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Fish Are Friends
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The store smelt of sawdust and pet food as Santana entered, and with the ting of the bell behind her, she briefly wondered if this was a good idea at all. Then the thought of her sister buying their nephew a video game or something unoriginal and knew this was a much better gift for his birthday.
Scanning the aisles, Santana walked towards the back, and was surprised to see just how much crap there was out there for animals. Each animal seemed to have its own section, and the frown in her brow deepened and she moved round on her search. She was after fish, how hard was that to find? She was not looking for a dog hammock for the backseat of her car, nor was she looking for a cat jungle gym. People were freaking crazy.
Hearing the humming and bubbling noise of the tanks, Santana turned into what had to be an extension shoved onto the back of the shop, tucked away in a little nook, and was met with tank after tank of fish, plants, and shelves of fish keeping paraphernalia.
Looking at it all, even at a glance, she knew she was out of her depth. How the fuck was this so hard?
"Hi, can I help you?" a bubbly voice announced, and a blonde practically jumped to stand right next to Santana, startling her completely. She scowled at the girl and took a moment to catch her breath, before licking her lips and nodding. The blonde seemed oblivious to the fright she'd just caused.
"Yeah, I'm looking for a fish for my nephew." The blonde's eyes lit up with the news and she rubbed her hands together excitedly.
"Alrighty, do you have a tank set up?"
"Hmm?" Santana murmured, eyeing the girl's work outfit. It was a red polo shirt with the logo sewn in yellow; 'The Ark' written inside a boat. Next to this was the girl's nametag. Brittany. Santana actually wasn't surprised by this. She looked like a Brittany for some reason. It seemed fitting.
"Have you got your tank?" Brittany asked.
"No, I need to buy that, too."
"Oh right." Brittany frowned, and Santana followed suit, wondering why she looked disappointed. "Okay, then I'm afraid I can't sell you any fish until you have it set up."
"What?"
"The water needs to be at the right conditions otherwise the fish will die. What kind of tank were you looking for?" Brittany went on to add, but Santana was stuck on the last comment.
"What do you mean you can't sell me any fish?" What kind of pet store stocked fish but refused to sell them?
"You need to have a tank set up, to have a filter running, and to make sure the water is correct. The fish will suffer if you don't. They could die," Brittany explained, making Santana shake her head incredulously.
"What does it matter? They're only fish." Seriously, what was going on here?
"Fish are friends, and every one of them matters. If you don't think so, maybe you should leave," Brittany replied, looking away from Santana and pursing her lips, clearly unimpressed and hurt by her words. For whatever reason, Santana felt guilty and she shook her head, realising she had just been really insensitive.
"What? Wait, no, I didn't mean that. I'll set the tank up first." Yeah, she could have just gone to another pet shop and bought what she wanted without any hassle, but fuck, she felt bad and wanted to fix it.
"Okay…what kind of tank are you after?" Santana sent Brittany a small smile when she asked her question, which was returned, and then she looked at the selection on show.
"Just a small one, like that one." It was a small square tank, compact enough to be placed on a bedside table or a desk. Definitely good for a kid's bedroom.
"Mmm, and what type of fish were you thinking of keeping?" Brittany mused, biting her lip, which was holy distracting.
"A goldfish, they're easy right?" They seemed easy. They hardly lived long, they could be kept in a small tank, they didn't require any fancy equipment. Easy.
"Right," Brittany said, nodding. "No, you can't keep a goldfish in this tank."
"Why not?" Could she do anything? What was with all the rules? This was fish keeping, not rocket science.
"It's too small. Goldfish live a very long time and they can grow rather big so they need a much bigger tank than this." What was this girl talking about?
"But people keep them in vases and paperweights," Santana pointed out. Had she literally found the Fish Rights Society founding member or something?
"And they shouldn't. That is negligence and abuse to those fish." If the girl hadn't looked so serious, Santana would have laughed in her face.
"Right."
