"Tell me one more time how you convinced me to do this?" Santana sighed. "Because the more I think about it, the more this is a really bad idea."
"Santana, we've gone over this a million times. This is a great idea because it's the only idea that involves us living in a reasonably nice apartment, together, in a good neighborhood."
"Me living with Berry is not ever a great idea." she said, focusing her eyes on the road once more. "AND Hudson. Seriously, this is not going to end pretty. I should have convinced my dad to get us our own place."
"Santana, you know that would never have happened. They weren't crazy about us sharing an apartment right out of high school in the first place. In fact, they're just adjusting to the idea that there even is an 'us'. This is the best option right now." Santana rolled her eyes and muttered something in Spanish. "You know I don't speak Spanish."
"That's the point." she said and Brittany giggled, causing her to throw her a glance.
"Santana it won't be that bad. Rachel isn't as bad as you make her out to be."
"I can't believe you became friends with Berry. How did I ever let that happen?"
"She helped me a lot when I was trying to figure out what to do about school. She showed me how many options I had...with dancing and everything."
"That's because she's intent on setting up some kind of freakish Glee club commune in Manhattan, as if 3 years around each other wasn't enough."
"You love the Glee club."
"I just like singing and I like winning." Brittany shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"You are so stubborn."
"No, I'm not, I'm just logical and not over emotional." Brittany burst out laughing. "What?"
"You're not over emotional? Santana, you cry more than anyone I know, even more than Rachel.
"Whatever."
"Look, please, please do me a favor and at least try and be nice just for today?"
"I can't be certain about that."
"Santana!" she said lacing their fingers together on the shifter and squeezing her hand so that Santana would look at her. "Please, for me." she said with pleading eyes, forming a pout with her lip. "Just for one day while we get settled, just promise me you won't pick fights with them." Santana let out a heavy sigh.
"That's not fair, you can't break out the pout."
"Is that a yes?" she asked hopefully.
"Fine." Santana agreed. "Fine." she shook her head, why couldn't she learn to say no to Brittany, it would make her life so much easier.
"I love you." Brittany said sweetly.
"Yeah, yeah." she said with a sigh and Brittany laughed and settled back into the seat as they made their way into the city.
"What if she kills me in my sleep? Finn, maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Rachel shakes her head. "I mean, Brittany is one thing but Santana, she's spent time dedicated to making my life a living hell."
"Rachel, you were the one who said they should live with us and you know they're a package deal. Look, it's not ideal for anyone but it's the only way we're all going to be able to get on our feet in New York right now. you said that yourself. And she won't kill you, you know Brittany tends to make her...calmer." He shrugged. "Maybe you should just work on toning it down a bit to avoid some problems." Rachel stopped walking and turned to face him. "Uh..."
"Tone what down exactly?" she asked. "What are you implying?"
"I..um...I'm just saying that maybe if you kind of gave them space and let them breathe a little...like maybe that list of rules you made isn't a good thing to shove at them the first day..."
"Finn, I've spent hours online researching how to have positive relationships with roommates, including specific research put into how to live with two couples in one house and each article agrees that a set of ground rules are necessary for any successful situation."
"Okay, but Rachel, you made the rules by yourself...I mean don't you think you should maybe let everybody agree on them together?"
"I came up with an outline, if they want to add rules in later, we can put it up for discussion."
"Don't you think it's just a little unfair that your rules don't need to go up for vote?"
"Santana would just vote against all of them!" He sighed.
"Let's just try and avoid conflict for the first couple of days while everyone settles in. I mean maybe that would be a good thing, you know to start out on the right foot?"
"I'm not compromising myself for Santana Lopez and I highly doubt she's going to make any compromises for me." she sighed. "Look Finn, I want this to work out well more than anyone. Being in New York has always been my dream and I got lucky enough to not have to choose between love and my dream. Now I actually get to do this with you. I don't want anything ruining that. I know this was my idea, but I just think we all have to get used to living with each other and there's no point in easing into it. It's like pulling a band aid off, it's better to get everything in the open right away."
"Can you call the troll and tell her we're here?"
"Santana! You promised." She rolled her eyes.
"Fine call Berry and tell her we're here. Get Hudson's lazy ass down here to carry up our stuff."
Brittany fished her phone out of her bag and called Rachel's cell.
"Brittany, where are you? We were expecting you 45 minutes ago, I've been sending you texts. Have you gotten them?" She side eyed Santana as she searched out a parking spot.
