together this weekend," Mrs. Pierce finally managed to say. Santana just looked horrified and immediately her eyes were on the ground, hand clutching Brittany's weekend bag. Mr. Pierce looked equally uncomfortable, eyes slightly widened with a nervous smile on his face.
"Mom, wait, you are worried about Santana and I being together. Ohhhhhh. We should call you if we are going to have sex? That is really weird. I mean, I don't normally call you when we have-" Santana's hand clamped down over Brittany's mouth, her eyes wide open. When Brittany's lips stopped moving Santana removed her hand, still looking at the floor, now thoroughly embarrassed.
"Oh, wow, well, so you guys have, you know, had sex. Oh. Well, if you need to talk…" Mrs. Pierce continued before she felt her husband hand on her hand.
"Honey, let's let the girls get out of here, shall we? Ladies, have a nice weekend, but be safe please. We love you." Mr. Pierce pulled both of the girls into a quick hug, followed by a longer one from Mrs. Pierce. "Have fun!"
Santana took Brittany's left hand in her right and they walked out of the house to Santana's car.
"You look really amazing Brittany. You are incredibly gorgeous."
"Aw, San! You are so sweet. You look totally hot. But, I mean, you always look hot. So, that is not really surprising. Where are we going for our surprise?" She said in rapid succession.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it!"
Santana lifted Brittany's hand to her mouth and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand. "I am really excited that we have this weekend together."
"Mmmm, me too San." Brittany mumbled, her lips pressed lightly against Santana's cheek. "I don't know what the surprise is, but I am sure that I am going to love it. Just like I love you."