And All I Can Say Is
Summary: She would smile, and you would smile, and the two of you would exchange names; and later that night you would tell Lord Tubbington all about this mysterious girl whom you had come to know. A first meeting. One-shot.
A/N: Another last minute fic written for Brittana Week; this one's for Day 5 (Firsts). Just another headcanon as to how they could have met. Reviews are welcome!
Also, unlike my original post of this fic on Tumblr, I've inserted some line breaks here since FF. net keeps removing my original paragraph breaks - hopefully it doesn't detract from (your reading of) the story.
You were standing on the edge of the little crowd, red plastic cup in hand and fighting the urge to yawn. It wasn't that you didn't like these people, exactly. Parties full of drunken strangers just weren't really your thing, that was all. You would much rather have been at home with Lord Tubbington, watching a movie with a big bowl of popcorn beside you (he loved the buttery flavour, although if you had to be honest, you preferred the white cheese). But Quinn had asked you to come that night and she was the first friend you'd made at McKinley and, okay, it was always good to meet new people—right?
The girls in the circle had been talking about Cheerios tryouts next week, and for a moment you were drawn into the conversation. At your old school, you were captain of the gymnastics team and had even started up your own dance squad in junior high. Cheerleading seemed like it would be fun, even though everyone said the coach here was totally insane or something. Who knew, maybe the tryouts would be interesting.
When the conversation shifted to another topic—boys, this time—you had let your attention drift away again, eyes wandering around the living room that was quickly filling up with people (you wondered whose house this was, anyway) and coming to rest—all of a sudden, it seemed—on her.
What it was that drew you to her, you didn't know. You'd never seen her before; standing in the doorway, surveying the room, she seemed to have just arrived. In the half-light spilling over from the kitchen, her silhouette was a shadowy outline but you could see her face perfectly. The girl had long dark hair, darker eyes and impossibly full lips. She gave off an aura of confidence in spite of the fact that she was all alone. You felt a strange swoop in your stomach as you watched her.
Beside you, Quinn was saying something about coordinating class schedules so that everyone would have the same lunch period. Or was it the same free period? Maybe it was both. Or neither. You couldn't really focus (which did happen to you sometimes—your parents said you just needed to concentrate harder—but it was never because of anything like this). Distracted, you could only nod, eyes fixed upon the dark-haired girl on the other side of the room.
She wasn't really alone anymore. It looked like some guy was trying to talk to her, engage her in a conversation although you could tell she wasn't interested. Her gaze kept moving past him while her hands fiddled with a drink, lifting it to her mouth every few seconds to take a sip. You wondered what she was thinking about.
The music in the room was getting louder and for a second, you fell into a daydream, imagining yourself going over there to meet her. She would smile, and you would smile, and the two of you would exchange names; and later that night you would tell Lord Tubbington all about this mysterious girl whom you had come to know.
Even so, you weren't expecting it when her eyes suddenly met yours. She had still been scanning the crowd, still nodding disinterestedly at the guy who was trying vainly to capture her attention, still unaware of you watching her, when—again, it happened all of a sudden, it seemed she had a way of taking you by surprise—she was looking straight back at you.
Your breath hitched in your throat. She had caught you watching her. Truthfully, you probably should have looked away at that point but now you couldn't stop. And you didn't want to. Not even a little bit.
For several long seconds, or was it minutes—hours—what felt like it, anyway—you stared at each other. There was a look in her eyes that you couldn't quite place. It shifted subtly and quickly, from surprise to confusion to… something else. Something you'd never, ever seen before when looking or talking to another person. It was like she knew you somehow, even though you were sure that couldn't be true. You would definitely remember this girl; there was no way you could forget her.
Who was she? What was her name? Did she go to McKinley?
Those were the questions running through your mind, as she surprised you for the third time that night when she suddenly began to move through the crowd. From across the busy room, she made her way through, weaving in and out among the bodies between you. The room was packed with people now; faces you didn't recognize and voices struggling to be heard above the stereo. The girl didn't pay attention to any of them. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed the guy she'd left behind was sputtering at her abrupt departure. She hadn't bothered to give him a warning or even a backward glance.
You were sure that this kind of thing only happened in movies (and sometimes fairytales, depending on which ones you read)—but no, this was also happening right now, to you, here at this party where ten minutes earlier you were almost falling asleep. Now, your palms were getting kind of sweaty. That funny feeling buzzing around inside your stomach was getting stronger and stronger. She was coming closer and you didn't know what would happen but something inside told you it would be amazing.
By the time she finally reached you, you'd already taken a step away from Quinn and the others, making room for her in the little circle but wanting to talk to her first. It was funny how all of the noise in the room seemed to sort of fade into a quiet hum, when she was near.
She was looking at you hesitantly, as if she didn't quite know what to say. Her eyes, darker than the evening sky that time you and your family drove out to Santa Fe, were pulling you in. You wanted to hear her voice, and thought about telling her what was on your mind right then and there; but instead, you just smiled. Without a doubt, this girl was the most beautiful person you had ever seen.
You had fought the urge to laugh when she asked you if you'd met before, because for some strange reason, it did feel like you had known her all your life. You wondered if, deep inside, she felt the same way. Judging by the look in her eyes, you guessed—hoped, even—that the answer was yes.
Still smiling, you told her your name.
"I'm Brittany."
"I'm Santana."
You couldn't wait to know her.