"Hi there, how can I help?"
Santana Lopez hears the voice of an angel before she can see who it belongs to, and that's mainly due to the fact that she's standing in the back of a queue. Still, despite the busy environment and the noises around her, she's tuned in on that one voice. She's heard it so many times now that she's sure she'd recognise it anywhere. It's soft, sweet and she's sure that if she listened to it long enough then it would help her relax and fall into a deep sleep. She needs to hear more of it. It's like a drug and she's addicted.
She notices that the couple standing in front of her have moved forward in the queue and so she does the same, her heartbeat increasing slightly as she does so. It always happens when she's here. She always gets nervous because she knows she's going to come face to face with the most beautiful human being that she's ever laid eyes upon, and every time that she does, she basically turns into a blubbering mess. It's embarrassing and she hates it but she simply can't help it.
"Can I get the next order here please?"
Santana breaks out of her musings and looks up in front of her, noticing that the queue has gotten a lot smaller and that she's next in line to be served. Looking past the people that are currently being served, she can see a flash of golden hair peaking out from under the black baseball cap residing on one of the workers head and she thinks she might pass out. She's so close to seeing her again and she doesn't know if she can handle it.
Wiping the palms of her hands on her jeans, Santana runs through her order for the sixth time in her head. It never changes; she always orders the same, even when she doesn't want a cheeseburger, fries and a drink. Sometimes she wants something different, but every time she comes face to face with her blue eyed beauty she freezes and they're the only words that come out of her mouth.
"I'll get the next order over here!"
Santana looks up and finds a male employee staring at her, a small welcoming smile on his face. She's seen him before, in fact she sees him almost everyday and she's sure that he probably recognizes her, but he isn't who she's here to see. She doesn't want to be served by him and she'd rather wait in the queue for the whole entire day.
"Uhm... I'm still thinking." She says out loud, cursing herself for sounding so ditzy. She hates it when she's standing in a queue and the customer before her takes too long to order, and she's positive that the people standing behind her probably feel the same way. She turns her head to look at them, noticing the impatient looks upon their faces and glares at them. If she can wait in a queue then so can they, she's never understood why people get so emotional and crazy over food.
"Just you go ahead and order." She eventually tells the man standing behind her before turning around to face the front again, pretending to glance up at the overhead menu boards. There's no point in her doing that though because she's basically memorized them since she's here so often. She'll never admit that to any of her friends or family though because that would just be embarrassing.
Out of the corner of her eye, Santana spots someone begin to move away from the counter and she knows that this is it. She inhales deeply and exhales slowly though her nose, readying herself for what's going to happen. She's rehearsed this part over and over both in her head and verbally in her room when she's been alone and that she's sure that no one can hear her. It's not the point though, because she's sure that nothing can prepare her for what's about to happen. There' just something about her, that whenever she sees her, her knees go weak and she feels like jelly. On one hand, she loves it because it's a feeling that no one has ever made her feel before, but on the other she hates it because it makes her feel somewhat vulnerable.
"Hi there, what can I get for you?"
Santana's ear immediately prick up when she hears that all too familiar voice and she quickly flickers her gaze away from the menu boards and to the direction that it's coming from. It's in that moment when she sees her. She's standing there in her red uniform and black baseball cap, her cheeks have a slight tinge of pink to them and she's wearing a small smile. There's a rumor that absolutely no one looks good in a McDonalds uniform, but as Santana admires the girl in front of her, she knows for a fact that the rumor must be a lie.
Her legs automatically begin to move in the direction of the counter and with every step that she takes, the more nervous she gets. She's pretty sure that she has sweat dripping down her forehead or something because she feels so hot from the blonde beauty's stare. She hates that someone has this kind of effect over her, Cheerios practice doesn't even make her this hot. Subconsciously, she brings her left hand up to her brow and wipes it, letting out a breath or relief when she realizes that she is in fact not sweating.
Before she knows it, Santana is standing right in front of the girl at the counter and she thinks she's forgotten how to breathe. She's so close to her that if she wanted to (and was a creep), then she could reach out and touch her perfectly smooth pale skin. However she's not going to do that because she doesn't want to creep the girl out and then be banned from the store. It would be her worst nightmare.
"H-Hi..." Santana stutters out, unable to look the cashier in the eye so instead she focusses her eyes upon the girl's name badge that reads Brittany. She doesn't know how many times she's read it, recited the name in her head and tested it out on her tongue when she's been alone, but what she does know is that it's been a lot and she really just wants to say it out loud right now.
"What can I get for you?" Brittany smiles at her, and that alone makes her knees go weak. Santana's pretty sure that this girl's smile is infectious and it makes her want to smile too, which is weird because she rarely ever smiles.
