Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 64th cycle. Now cycle 65!

"Step Sixty-Five, Pick Your Points"
(Kurt &) Brittany/Santana
Paper Heart series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

She had asked her with a flower. She hadn't bought it, hadn't picked it. She'd found it on her way to her house, just picked it up because she thought it was beautiful, and she had been unable to simply toss it aside, so as she neared Brittany's house, she knew that flower could have a much more precious purpose. She would present it to the girl she loved, and she would ask her on a date.

The look on the blonde's face had been enough to tell Santana what she would say when she asked her out. It was immediately followed with 'what about Harry?' but she had first said yes. Once Santana had told her that Kurt would look after him, she was completely on board. The date was set for Saturday night, where they would meet at Breadstix.

Saturday afternoon had been one of the most stressful days of Santana's young life. Picking her outfit alone had taken north of an hour, and she was ready to scream if her hair misbehaved, but then her mother had come in and offered to fix it for her. She had been sent off with well wishes, and she took this as a sign that things would go as she had hoped them to.

When Brittany arrived at the meet up, Santana's breath had caught just a little. It had been some time since she'd seen her with the whole hair and makeup, and it was impossible not to notice her returning figure, now that Harry was born. If Santana wasn't careful, she might be struck mute, but there was something about the knowledge that all this primping, this look, had been assembled for her benefit, much like she had prepared herself for Brittany. They were really doing this, and she couldn't stop smiling.

"Hi!" Brittany came up with a smile of her own, then, "Do we kiss?" she looked around.

"It's our first date," Santana pointed out. "Play your cards right, and there'll be a kiss at the end of the night," she smirked.

"Okay, good," Brittany laughed.

While they waited to be placed, Santana could see her checking her texts, only a quick look, so there must not have been new ones. This wasn't the first time she left Harry, but she still worried, even if she knew he was perfectly safe with his dad.

"How is my favorite guy?" she asked her, and Brittany looked up, smiling.

"He was a bit fussy when I left, but Kurt knows how to deal with him, he'll be fine," Brittany told her, told herself a bit as well.

"Yes, he will," Santana reassured her. They were given their table, and at the look the waitress gave them, Santana could practically see her thinking 'is this a date?' looking to the two girls dressed to the nines. "Got a problem?" she snapped, and the woman looked back ahead, frazzled.

"What happened?" Brittany asked when they sat.

"Nothing," she got her smile back for her. "Do you know what you're getting?"

"I don't know, I think it should be something special, not what I order all the time, you know?"

"Sounds like a plan," Santana agreed, and they got out the menus. The waitress had come back with 'complimentary drinks' before taking their orders.

"What did we do? It's not our birthdays or anything?" Brittany was mystified, while Santana played it off.

"I'm not complaining." Brittany had checked her texts again as they waited for their meal. "Britt, he's fine," she reminded her, and the blonde pulled back her hands, breathing out.

"I know, I know."

"What are you going to do when you have to go back to school?" Santana asked, and Brittany sighed. "It's okay if you want to talk about him, you know?"

"But it's our date," Brittany explained. "I can't just keep going back to talk about Harry all the time."

"Maybe not, but it doesn't mean you have to pretend like he doesn't exist either."

"I wouldn't do that," Brittany shook her head.

"Okay, then let's compromise. We alternate. Sometimes we talk about him, sometimes we don't. Does that work?" Brittany nodded, followed by a look that made Santana smirk. "You want to talk about him now, don't you?" Brittany pinched her fingers together. A bit. "Go for it."

They had followed their rule, switching the conversation between Harry, and school, and Harry again, and Glee Club, and more Harry, and any number of other topics. There was very little to differentiate from their hanging out, save for the dress code and their meal, but to them it felt different. They knew it was a date, and as nervous as either of them had thought they would be, time was flying by without their noticing. They had finished their desserts long before they would ever get up to leave the restaurant. As Santana had been the one doing the asking out, she had picked up the bill.

She had picked up her hand on the way out. It hadn't been a conscious choice really, she'd just done it, surprising herself and Brittany at once. The blonde squeezed her hand and nodded. Don't let go, it said, and Santana didn't.

They headed to the Hummel house, where Brittany would be staying that night, seeing as Harry was already there. They stopped at the door, turning to one another.

"I had a really great time," Brittany told her.

"Yeah, I did, too," Santana smiled earnestly.

"Can we do it again? Maybe next week? It'll be my turn," she declared.

"Sure, that sounds good," Santana chuckled.

"I hope Kurt won't think I'm using him as a free babysitter or something," Brittany pondered.

"He did offer his services this time," Santana pointed out.

"So I should trick him?"

Santana hadn't waited. If anything, she'd been waiting all night. But now, standing on the Hummels' porch, she leaned over and kissed her date, getting kissed back. When she pulled back, she found her smile was matched.

"See? I told you we had to wait."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!