"Look, I can suggest a bigger tank if that's what you're interested in, or you could go for tropical fish." Brittany shrugged her shoulder and waited for Santana to reply, but she really had no clue what to say. It felt like she was going round in circles with this girl.
She couldn't get fish because the tank had to be set up properly, she couldn't have a certain tank because it was too small, she couldn't do this, she couldn't do that. Was there anything she could do, or would it be safer for her to just leave?
"Tropical fish? Isn't that more expensive?" she finally asked.
"It's a little bit pricier with the heaters involved but no, overall, it's really not." Brittany shook her head and Santana decided to buy her sincerity. If the girl had been out to scam her, she could have set Santana up with the small tank, the fish, and sent her on her way. As it was currently, it didn't look like Santana was going to be walking out there with much to show for it at all.
"And how big a tank do I need for some of them?" she inquired, looking round at the tanks they had on show. The ones on the shelves all looked like a good size, but over the back, Santana could see massive tanks on show.
"Not as big as you'd need for the goldfish."
"Can you show me?" She was just hoping Brittany didn't lead her to the ones in the back.
"Yep!" Brittany grinned happily at her question, maybe at just the mere fact Santana seemed interested in doing this correctly, and started walking through the aisles of goods and past the fish, exactly to where Santana didn't want to be.
Huge tanks were lined up in rows, each showing the cabinet the plastic or glass tank sat on, and some of the features that came with it. There were very professional looking black and silver ones, glossy white and black ones, steel frame tanks, wooden cabinets with smaller tanks atop of them, and a bunch of others Santana didn't even know how to classify.
"These are a lot bigger than I wanted. What about that one?" Santana asked, ignoring what should really be considered bathtubs, and pointing to a very small tank that had glass on the top and a small opening for food.
"That is a torture chamber for fish," Brittany replied seriously, and Santana was stuck between wanting to laugh and wanting to cry at how ridiculous all this was.
"Brittany!" a voice suddenly cried, causing both of them to turn to see who it was. Another blonde was making their way over, and she had a slightly shocked and creepy smile on her face. "Mrs Lazerith just brought in her cat and is asking for you. I can take care of this customer," she finished, placing her arm on Brittany's, and then shooting Santana a friendly smile.
"Oh, thanks, Kitty," Brittany mumbled, frowning and looking over the aisles in an effort to see the woman they were talking about. Santana felt relieved. Despite Brittany's keen interest, it was clear Santana wasn't going to get anything with her help. This Kitty girl seemed so much better. "I hope you get what you're looking for," Brittany said, giving Santana a smile before popping off.
"Sorry about her. Now, what were you looking for?" Kitty asked, looking as relieved as Santana felt.
Santana went back through everything she was after, and thankfully, this saleswoman seemed much more likely to actually sell her everything today. She did say it would be better to get tropical, and Santana was sure it was due to how much the heaters and everything cost when coming from her lips, but whatever, she loved her nephew so he was worth it.
Rather than being sent away to set the tank up first, Santana was told she could indeed buy the fish today as long as she bought some water supplement crap to put in with the fish. It seemed a little better than having to wait six weeks before it would be safe and mess around with ammonia. Who freaking knew there was so much to fishkeeping?
Heading over to the tanks, with the help of Kitty, she managed to pick out six small shoaling fish, and one bigger fish. The big fish was an angelfish of some kind, with black and white markings, and he looked beast. Her nephew would love him.
Once they were picked out, everything was taken over to the cash desk, and Santana waited for it all to be rung up. In the back of the store, the phone started ringing, and Kitty stopped for a second to look round, no doubt in search for a colleague. She spotted Brittany and continued ringing up Santana's items.
"Hey, Brittany can you…" Taking a moment to think, the phone still ringing, she shot Santana a smile, "I'll be right back."
Nodding and moving from foot to foot, Santana watched as Brittany came over to the counter and dropped her head down to see the fish in the bags properly. She smiled at them and then did a double take at each bag, frowning a little.