"Uhm..." Santana trails off, unable to form the words in her mouth. She can feel her face get hot due to the embarrassment she's feeling and she kinds of wishes that the ground would swallow her up. It's becoming a recurring problem whenever she comes to eat her and she's sure that Brittany probably thinks she's some kind of crazy person.
"How about the usual?" She prompts, the smile not faltering from her face. "A cheeseburger, medium fries and a large coke?"
Santana almost dies on the spot. Brittany knows her order. Like she actually remembers it, which means that she remembers her. It also means that she remembers all the embarrassing things she seems to do whenever she orders in front of her, but Santana pushes that thought out of her mind because it doesn't even matter right now. What matters is that Brittany knows who she is, well she might not know her as such, but she remembers her and it's basically the same thing.
"Yeah, the usual." Santana nods her head and hands over her money. She doesn't even want to think about all the money she's wasted by coming in here, but she doesn't really care. Seeing Brittany is worth it, even if she hasn't even had a real conversation with the girl before.
"Are you sitting in like you usually do?" Brittany asks her, handing over the brunette's change and just like every time it happens, Santana feels a spark when their skin comes in to contact with one another's.
Santana nods in reply, not trusting her voice to speak for her. She thinks she's embarrassed herself enough for one day so all she wants to do now is sit down and eat her food while admiring Brittany from afar. It's honestly not as creepy as it sounds.
"Great!" Brittany beams. "I'll just go and get that ready for you."
Once she has her food, Santana takes her tray and goes to sit at the table directly across from the counter. She loves the fact that because it's in direct view of the employees at McDonalds, barely anyone sits there and so it's always free. She can understand why no one wants to sit there because she'd hate for the people working there to watch her eat, but she loves it. It gives her a perfect position that allows her to watch Brittany without it being considered creepy and that's all that really matters.
/
When Santana walks through the hallways of McKinley High School, she notices that something is a bit off. She doesn't know what it is exactly, but she can tell by the way that everyone is looking at her and by the weird atmosphere that seems to be in the air, that there is in fact definitely something wrong. Still, since she's captain of the Cheerios and one of the hottest girls in the school, she knows that she can't show any fear or uncertainty and so she keeps her head held high and continues her journey to her locker.
As she comes to a stop at her locker, Santana isn't surprised to find her best friend and fellow cheerleader Quinn Fabray leaning up against it. It's very rare that the two of them are ever separated from each other at school considering they're almost in all of the same classes and are practically joint at the hip, and so each morning Quinn always waits for her by their locker... which isn't really a big deal considering Quinn's locker is right next to hers.
"Hey Quinn." Santana greets, entering her locker combination and opening the door. "Any idea of what the latest rumor about me is?" She asks, pulling out the books she needs before shoving her backpack into the locker and closing it. "I walked in today and everything just seems so weird, something is going on."
"Of course I know what's going on." Quinn replies, pushing herself off the lockers and following Santana down the corridor to their first class. Just like every time they walk down the corridors together, the students make a path for them, not wanting to get in their way. "A little birdy reported to Sue that they saw you eating at McDonalds on more than one occasion and she is not happy about it."
"Oh so kill me for eating at McDonalds." Santana scoffs defensively. "Unlike half the girls on the squad, I actually go to the gym and work out so I can have a McDonalds every one in a while."
"I'm not saying you can't." Quinn replies, following her best friend into their English class and taking their usual seats right up in the back corner. For once the two of them are actually early so aside from a few other random students in the classroom they're basically on their own, which is a good thing because it means that no one is in ear-shot of hearing what they're saying.
"I don't see the big deal." The brunette mutters once they're both seated and comfortable. "Sue begged for me to stay on the Cheerios when I threatened to quit, she shouldn't be worrying or getting pissed about what I eat."
"I don't think she's worried." Quinn tells her very matter of factly, and it causes Santana to roll her eyes. "I think she's pissed because she's trying to bully most of the Cheerios to diet and exercise to look like you and yet you can eat McDonalds and still look great."
"That's not my problem." Santana shrugs, feeling no sympathy towards the other girls. "It's their job to look after their bodies, not mine."
Quinn grows quiet, knowing that the conversation isn't going anywhere with her best friend and instead watches as a few more students trickle into the classroom. She's noticed a change in Santana in the past couple of weeks and she has no idea what's going on with her. They rarely keep secrets from one another and so she's at a loss of what it must be, but she's sure it must have something to do with all of these recent trips to McDonalds because that's the only time that Santana really spends on her own.
