Author's Note: I had this premise written for a different story, but realized it might be a good fit for some cute Brittana action. So I wrote it to fit them. Bit fluffy, but it was fun to write. Reviews are always welcome. Read and enjoy! Thanks!
Hide and Seek
"Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen …" Quinn trailed off, her voice growing fainter with every quick step Santana took.
"Shit, Q's a fast counter," she hissed under her breath, rounding the curled banister base sitting in the entryway of the Fabray's home. Sliding slightly in her socks on the slick wood floor, Santana flailed her arms briefly to keep her balance. Making her way past the front door, she suddenly collided with Kurt, who turned a corner at break neck speed.
"Oh my—Santana!" he gasped, his hand reaching up to his chest. "God, I'm sorry."
Santana rolled her eyes, fighting back the adrenaline that had just shot through her at being scared half to death. "Better be," she eventually sneered, straightening back up. It was quiet for a second and they could both hear Quinn several rooms away, now on thirty-seven. "What's she going to again?" she asked him as nonchalantly as possible.
"One hundred," Kurt replied, still a little breathless. "Well, I'm, um, going to go try and find a good spot."
With that, he took off in the direction Santana had come from just moments before. She opened her mouth in order to leave him with some snarky comment, but she remembered Quinn, and decided against it. Instead, she just rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Such a stupid game."
She still couldn't believe Quinn had invited half of the Glee Club over for a game night.
"We need to get to know them," Quinn had said after Cheerios practice one afternoon.
"Why?" Santana asked, watching Brittany stretch a few yards away on the football field. "They're all such losers."
"Even so," Quinn said, picking up her practice bag, "we're part of their team now. We should at least pretend to make nice with them. Besides," she added, glancing over her shoulder as she moved past Santana, "maybe you can finally get the one on one time with Brittany that you two so desperately need."
Santana's eyes snapped from Brittany and stared at Quinn. "Excuse me?"
A grin inched across the head Cheerio's face. "Oh, you know what I'm talking about Santana." Quinn turned to face her.
Santana scoffed. "Q, you've seriously lost a screw. Puck and I—"
"Please, Santana, don't," she said. "Nothing may be going on yet, or if there is, you can't admit it. But there is definitely something there. Anyone can see that." She flashed another grin and then walked off towards their locker room.
An uneasy feeling wormed itself up in Santana's stomach and into her chest. Glancing back over at Brittany, she met her friend's gaze. Brittany smiled widely and waved. Santana smiled back, butterflies chasing out the uneasiness as she did so.
Looking back, she shouted at Quinn, "You've lost it Fabray!"
But Quinn kept walking, and only raised her hand in a quick wave as she continued on her way.
Now, one week later, and after charades had been nixed due to Rachel only acting out musical scenes that none of them besides Kurt had ever heard of, they were on their fourth round of Hide-and-Seek. With the Fabray house being the size it was, each round lasted for quite a while. But with Quinn counting this time, Santana figured she needed to find somewhere really clever to hide. Even if it was a silly game for a bunch of teenagers to be playing, she was still competitive. There was no way she would be found first.
Scampering through the living room and past the extra den, Santana hurried into the second spare bedroom. Against the far wall was a linen closet, which she knew from years of sleepovers was rarely used.
"Ready or not, here I come!" Quinn shouted, her voice carrying easily through the near empty home. Shaking her head at the ridiculousness of the whole thing, she walked across the room, silently opened the door, and drew it quietly shut behind her one inside.
From years of getting to know this house, Santana knew she could find her way easily through the walk-in closet. Her hand reached for the shelves immediately to her right, her fingers running into what she assumed were the spare blankets she occasionally used when staying the night. And to her left, without having to reach for them, she knew were dozens of Mrs. Fabray's old clothes that she had held on to for some reason. Quinn claimed she was refusing to let go of her youth. Whatever the reason, they were still there, and Santana could just see the gleaming sheet plastic that most of them were covered in as they hung down like drapes from the bar overhead.
Besides these, the closet was mostly full of empty storage boxes and extra bedding. It would be easy, she concluded, sliding down the door to sit with her back against it, to hide amongst these and not be found. Giving a small laugh at how much she was actually getting into this, Santana breathed out heavily, once more saying, "Stupid game."