"I hope you're not putting these guys in the same tank," she said, tucking the hair that had come loose from her ponytail behind her ear.
"I am."
"You really shouldn't." She was shaking her head and biting her lip, but Santana couldn't understand why she looked so concerned. Though, she shouldn't have been surprised. This girl was clearly on a different wavelength from everyone else, and Santana was definitely not able to tune in to it.
"What?"
"See the big guy, you've just bought him lunch." With that, Brittany pointed to the other bag of fish. "When you put these in a tank together, he's going to eat them all."
"The other girl said that they were fine," Santana protested, shaking her head this time. She had endured about ten minutes of fish talk on what was acceptable to put together, and now she was being told she had made the wrong choice. How did that even work?
"Kitty? Kitty doesn't know what she's talking about. She keeps a Pleco in a tank with no wood," Brittany scoffed, waving her hand dismissively, and being oblivious to the confused look on Santana's face.
"I don't…I don't know what that means. But, I think I'm happy with my selection." Was happy even the right word? She'd felt like she'd lost the will to live since being in the shop. Happy was nowhere near what she was feeling.
"Okay, but when you wake up and see these guys missing, you don't need to look too far for the culprit," she sing-songed in reply, shrugging her shoulders.
Santana didn't know what to do with that information and shook her head, completely confused. With everything Santana had heard Brittany come out with, she half expected her to kick up a fuss over her being a murderer for even thinking about putting these fish together. Maybe she wasn't as out there as Santana thought.
Oblivious to Santana's lost thoughts, Brittany continued to smile at the fish and watch them swim about in the bags, content with the silence.
"Brittany! Brad needs your help in the back," Kitty called, practically running back over to the counter.
"Okay. Bye!" Brittany said, waving to Santana before darting in the office.
"Sorry about her, she…she has a special way of looking at fishkeeping. So will that be all?"
"Yeah, thanks."
With the price of the fish, the tank, the filter, the gravel, the heater, the food, the tools and the ornaments, Santana realised it would have been cheaper just to buy her nephew a damn PlayStation and be done with it. Whatever. This was teaching him how to care for shit or something, one-step before he could get a gerbil or something.
Getting help to carry all her goods to her car, Santana left the pet shop with one last glace back at the blonde who was on the floor having a full on conversation with a cat on a leash. She was so strange, yet for some reason, Santana knew that innocent smile and perky attitude was going to stick with her for a few days.
Shaking her head, she put it down to residual loneliness and drove off, thanking her lucky stars she wouldn't have to return.
*0*0*
Grudgingly, a week or so later, Santana found herself parked back outside The Ark Pet Shop, bag in hand, and gritting her teeth as she made her way inside. This was completely ridiculous, and she should have known the whole situation was going to bite her in the ass.
"You're back!" a voice cried once the door had shut behind Santana. Turning to see who it was, she was met with the beaming smile of Brittany, and walked over to the counter.
"Yeah, I'm back." She felt like a complete fool being there, but she had no other option.
"What can we do for you today?" Brittany sang, tapping her hands on the counter to her own beat. She looked pleased to see Santana, and had her head cocked to the side in curiosity. The similarity between her and a golden retriever puppy was startling.
"Do you take returns?" Santana asked, eyeing the bag in her hand.
"Returns?" Brittany raised her eyebrows in question and bit her lip, unsure.
"You were right," Santana confessed. "The big fish, he ate all the others. It was a massacre of fish bits and just yuck." She scrunched her nose in disgust and thought back to the screaming phone call from her sister. She'd demanded Santana come round and see what the monster of a fish had done, and it was a hideous sight to see.
The fish had led them into a false sense of security, not attacking any of the others for days, and then Bam! Right out of the blue, the fish ate the others, or at least picked at the others.
"Oh. Did your nephew not want to keep him?"
"No. They bought a goldfish instead." She had been saddled with the fish instead.
"Oh no, poor goldfish." Brittany pouted and frowned at the thought of that goldfish in that torture chamber and wished it all the best luck ahead. It would be lucky if it made it a year.