"Um, yeah...well, we hit some traffic and my phone was in my bag, but we're here now." she said, trying to downplay Rachel's tense tone. "Do you think maybe Finn could come down and give us a hand? The truck is pretty packed."
"Of course, we'll both come down, where are you?"
"In Manhattan." Brittany stated obviously.
"Yes, well clearly, but I meant, what street exactly?"
"Oh, yeah...Santana where are we?"
"Thompson between Bleeker and whatever is next?"
"Oh!" Rachel spoke. "That's great, we'll come down and meet you. You're about a block away."
"Great, we'll see you soon." Brittany said, hitting end as Santana put the car into park. She let out a heavy breath and turned to smile at Brittany.
"They're coming?"
"Yep, she said they're on their way. We're close." Santana nodded.
"Yeah, we're really close. This is a good spot."
"Remember what you promised, right?" She sighed and cupped Brittany's cheek.
"Yeah, yeah, be nice to gigantor and the hobbit for today." Brittany smiled.
"How about you start by calling them Finn and Rachel?"
"I can be persuaded..." Brittany smiled and leaned forward to meet her lips but jumped back when a knock sounded at her window. She jumped back.
"Open up!" Rachel yelled through the glass.
"Oh wow, she's just going to make this so easy, huh?" she said as Rachel knocked again and Brittany laughed.
"Plenty of time later." she said opening her door and turning to Rachel.
"You guys made it!" she smiled throwing her arms around Brittany.
"Yep!"
"Hey Santana!" Finn smiled brightly with a nervous wave. She narrowed her eyes before remembering her promise and rolling her eyes.
"Hey lurch, how's your day?"
"Good...so can I...can I carry things for you?"
"That's the idea." she smiled walking to open the packed trunk.
"Hello Santana!" Rachel said rushing forward.
"Berry." Santana smiled as brightly as possible, putting her hand forward to wave to avoid the hug. "So, where's the apartment?"
"It's just up this block in that building. We'll help you carry your stuff."
A few trips back and forth and they were able to empty the truck.
"Your furniture got here on Thursday, so we just had them set it up in your room. Obviously you might want to move it around..." Rachel trailed as they piled the last bags into the room.
"This is actually pretty impressive Berry." Santana looked around, as Brittany smiled and latched onto her arm. "I have to say, I was expecting much worse but this place isn't bad." Rachel smiled proudly.
"Thank you Santana, my dads and I spent months searching out the perfect apartment and we really thought this was was the best for it's price. We were really glad you two were able to share it." Santana shrugged.
"My dad was willing to put up anything to make sure I wasn't moving in to a rat infested tenement or a dorm."
"Well, seeing as you've got all of your things up here I think it would be a good time to sit down and talk about some of the ground rules."
"Rules?" Santana asked, as Finn internally winced at the thought of the impending conversation.
"Yes, I was telling Finn earlier I've been doing some research on shared living situations and I want to make this as smooth as possible for everyone involved so the first thing that every site suggests is some simple rules and boundaries." Brittany swallowed and tightened her grip on Santana's arm, rubbing soothing circles on her back. "Being that I set this all up, I've taken the liberty of typing out a set of rules to get us started. So if you could come out to the kitchen we can sit and go over them."
Santana flashed Brittany a glare, begging for permission to speak her mind but she pleaded with her not to so Santana shook her head and sighed, putting on her best fake smile.
"Sure Rachel, let's go look at your...'rules'."
"Excellent." Rachel clapped, oblivious to anything but the agreement.
A few minutes later they sat around the new kitchen table Santana's dad had arranged to be delivered as Rachel passed out copies of the "House Rules" typed in bright pink with stars across the top of the stationary.
"Okay, so if you ladies would like to add to the list, I'm happy to put up rules to vote."
"Well who voted on these?" Santana asked.
"Oh, no one, I just...I tried to put down the basic ones we all could agree on to create a starting point."
"I-" Santana was stopped by a kick to her shin and just smiled. "Go on."
"Okay, well rule number one, everyone will have quiet hours. That's 11 to 6 AM on weekdays and 1 AM till 9 AM on weekends."
"Quiet hours?" Brittany asked.
"Yes, this would be the time where if any one of us is in our rooms, we can't hear anything the others are doing."
"11 PM."
"It's in connection with New York state sound laws. The extra hour on the weekends is more than generous."
Santana shot Finn a questioning look and he just shrugged helplessly. She rolled her eyes in disgust, biting back the overwhelming desire to question his manhood as she watched Brittany bite her fingernails in anticipation.