"I think its fun."
"Holy shit!" Santana shouted, throwing her self back hard into the door, her heart leaping into her throat. Then, dropping her voice to a sharp whisper, she said, "What the Hell? Who said that?"
Her eyes scanned the darkness. She didn't want to turn the over head light on for fear of giving herself away to Quinn. So, she squinted into the far end of the small space in front of her. She took another breath, trying to regain her composure.
"I swear Berry, if that's you—"
"No, it's me," a soft voice said from somewhere in the back left corner. The voice was slightly muffled, which Santana guessed was because whoever spoke was hiding behind Mrs. Fabray's clothes. And sure enough, there was some rustling followed by a much clearer sounding voice saying, "Sorry, it's me, Brittany."
Santana's face immediately softened, and she felt her body relax, except for a tightness that suddenly seized her chest.
"Oh, she said, "Britt, hi."
"Hey," the voice replied. "I'm sorry I scared you."
"It's ok," Santana said, still searching for where exactly her friend's voice was coming from. They had to be only a few feet apart. "I didn't realize somebody else was in here."
"Well, I am," Brittany said quietly. There was more rustling, and Santana, still leaning back against the door, finally made out her friend's figure as she emerged from the lengths of clothing.
"I see that now," Santana replied, taking advantage of the dark setting to scan Brittany's crouching figure. She sat with her knees tucked close to her chest; her legs bare expect for a pair of jean cut-offs. Santana found it incredible that even in the dark her blonde hair was still incredibly bright.
"I don't mind if you hide with me," Brittany said, grabbing Santana's attention once more. The white of a small smile appeared, and Santana grinned back. "Besides," she continued, "I hide in the closet when I play with my cat and she almost never finds me."
Santana raised an eyebrow and shook her head. Then she said, "I've missed you, B." Her eyes fell. Even though she was pretty sure Brittany couldn't see her, she was still embarrassed.
There was more rustling and the sounds of boxes shifting, then Brittany said, "Then why have you been avoiding me?"
Because we had sex, Santana thought. And now I don't know how to act around you. Her mind drifted back to the summer before school started. One night in June, she had spent the night over at Brittany's house; something they'd done hundreds of times before. But this time, in the middle of the movie they were watching, and thanks to some liquid courage Santana had borrowed from her dad's personal bar, they had ended up in bed together, tangled in each other's arms.
They didn't talk about it. But it kept happening. Eventually, Santana didn't need alcohol to jump Brittany and tear off her clothes each night. But in the morning, she would bolt before Brittany could say anything. And since school had started, Santana had stopped going over to Brittany's after Cheerios practice. She played nice in school, but that was as far as she would go.
Santana took a deep breath. "I know I have been avoiding you," she finally said. "I'm…I'm sorry."
Brittany was quiet for a second. "But why? Did I do something wrong?"
She sounded so sincere, Santana thought, furrowing her brow. She reached over to the shelf next to her and fingered the fringe of one of the blankets there.
"I don't know," she started. "Things are just kind of complicated…between us."
"Why, San?" Brittany asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "We're best friends."
"I know we are B. But this summer…best friends don't do what we did."
"But I thought you liked that," she said, sounding dejected.
"I did. I do," Santana said. "Ugh…it's just, I don't know how to be around you now. Because of what we did." She leaned back, pressing her head against the door. She knew what she wanted. She wanted Brittany. But how was she supposed to tell her that?
Santana could see Brittany move closer suddenly, her dim figure now only a foot away from her own.
"But it's me, San."
"That's just it," Santana said, her eyes closed now.
"I don't understand," Brittany said. "What can't you handle?" Her voice was closer now.
Santana lifted her head off he door and found Brittany face to face with her. Their knees practically touched in the suddenly cramped closet. She swallowed hard. Brittany's sweet perfume permeated her senses, and even the blue of her eyes shone brighter somehow.
"I can't handle all of these feelings. I can't deal with everything I'm feeling for you." It wasn't quite what she wanted to say. But maybe it would be good enough.