"Yeah. So, I'm kinda stuck with this fish and was wondering if you could just take it back," Santana said, placing the bag up on the counter. Hannibal the Cannibal, as she had aptly named it, was inside a clear bag with plenty of air and water, swimming quite happily like the smug little psychopath he was. Santana needed to get rid of him. She had named him for fucks sake. He had to go.
"Kitty says we're not to do that," Brittany replied, peeking into the bag and then at Santana's defeated face.
"Right, of course not." Why would they take back a fish that was a murderer? And what the hell was Santana going to do with him now?
"But I'm not Kitty," Brittany then chimed, making a split second decision to change the rules. "I can put him back."
"You could do that?"
"Yeah, I mean fish hide in these tanks all the time and it's easy to miscount them. Plus, some die and we never find their bodies or know why. It's easy to miscount a fish here or there. Hand him over." Santana sighed in relief and handed the bag to Brittany as she moved round the counter.
"Thank you, I really didn't know what the hell I would be doing with one of these otherwise."
"You could always start your own aquarium," Brittany murmured, glancing in the bag and then heading through the store with Santana at her heels.
"Yeah, I think I'll pass on that, thanks," Santana muttered. Good lord, she was not starting an aquarium. After this tremendous introduction into how savage fish could be, she was not going to suddenly sign herself up for fishkeeping.
"Oh well, it was worth a shot," Brittany said with a smile, moving past the empty tanks and towards a door.
Santana wasn't sure if she should keep following when Brittany opened it and headed on in. However, before she could stop walking, Brittany waved her on in and asked her to shut the door behind her. The room was much like the fish section of the store, tank upon tank of different fishes, some tiny and some big, some tanks with warning notes stuck to them, some tanks with reserved stickers, and then a row of empty ones where Brittany was standing over.
"I'll keep him in quarantine for a few weeks, just to see if he has a bad reaction to what he had to endure in that other tank. Stress leads to infections, and the last thing we want is him infecting his brothers and sisters," she explained, dropping the sealed bag into the top of an empty tank. "Do you want to stay and wait to see him in his new home?"
Normally, Santana would have said no and just left, but there was something about the curve of Brittany's smile and lightness in her eyes that had Santana nodding. Okay, it wasn't completely out there for her to admit to herself that she was attracted to Brittany, but Brittany was so unlike all her other interests.
She wasn't looking for any type of interest right now, any type of girl or relationship, she wanted to keep her head down and play it safe. But really, what was a harmless crush on this girl she would never see again? There was no risk here. Santana could just enjoy her company for a bit and then pretend it never happened later. Easy.
"Yeah, that would be good. Make sure he's settled in," she replied, and Brittany clapped her hands and grinned.
Of course, Santana didn't actually know what settling a fish in to his new tank meant and to be honest, it was getting pretty boring. The plastic bag Hannibal was in was still sealed and was just floating on the top of this empty tank. That surely couldn't have been doing much.
Brittany was oblivious to Santana's frown, however, and was checking out the other fish in the room. Santana decided that Hannibal was on his own for now, if Brittany wanted to leave him in the bag then so be it, and turned to look at the other tanks in the room.
Majority of the Marine fish had reserved stickers on the side of their tanks, and Santana glanced a look at the price of them. Thank Christ she hadn't thought Marine was a good idea for her nephew. At least The Ark hadn't tried to get her to buy into them. Then again, glancing over at the blonde who was cooing at two fish, Santana knew Brittany didn't care about the money and only wanted good homes for the fish.
How someone could be that caring about a fish was beyond her, but she found herself smiling anyway.
Moving on from the Marine fish, Santana noticed a group of scary looking fuckers in another tank. On the side it had a 'DO NOT PUT HAND IN TANK DURING FEEDING' sign, which was very comforting. Getting a closer look, Santana bent down to examine them further. They were arguably in the biggest tank they had back there and there were a group of six or so big fish with red bellies.