"So tying into our first rule, I think we can all agree that to make things smoother there will be no alcohol on weeknights after 8 PM. That way if you'd like a glass of wine with dinner you can have one, but nothing that will promote a buzz or unnecessary drunkenness."
Brittany felt Santana's hand tighten around her fingers and her nails digging into her skin. She wasn't going to be able to take much more.
"All music played in common areas such as the kitchen and living room needs to be approved."
"Approved?"
"Yes, I think we can all agree on my superior musical capabilities which puts me in the best position to judge what's acceptable to all." Brittany could sense Santana's breathing picking up, an she avoided her gaze at all costs, knowing there was only so much she could do to prevent the inevitable meltdown between the two.
"Now, as you know my vocal performance will be crucial to my school work, so I'll need to use the living room each morning from 7-8 AM for vocal exercises."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Santana said, no longer able to contain herself. "I will be happily sleeping in my warm bed with Britts at 7 AM. Find some other place to practice your bird calls."
"Santana, this is essential to my college career."
"And my sleep is essential to my college career. As well as your well being." she said, glaring at Rachel.
"Santana." Brittany pleaded.
"No Brittany, I'm sorry, I've had enough. I pay just as much for this apartment as any of you and my dad basically furnished the entire thing. I'm not going to live in my own personal hell! Every rule on this list revolves around life being good for YOU, Berry! I'm not even going to discuss the ridiculous part about no meat or animal bi-products!"
"As a vegan, it's extremely difficult for me to be around that."
"And you!" she pointed to Finn, standing up. "What kind of man are you? You just let her put together this absurd set of rules and didn't say anything? Grow a pair!"
"Okay, maybe it was a little presumptuous of me to have come up with the entire list myself, is there a particular item you'd like to work on?" Rachel spoke, suddenly feeling a little nervous. Santana's eyes were on fire and she was starting to pace and speak in hurried Spanish. Brittany just brought her hand to her forehead and sighed.
"A little presumptuous...a little...I'm going to un-pack, and under no terms am I going to live like a slave in this apartment, so you" she pointed to Rachel "are in need of a major reality check! You better watch it!" she glared before stomping off to her bedroom, slamming the door.
"Fine have it your way, we'll discuss date nights and group bonding tomorrow." Rachel screamed.
"In your dreams hobbit!" Santana yelled though the closed door.
"See!" Rachel pointed to spot Santana had just vacated and turning to Finn. "This is exactly what I worried about, she's unreasonable and is absolutely unwilling to listen to anything I have to say. I knew I'd regret this. This is going to be hell. I'm going to research installing a security system in our bedroom now that it's completely clear we're living with a total psychopath!" She stopped off and slammed the door to their own bedroom.
Finn and Brittany looked at each other helplessly and he just gave her a crooked smile and shrugged.
"That was actually a little better than I expected." Brittany raised an eyebrow in disbelief and he sighed. "Yeah, okay that was as bad as it gets without physical harm."
"You couldn't get her to tone it down a little with the list?"
"Hey, I tried, you couldn't get Santana to take some happy pills?"
"I tried my hardest, but that list was a little much."
"As if Santana came into it with any sort of open mind. Rachel could have suggested cigars and whiskey on Saturdays and Santana would have found something wrong with it!" he spat. Brittany just sighed and put her head in her hands.
"Look, they're both ridiculous and we knew this would be...difficult, but I think you and I fighting is only going to make things worse. We're going to have to try and stay off anyone's side...at least when we're working together." He let out a heavy breath and nodded.
"I guess you're right." he shrugged. "For the record, I don't even like the list."
"Me neither." Brittany said. "And I was really hoping Santana could hold it in just for today. I really tried."
"Look, I'm going to do some damage control," he pointed towards the bedroom.
"You think she's causing damage?" Brittany asked. "To what the furniture?" He looked confused for a moment before shaking his head.
"No I mean, I'm going to talk to her and see if I can calm her down a bit...maybe realize the list was a bit much. Maybe you can go unpack and calm Santana down, maybe get her to talk about this again tomorrow more...calmly?" Brittany nodded.
"Yep, I'll work on it." she smiled. "I think we can do this Finn. We'll just have a deal, you know a secret deal to talk and try and limit the problems as much as possible." He smiled.
"Yeah, that's a good plan." he said getting up, but frowning. "I just hope I can do it. I mean, you seem to have a lot more...control over Santana than I do over Rachel. She kinda decides most things for us."
"You'll figure it out." she said with a wink before getting up and heading towards the bedroom. "Good luck!"
"You too!" he called.
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