She's not stupid though, Quinn knows for a fact that if she asks Santana what's going on then she's going to grow defensive and go in a huff. She's seen it all too many times before and it bores her. She knows that if she wants to find out what's going on then she needs to actually do something about it and take action.
"Santana." She speaks gaining her friend's attention. "You and I are going to take a trip to McDonalds tonight."
/
It's safe to say that when Santana enters McDonalds with Quinn that evening she's nervous and it's not for the usual reason. First of all, she's not really sure if Brittany even works a Wednesday evening so she doesn't even know if the beautiful blonde that she's crushing on will be there. Second of all, she's worried that if Brittany is working, then Quinn will immediately click on to what's going on and embarrass her completely. When Santana came out as gay over a year ago, Quinn had no problem with it whatsoever. In fact, she was incredibly supportive of it and the Latina is extremely grateful for it. However, now her best friend loves to make it difficult for her to actually find a girlfriend because whenever she tries to flirt to talk to a girl, Quinn is always there to make it awkward or embarrassing. Sometimes she just wants to kill her.
Like the majority of the time that she visits, there's a queue and so Santana and Quinn join the back of it. Santana's glad of this because it gives her a couple of minutes to come up with a plan. If Brittany is working today then she wants to be served by her (obviously) but she needs to make sure that she doesn't act like a complete fool while Quinn is there. If she does, she'll never live it down.
The line moves far too quickly for Santana's liking and before she knows it, she and Quinn are near the front. She desperately tries to look around to see if she can spot Brittany, but she's too small to see past the people in front of her. She thinks that she must look strange standing up on her tiptoes and moving from side to side because she can see her best friend shooting her a curious look. Sighing in slight disappointment of not being able to see anything, she slumps back down onto the soles of her feet, ignoring Quinn's questioning look.
"Hi there, who's next?"
Santana's head shoots up at the sound of the angelic voice that she hears and she practically runs over to the counter, grabbing Quinn by the hand and dragging her with her. Too caught up in the shock of hearing Brittany's voice, Santana doesn't take the time to calm herself down or prepare herself for the moment and so when she finally stands in front of the blonde haired blue eyed beauty, she freezes (which isn't anything new).
"Hi!" Brittany smiles when she sees Santana standing in front of her, not noticing the other girl by her side. "Would you just like your usual today, or would you like something else?"
"The usual would be good." Santana smiles back, not only because Brittany always makes her smile but also because she managed to order without fucking it up. She swears she deserves a medal or something for it.
"I'll have whatever she's having as well."
Santana jumps at the sound of Quinn's voice, momentarily forgetting that she was even there. Brittany has that affect on her and most of the time when she sees her, she forgets about everyone else. There's just something about the girl that's so beautiful and intriguing and she wants to get to know her better.
"Oh sorry." Brittany apologizes, blushing slight as she too never noticed Quinn. She puts the order through on the till quickly, but her smile fades when she spots the two girls in front of her holding each other's hands. It shouldn't upset her, but for some reason it does and she forces herself to look away.
Brittany reads out the price to both Quinn and Santana, her voice not sounding as cheery as it usually does (which does not go unnoticed by Santana), and then before the Latina can even pull out her own money to pay, Quinn pays for them, claiming that it's on her. Santana doesn't bother arguing with her, but she notices the deflated look on Brittany's face and it makes her feel guilty. She wishes that she hadn't brought Quinn here at all because it seems as if she's made things a little bit awkward.
"That's your meals there for you both." Brittany announces once she's got everything together for them both, sliding the tray towards them.
"Thanks." Santana smiles, hoping that Brittany will return it, but she doesn't. Dropping Quinn's hand she picks up the tray and stands there a little awkwardly, waiting for Brittany to say something. Usually she'll tell her to enjoy her meal or have a nice evening, but this time she says nothing.
This time, she just calls on the next order.
Sighing, Santana walks away dejectedly and follows Quinn to a table. It's not her usual table, but she thinks that's a good thing because she doesn't know if she can handle seeing Brittany right now or not, especially when she seems so sad. Well technically, she could still see Brittany if sheturned her head to the left, but she's not going to do that...or at least she's going to try. Taking a seat at the table, she grabs her food off the tray and begins to eat it, shoving a few fries into her mouth. It doesn't event taste as good as it usually does and for once, she's glad that she never had to pay for it herself.
"So she's the reason that you've been coming to McDonalds so much, huh?"
"What?" Santana snaps her head to the right to look at her best friend, not understanding how she could have gotten caught in the first place. She thought she dealt with the situation incredibly well, she never stuttered, forgot how to spoke or froze on the spot. In fact, it was a successful order this time.