"What are these?" Santana asked curiously, hoping she wasn't being a bother by asking.
Brittany didn't look bothered in the least as she spun to see what Santana was referring to. Her eyes caught sight of the tank Santana was pointing to and she bit her lip then scrunched up her nose.
"Piranhas. We really shouldn't have them, but some guy was going to dump them in the river and we couldn't have that. We're trying to find an established aquarium to take them."
"Piranhas as in, I stick my hand in and it'll eat my skin off? Those type of Piranhas?"
"Well, if they're really hungry or if you have a weeping cut then maybe, but they're really not as vicious as everyone makes them out to be." From the sign on the tank, Santana wasn't buying it.
"That's why this is on top, right? So people don't put their hands in?" Santana asked, pointing to the heavy piece of board that had been fixed to the top of the tank. None of the other tanks had it, only a bit of Perspex covering them, but this looked heavy. It was out of place, but now she knew why.
"Yeah, sort of. Piranhas usually like dark water and are light sensitive, so this gives them shade. Plus it's also to stop other fish jumping in or them jumping out of that tank."
"They jump?" Why had she never heard that piece of information before? And what the hell were people thinking buying Piranhas? These fuckers were dangerous, and they weren't even pretty. They looked mean.
"When startled, they are known to jump," Brittany answered, pursing her lips as the shoal of Piranhas moved round the tank, unfazed by their audience.
"Do you put your hand inside this tank?" Santana would never have been able to. Just the thought of it had her taking a step back from the tank itself. That earned her an eyebrow raise and a smirk in amusement from Brittany.
"No," she replied, trying hard to pretend the woman's fright wasn't amusing. "Brad cleans them. He takes them out and cleans the tank then puts them back. We don't risk it cause we're not really Piranha experts. I'm actually looking forward to them leaving. They freak me out a bit."
Santana felt relieved to hear that, glad Brittany wasn't at risk. Though, why she cared was beyond her. It was Brittany's job, she probably wasn't worried about it in the least, so why had Santana been worried for her?
Shaking her head, Santana watched as Brittany went back over to Hannibal and cut open the bag he was in. She figured the blonde had forgotten about him and was now going to release him, but that wasn't the case. Instead, she pulled the opening underneath the surface of the water and let more water into the bag, then secured it to the side of the tank and let it sit there. Hannibal looked unfazed, and Santana didn't know what was going on.
"He needs to acclimatize," Brittany explained, feeling the woman's eyes on her. "All water is different, and we don't want to shock him, do we now?" she said, speaking directly to Hannibal at the end. Santana bit back a snort and moved over to see the fish that started this mess in the first place.
Brittany went back to checking on the other tanks, and Santana found she was kind of fascinated watching her talk to each tank like she knew who the fish were, explaining to them what'll happen to the water when she added the medicine and when their next feed was. She could understand talking to a dog or a cat because hell, she did that constantly, but fish?
Somehow, it was completely endearing on Brittany. If she'd seen Rachel or Quinn doing this she'd call them freaks and to get a life, but on this perfect stranger, nope she couldn't even think it.
After another twenty minutes, Brittany returned to Hannibal and finally let him out of the bag he'd been in. He didn't look bothered by his new environment in the least and began swimming about like this was where he'd been all along.
"Well, there he is, in his new home, at least for the next two weeks anyway," Brittany said, turning to Santana and smiling.
"Good, good," Santana replied, unsure what to say now. Thankfully, Brittany was ready to fill the silence.
"Thanks for bringing him back and not…you know, flushing him or something." Brittany pouted briefly, no doubt at the thought of any fish being flushed down the toilet when no longer wanted, but then perked up again. "You did the responsible thing, and you should be proud."
Santana certainly didn't feel proud, but the way Brittany was beaming at her made her blush under her gaze regardless. Given that her task there was done, Brittany led Santana back through the store and towards the doors. She asked if there was anything else Santana wanted before leaving, just to check, and then stopped them short to say goodbye.