Brittany, amazing her friend again with the litheness of her limbs, swiftly rearranged her legs so that she was now encircling Santana, her bent legs on either side of the brunette's as she moved closer still, wrapping her arms around Santana's legs, which were pulled up close to her chest.
"San," she said, "I have feelings for you too."
"B, I didn't mean…" she trailed off. Crap, had she just given herself away? Or did Brittany actually figure everything out without her having to say anything at all? Watching her friend, she shook slightly at the look in Brittany's eyes. "Wait…what did you say?"
Brittany smiled. "I like you."
Santana started to smile, saying, "I like you too B. I'm not sure if you know what you're saying though."
Brittany shook her head. "No, San. I know what I'm talking about."
Santana started to protest, "But, Britt—"
"No," Brittany said, "I don't want to hear anymore." Santana looked at her, slightly taken aback. "If this is why you've been avoiding me, then that's kind of dumb." Then she cocked her head to the side. "Were you afraid I didn't like you back? Because, really San, that's ridiculous."
Santana watched her carefully. This was unreal. Had she really just confessed her feelings for Brittany? And did Brittany say she felt the same way? It was becoming too much.
"Brittany…" Santana said quietly. She could hear voices coming from a couple rooms away, near the front door. But Brittany rubbed her legs, her soft hands soothing Santana's body and, in turn, her mind.
"Don't Santana," she hushed. "You have to be quiet now. We're hiding remember?"
Santana gave a small smile. She could feel her eyes water. "But Brittany, I still don't know if I understand what's going on between us."
Brittany shrugged. "That's ok. I don't understand a lot of things, but things always work out eventually. You told me that, remember?"
Santana nodded. "You know I told you that about your math homework, right B?"
Brittany smiled, shrugging again. "Well, maybe it can apply to other things too."
Santana grinned. It was pointless, she decided, to try and avoid Brittany. Just being with her for these few minutes was so comfortable, albeit confusing. She didn't want to give that up, no matter what.
She reached up then, running her fingers carefully through the front of Brittany's hair, her hand clinging to her friend's face when she reached it. Brittany's smile widened, and she turned her head to kiss the inside of Santana's hand. Then she faced Santana and leaned closer until their lips met. Santana pressed hard into Brittany's, losing herself in her friend's soft lips. Brittany slipped her tongue into Santana's mouth, making her moan.
Pulling back a little, Santana whispered, "B, we're supposed to be quiet, remember? You can't do that to me." But as she spoke, she pushed Brittany back gently, moving to her knees and forcing Brittany to lay back.
Brittany grinned and kissed Santana again. "We'll just have to be quiet then, ok?" She pulled Santana down on top of her, clearing boxes as she went. Santana felt spare clothes hangers and blankets bump her legs as she lay herself down on top of Brittany. She kissed her harder, running her hands down Brittany's body.
Suddenly, the closet door shot open. Brittany's eyes widened and Santana quickly fell awkwardly off of her to the side. She landed on a box, the corner of it jabbing into her back.
"Shit!" she cried, wincing a little. When she focused her gaze on the now brightly lit doorway, she found Quinn standing there, her mouth open.
"Hi Quinn," Brittany said, waving sheepishly.
Quinn looked from her to Santana, a knowing grin spreading across her face. "I see you two have worked some things out," she said.
Brittany giggled and Santana sighed, sitting up slowly. "Yea, we have."
Suddenly, they heard Rachel shout, "Quinn, did you find them yet?"
Quinn looked at both Santana and Brittany a moment longer. She shook her head, laughing. Then she turned back to shout, "No, not in here!" She placed her hands hips, and then said, "I'll leave you two alone for a little bit longer, deal?"
"Deal!" Brittany said gratefully, pulling Santana back on top of her. Santana smiled and looked at Quinn.
"Thanks," she said. Quinn shook her head.
"Just keep it down ok? I'll be back in a few." Then she shut the door, leaving them in darkness once again.
"Come here," Brittany said, her voice low.
"If you say so," Santana replied, not even trying to hide how happy she was as she climbed back on top of Brittany before kissing her again.