"Don't act as if you don't know what I'm talking about." The blonde chuckles, biting into her cheeseburger and chewing a bit of it. "I saw the way you looked at her and how flustered you both got while ordering, and don't even get me started on how you looked like a kicked puppy when she called the next order without saying anything to you."
"Fine." Santana groans in defeat. "I like her, okay?"
"Do you know her?" Quinn questions, genuinely interested. "Have you had like a proper conversation with her yet?"
"No..." The brunette trails off, shaking her head. "All I know is that her name is Brittany and she's the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."
Quinn smiles knowingly at her friend, deciding to keep the fact that she can tell Brittany thinks exactly the same about her to herself. She knows that this is a journey that Santana has to go through on her own, and she's not going to ruin it by trying to mess with her this time. She also fails to mention to her best friend that Brittany keeps on looking over at her.
/
Santana decides to avoid McDonalds for an entire week, and that week turns out the be the worst, most boring and dullest week of her entire life. After the incident with her, Quinn and Brittany at McDonalds, Santana decided that it would be best if she cut back the amount of time she spent there because even though she really liked Brittany, she realized that she was becoming fixated on her and it probably wasn't the most sensible thing to do. However, because Sue loves and lives to make her life a living hell, she increased the hours of after school Cheerio practice and on top of that and her homework, she never really had the opportunity to visit her favorite fast-food restaurant.
So on Friday evening Santana has to admit that she's extremely excited about walking in to McDonalds. She knows for a fact that Brittany doesn't always work a Friday night (she's been in before and she hasn't been there), but she's really hoping that this time she will be. She's missed talking and interacting with the girl, even though most of it just consisted of her making a fool out of herself. She doesn't care though because it always made Brittany laugh and that's all that mattered to her.
The Latina is surprised when she walks into the restaurant and finds it bizarrely quiet. There's not that many people sitting in the restaurant and there's basically new queue at all which means that she has a clear view of the front counter. As soon as she sets her eyes on Brittany's figure leaning against the counter, Santana feels her heart begin to beat faster in her chest and she welcomes the feeling. She's never met anyone who has done this to her before and although it's a strange feeling, she wants it to continue.
Walking confidently up to the till, Santana heads straight towards Brittany, ignoring any of the other employees who are already looking at her and asking her what they can get for her. In her mind, none of them matter at all. It's all about Brittany. She wishes that she would turn around to look at her. Santana thinks that Brittany's coworkers must think that something is going on too because when she stops in front of Brittany, they giggle and then nudge her in the side, prompting her to turn around.
"Hi!" She greets, the surprise evident in her voice. "What can I get for you?"
Santana forgot how much she loved hearing that voice in the past week and the greeting alone makes her want to melt on the spot. Brittany really is the perfect human being in her eyes. "Just the usual please." She manages out, doing an internal victory dance at the fact she never messed up.
"Is that everything for you?" Brittany replies, concentrating on putting it through on the till. Once she's done so, she looks up and meets Santana's gaze and they both momentarily get lost in their own little world.
"Uhm yeah..." Santana eventually nods, handing Brittany her money. "For now."
"Great." Brittany smiles for the first time since seeing her and it causes Santana's stomach to flutter. She doesn't understand how someone that she doesn't even know can make her feel like this. It makes no sense at all.
Just like all the other times that she's been in here, Santana watches as Brittany assembles her order for her and then slides the tray towards her. Thanking her, she picks it up and goes to walk away, but this time something different happens and it takes her completely off guard.
"Uhm, excuse me?" Brittany calls out to her just as she's about to turn and walk away, causing Santana to freeze in her spot. Brittany's voice sounds a bit shaky and quieter and normal, which intrigues her because she's never heard it like that. "I was wondering... well you know my name, but I don't know yours and well, I just wondered if ma-"
"My name is Santana." The Latina cuts her off, saving her from any embarrassment due to her rambling.
"Santana... that's a pretty name." She concludes after trying it out on her tongue. "I don't mean to sound rude of pushy but I finish work in five minutes and I was wondering if I could maybe come and join you? I know it might be a bit weird considering I don't even know you, but there's something about you Santana that amazes me and I want to find out what that is."
Santana can tell due to the redness of Brittany's cheeks that she's growing embarrassed and personally she thinks it's one of the cutest things she's ever seen in her whole life. She doesn't want the blonde to feel embarrassed though, especially not when she feels the same way. "Not at all." Santana grins. "I'll go and find us a seat."
This time, Santana picks a seat far away from the front counter. She doesn't want Brittany's work friends spying on them.
/
It takes Santana exactly three weeks and four days to ask Brittany out on a real date since their first dinner at McDonalds, and when she does do it, she makes sure that there's no fast-food involved at all.