"Thanks for taking him back," Santana said, feeling the need to stay and keep talking with her. She knew better than to entertain that thought, however.
"I'm happy to do it. Fish are friends, and every one of them matters!" God, this girl was adorable.
"We'll I'll be seeing you," Santana murmured, unsure how to say goodbye, because it was obvious that no she wouldn't be seeing Brittany unless she came back and she had absolutely no reason to. Feeling like an idiot, Santana walked away while she had the chance.
"I never got your name," Brittany called, just as Santana was about to leave.
"My name?" she asked, turning back around, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, you know, that word people call you. Normally you're given one at birth. I have three parts to my name: Brittany Susan Pierce. Some have only one, like Madonna, Ke$ha, Jesus. How about you?" There was a teasing smile on Brittany's lips and Santana could feel the heat rise in her cheeks once more.
"Santana," she replied, and Brittany nodded.
"Just one part to your name though, like Madonna?" she checked, biting her lip and smirking.
"Santana Lopez," Santana answered, chuckling. How hard was it to say her name, really?
"Well, it's a pleasure to have met you Santana Lopez. Thanks for returning your fish."
"Hannibal," she murmured, looking around awkwardly.
"What?" Brittany moved closer to hear what she was saying and Santana tried to fight the instinct to step back. Being this close to pretty girls never ended well. She always ended up making a tit of herself.
"I named him Hannibal." Brittany quirked her lips and nodded.
"I'll be sure to put that on his tank." Feeling like an idiot, again, Santana shook her head and waved goodbye, walking away to the sound of Brittany's laughter, desperate to flee.
She should never have returned. She should have stayed away. Now all she was going to be thinking about was Brittany, Brittany, Brittany and the way her eyes sparkled and her smile shone. Hannibal was such a little prick for getting her in this mess. And now she was blaming her lack of finesse on a fish.
What had her life become?
*0*0*
Feeling the shame creep up her spine as she wandered through the doors of The Ark Pet Shop for the third time, Santana moved through the aisles, searching for one girl in particular. Spotting a head of blonde hair hanging out in the cat aisle, Santana headed that way to see if it was Brittany and fought off the offending thoughts telling her this was a stupid idea.
She shouldn't even be there.
But she was, and it was Brittany examining the cat harnesses and leads in that aisle, and she was wearing the usual red polo shirt, her nametag tacked on crookedly, and her hair falling out her ponytail. She hadn't spotted Santana yet, and taking that extra moment to gather her thoughts actually helped.
"Hi," she finally said, stopping a few feet from Brittany so she didn't startle her.
"Hey! Long-time no see!" she beamed, smiling brightly. "Everything okay? Did that goldfish die?" Brittany asked, going from super happy to biting her lip nervously in a flash.
"What? No. I don't think so." It had taken Santana a moment to work out what goldfish the blonde meant, but then she remembered the one her sister bought to replace Hannibal. It could have been dead for all Santana knew.
"So what can I do for you? Or is this just a friendly visit?" Brittany asked, moving closer to talk to Santana.
Gosh, if Santana knew she could have made this a friendly visit without looking like stalker she would have come in three weeks ago. Instead, she actually had a genuine reason for being there.
"I wanted to know about Hannibal. Do you…do you still have him here? I was…did he get sold?"
She'd lost her mind. She had become insane, and she was blaming this blue eyed beauty before her.
Since she'd left The Ark Pet Shop, Santana had been constantly thinking about her, and then her thoughts led to Hannibal and how she'd just abandoned a fish because she wasn't prepared to take care of it, which she knew Brittany would disapprove of.
It didn't make sense because they didn't know each other, but she wanted to clear her conscience and that meant coming back to check on the fish she should never have bought and abandoned in the first place.
"Hannibal? He's not here anymore," Brittany replied, shaking her head. "Kitty saw that I had returned him to a quarantine tank and didn't like it. She said since I accepted the return, he was now mine. So, I took him home, to stay in a temporary tank there."
"You have Hannibal?" Santana repeated, just wondering how this woman was real. She accepted a fish she didn't even want. A fish for crying out loud. But then again, it was Hannibal, and Hannibal was beast. Or at least he was, in Santana's opinion anyway.
"Yeah, I do," Brittany replied, nodding slowly, looking unsurely at Santana, as if worried by what her reaction would be.
"Oh. I'm sorry that you had to take him. You should have-" Santana began to rattle off, feeling guilty about her being saddled with some unwanted fish, but Brittany's eyes widened as she began to talk and she shushed her.
"No! No, it's okay. He's great, actually. I just don't have a place for him yet. He'd eat my tetras if I put him in my main tropics tank, so I don't really know where he's going. But, I'm always looking into setting up new tanks." She shrugged like it was no big deal, and it probably wasn't, but Santana felt bad.
"I'll take him," she blurted out.
"What?" Brittany looked confused, but a smile was playing on her lips.
"For mine. I can…I can build a tank around him, right? I can get fish that are suitable with him? He can go in my tank, when I get a tank. So I need to buy a tank." What was she saying?
Yes, she'd come back here to make sure Hannibal had a home but she hadn't entertained the idea of giving him one. But would it really be that bad? Surely she owed it to the damn fish in the first place. She had named him, after all. Ugh, what had Brittany turned her into? This was not normal. She must be under some kind of spell. She actually cared about a fish, all because of a girl she didn't know.
"Yeah, you could if you wanted to, but you don't need to, Santana. I can find him a home-" Brittany went on to say, but this time Santana interrupted.
"No, please. I want to. He's innocent in all this, I should…I should give him a proper home. Even fish deserve a proper home." What was her mouth saying? Did those words actually leave her lips? Had her brain seriously thought that was a smart thing to say?
Wanting the ground to open up and swallow herself whole, Santana fought the urge to shake her head at herself. Brittany, meanwhile, was now grinning ear to ear and she suddenly closed the distance and practically tackled Santana into a hug.
She had not been expecting this reaction, but hell, she was not complaining. Maybe Brittany was just really affectionate. That would make sense. And yes, she knew she was hugging a stranger, but it was Brittany. Brittany didn't feel like a stranger. Not at all.
Santana's arms automatically hugged the blonde back, and then the hug was over. Brittany didn't move completely back, however. She stayed close, practically leaning against Santana's side, and she was powerless to stop her eyes from glancing at the blonde's lips.
Brittany smiled, seeing where Santana's gaze went and then leant forward. Her lips grazed the side of Santana's cheek, and okay she probably wasn't meant to do that, but whatever. Santana seemed interested.
"That's one of the sweetest things you've said to me. Totally makes up for your first visit here," Brittany replied, squeezing Santana's shoulder and then moving away, properly this time. "I knew I could convert you to the notion that fish are friends, and every one of them matters." She beamed proudly and Santana nodded, powerless against those captivating eyes pulling her in.
"Fish are friends, and every one of them matters," she repeated, fist pumping the air half-heartedly, earning a laugh from Brittany.
"Let's go pick your tank for Hannibal!" With her mind on that, Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and began leading her through the store towards the fish section.
Even if Santana had to buy one of those massive tanks that were paddling pools and bathtubs, she would. Even if she had to reinforce her floors to keep the damn thing from falling through into her basement, she would. Even if she had to come back to The Ark every damn day, she would, if only for the chance to see those beautiful blue eyes shine her way and that magical smile.
This girl, this girl was something special, and she wasn't going to miss an opportunity by being foolish. So yes, she'd just signed herself up to fishkeeping, and she was going to spend a fortune on a tank, and probably have to wait six weeks before actually getting Hannibal in the thing, but in all that time, she'd have an excuse to talk to this gorgeous girl until finding the courage to do something about her crush.
She now had weeks to sort out her feelings, and all thanks to a damn fish.
Hannibal, that beast.
*0*0*